Vestry England. In England, until the 19th century, the parish vestry committee was in effect what would today usually be called a parochial church council, but was also responsible for secular parish business, which is now the responsibility of a parish council, and other activities, such as administering locally the poor law. The original unit of settlement among the Anglo-Saxons in England was the "tun" or town. The inhabitants met to carry out this business in the town moot or meeting, at which they appointed the various officials and the common law would be promulgated. Later with the rise of the
First Free Will Baptist Church and Vestry by a gabled roof oriented with the ridge parallel to the street, with a steepled tower and main entrance at the eastern end. The old vestry is a 2-1/2 story brick building, whose gabled roof is placed gable-end to the street. It has a three-bay facade with the entrance at the center, framed by sidelight and transom windows. The new vestry is built against the rears of these two buildings. A Free Will Baptist congregation was established in what is today Ashland in 1818, when it was still part of Holderness. By 1830, the congregation had grown large enough to