A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



The nave has a north and a south window, each 

 of two lights with traceried heads under four-centred 

 arches. They are of 1 5th-century date, but have 

 been restored. The south doorway is of the same 

 date ; it has chamfered jambs and four-centred arch 

 with moulded label. The south porch dates from 

 the second half of the 15 th century ; it has a single 

 pointed light on the east side only. The arch and 

 jambs are splayed, but have no rebate for glass. The 

 entrance has a four-centred moulded arch, the mould- 

 ings dying on splayed jambs. The head is square with 

 a moulded label and in the spandrels are blank shields. 



The tower arch has chamfered jambs and moulded 

 bases of 1 5th-century date and a four-centred moulded 

 arch and moulded capitals of 1660. In the lower 

 stage of the tower, in the north and south walls, 

 are narrow lancet windows widely splayed within ; 

 they are of 13th-century date. The west window 

 is of three lights with trefoiled heads under a four- 

 centred arch ; it is of i jth-century date, but has 

 been restored. The upper part of the tower is 

 of red brick ; a heavy brick string-course separates 

 the upper and lower portions. At the south-west 

 angle is an octagonal turret on an ogee-shaped corbel. 

 The belfry windows are single lights with round 

 arched heads. That on the east face now shows inside 

 the church ; in a panel on the south side is the date 

 1 660. The parapet is plain, but at each angle is the 

 lower part of a former pinnacle. 



The roofs are modern, but a few carved figures of 

 winged angels holding books, probably of 17th- 

 century date, have been refixed under the trusses. 



The font is of clunch with octagonal bowl and stem, 

 the sides of which are panelled and cusped ; the base 

 IS of cement. The font is of 15th-century date. 



On the south wall of the nave, beneath the white- 

 wash, are visible three crosses paty, within circles, 

 about 9 in. in diameter, painted red. They vary in 

 height from the floor from 4 ft. to 5 ft. 6 in. 



Nearly all the seating is of 1 7th-century date with 

 heavy moulded rails and panelled ends. In the 

 chancel is a poppy-head, probably of the same date. 

 It shows a man holding another man by the leg, 

 while a third is balanced upside down on the first 

 man's head ; a large bird completes the group. 



On the chancel floor is a large slab with inscription 

 to Sir Thomas Soame, kt., 1670. 



There is one bell by C. & G. Mears, 1855. 



The communion plate consists of cup, 1606, cover 

 paten without date or inscription and a modern 

 flagon. 



The registers previous to 1 8 1 2 are as follows : 

 (i) baptisms 1 61 2 to 1812, burials 161 6 to 1809, 

 marriages 16 1 2 to 1753 ; (ii) marriages 1754 to 

 1810. 



The earliest reference to the 

 ADVOIVSON advowrson of Throcking occurs at 

 the beginning of the 13 th century, 

 when Richard de Vabadun released to Roger Fitz 

 Brian, lord of the manor of Throcking, all right in a 

 half of the advowson in exchange for an acre of land 

 in Throcking." From this date the advowson de- 

 scended with the manor ^ (q.v.) until on the death 

 of John Ray in 1 840 it was sold to the Rev. William 

 Adams," who presented himself" and held the 

 living until his death in 1878. It was then acquired 

 by the Rev. Charles Wigan Harvey, who died in 

 191 1. It is now held by the Rev. A. W. B. Higgens. 



There do not appear to be any endowed charities 

 in this parish. 



WYDDIAL 



Widihale (xi cent.) ; Withiale (xii cent.) ; Wide- 

 wale (xiv cent.) ; Wydeale, Widyale (xv cent.) ; 

 Wythyall, Whetteall, Widdyall (xvi cent.) ; Wydd- 

 wyall (xix cent.). 



The parish of Wyddial contams 1,542 acres. It 

 consists chiefly of arable land, only about one-sixth of 

 the parish being permanent grass.' There is little 

 woodland and what there is lies chiefly in the north 

 of the parish, where College Wood in Wyddial 

 adjoins the larger Capon Wood in Buckland. The 

 soil is heavy on a subsoil of clay. The chief crops 

 are wheat and barley. The parish lies for the most 

 part about 400 ft. above ordnance datum, reaching a 

 height of 441 ft. in the extreme north-west. In the 

 north-east and south-west the land falls in the valleys 

 of the Quin and Rib, which flow through the parish. 

 In the south of the parish the boundaries between 

 Wyddial and Layston are much intermixed. 



Wyddial lies between two important roads. Ermine 

 Street' forming its western boundary and the main 

 road to Cambridge its short eastern boundary. The 

 village, which is very small, lies on the high ground 

 in the centre of the parish. The church stands to 

 the north-west, close to Wyddial Hall. This house 

 was burnt down in 1733 and rebuilt of brick plastered. 



The 1 6th-century cellars still remain ; they are built 

 of thin brick. In the walls are several niches with 

 triangular brick heads similar to those in Wymondley 

 Bury and other old houses in the county. Some early 

 17th-century panelling remains in the house. 



The school, which was built about 1864, is on the 

 same side of the road, further south. The greater 

 part of the population of Wyddial is at Buntingford, 

 which lies partly within the parish. 



Corney Bury stands on the east side of the main 

 road about a mile north of Buntingford. It is a 

 17th-century building with 18th-century additions. 

 Remains of a moat exist on the south-east side. The 

 building is E-shaped, with the wings projecting to 

 the north-west ; it is of two stories with attics. The 

 walls are of brick and the roofs partly tiled and partly 

 slated. The north-west end of each wing has a curvi- 

 linear gable and there is another in the centre of the 

 main block. The central porch is of early 1 8th-century 

 date with Ionic columns and pediment. The windows 

 are plain. Two lead rain-water heads bear the initials 

 and date 'C.C. 1 681.' The initials are for Charles 

 Crouch, who owned the property at that date. 



At Cave Gate there is a shaft which is said to be a 

 denehole. 



^ Feet of F. Herts. 2 Hen. Ill, no. i. 

 ^ See above. 



" Cussans, Hist, of Hera. Edwitutree 

 Hun J. 1 1 +. 



"Ibid. 



1 Statistics from Bd, of Agric. (1905). 



• There is a reference to Ermine Street 



114 



as a boundary of a tenement in Wyddial 

 in 1438 (Anct. D. [P.R.O.], A 5208). 



