A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



angle; Pairs of gabled buttresses at right angles 

 in two stages run up to the level of the upper string, 

 at the south-west and south-east angles. Theirupper 

 portions are panelled, the gables are cusped, and 

 they have small sculptured derm-figures in their 

 heads. Identical buttresses stand on the east and 

 west sides of the porch a short distance from the wall 

 of the aisle. The sides of the central crenelle of the 

 battlement on the south side are controlled down to 

 the upper string to form a panel with a four-centred 

 head containing sculpture. There u a smal shield 

 cross inclosing a pierced stone. 



Above the buttresses are pinnacles with crockets and 

 finials, and tete-beche trefoiled panels on the outer 

 faces. 



The west tower, which is of two stages, is ap- 

 proached from the nave by an arch of three chamfered 

 orders, with half-octagonal responds, and moulded 

 capitals and bases. On the north side is a much- 

 restored 13th-century lancet window. The upper 

 stage is lighted by two pointed windows in each wall, 

 all much restored with brick in the 17th and again 

 in the 19th century. The west door is of the 13th 

 century and is much decayed. The deep square 

 buttresses, one — to the north — of the same date and 



four of the 14th century, are built against the 

 remains of nth-century pilaster buttresses, which 

 were revealed during recent repairs. The stair 

 turret at the south-east angle is also of the 13th 

 century. It is built against the wall, without bond- 

 ing, and rises above the parapet of the tower. The 

 lower part is lighted by small lancets, and the upper 

 part, which with its parapet has been repaired with 

 16th or 17th-century brick, has cross-loops. 



The fittings of the church include a richly carved 

 twelve-sided font, with defaced figures of saints under 

 elaborate ogee canopies with crockets and finials, 

 resting on sculptured corbelft. 

 There are small pinnacled but- 

 tresses on high moulded plinths 

 between the figures. The tall 

 cover of 15th-century style is 

 modern. 



The pulpit is an early 16th- 

 century structure considerably 

 restored. 



The monuments in the chancel 

 include a slab with the indents 

 of a priest and a marginal in- 

 scription with roses at the corners, 

 and the brasses of a merchant of 

 the Staple of Calais, 1452, his 

 wife, four sons and six daughters ; 

 the inscription containing the 

 date is imperfect ; there is one 

 illegible shield, the indents of 

 four others, and of four square 

 plates ; a late 15th-century brail 

 of a priest with a brass of a 

 wounded heart, and the indent 

 of another, the indents of two 

 inscriptions and a small plate, 

 which was perhaps a symbol of 

 the Holy Trinity ; the brasses 

 of the shrouded figures of a man 

 and his wife, three sons and five 

 daughters ; a shield bears a bend 

 in a border engrailed, and there 

 are the indents of an inscription 

 and four roses; 3 late 15th- 

 century brass of a woman much 

 worn, with the indents of a man 

 and of an inscription ; and an 

 early 16th-century brass of a 

 civilian and his wife, with the 

 indents of an inscription and 



In the north chapel is a 16th- 

 century slab with the indents of 

 an inscription and a shield, re- 

 used in the 1 8th century as a gravestone. There is 

 also here an early 1 5th-century Purbeck marble tomb, 

 with quatrefoiled panels in the sides. In the top 

 slab is the indent of a marginal inscription, and a 

 later brass of John Puller, with a marginal inscrip- 

 tion and the date 1485. In the floor is a (lab of the 

 14th century with an incised marginal inscription 

 to Sir Robert de Kendale. This is found not to be 

 a floor-slab, having its edges moulded to a hollow 

 chamfer. An indent of William Pulter, 1 549, has a 

 brass inscription and a shield. An altar tomb of 

 c. 1500 is of clunch, with panelled sides, having a 

 slab with a contemporary brass of the shrouded 



