HITCHIN HUNDRED 



In the 18th century two houses were registered for 

 meetings of Protestant Dissenters, and another was 

 certified in 1 824." There is now a Wesleyan chapel 

 in kkleford. 



In 1657 Edward Ansell by his 



CHARITIES will gave 40/. a year for the poor 



charged on 2 acres of land, exchanged 



under the Ickleford Inclosure Act for a close of 



IPPOLLITTS 



v belonging to St. John's 



ns of 1 786 it is stated 

 that a donor unknown gave a rent-charge of 20j. to 

 poor widows, which is paid out of West Mill in the 

 parish of Shilling ton (Beds.). 



The annual sum of 601. is distributed to about 

 thirty recipients. 



n Ramerick Farm 

 Cambridge, 

 the Parliamentary I 



IPPOLLITTS 



(xvi cent.) ; Appolyttes, layers of roofing tiles, only the rectangular panels 

 having brick. The upper story is partly in the roof, 

 which is tiled. The walls were raised some feet and 

 underpinned at the end of the last century. Internally 

 some of the roof trusses and also some ceiling-beams 

 of the ground-floor rooms appear to be original, and 



Hippolitts, Polettes 

 Epolites (xvii cent). 



' The parish of Ippollitts, which is 2,935 acres in 

 extent, lies to the south of Hitchin and has an 

 average height of some 250ft. above ordnance datum, 

 but it rises on the south-western border to nearly 

 500 ft. Ippollittsis 

 not mentioned in the 

 Domesday Survey, 

 the earlier settlement 

 having been at Aim- 

 shoe, where is still 

 the site of a church. 1 

 When the church of 

 St. Ippollitts was 

 built in the nth 

 century (see church) 

 it was attached as a 

 chapel to the neigh- 

 bouring church of 

 Hitchin. The little 

 village and church 

 lie to the east of the 

 Hitchin and Hat- 

 field high road, 

 which runs through 

 the parish north and 

 south. A mile to 

 the west of the 

 village is a small 

 group of houses, 

 which constitute the 

 hamlet known as 

 Gosmore, a name 

 which is found from 

 the 14th century on- 

 wards. 3 There is here an old inn built of brick, dating 

 possibly from the end of the 17th century. A little 

 further on is May den croft, a two-storied farm-house 

 of the early 17th century, built of brick and timber. 

 It is |_-»haped in plan and was originally surrounded 

 by a moat, which has nearly disappeared. The ceiling 

 beams of the hall (which now has a partition dividing it 

 into two rooms) are supported by a pillar dated 1 6 1 5 . 

 The large barn and stable, of timber and brick, are 

 contemporary with the house. 



The Wyck, standing about three-quarters of a mile 

 south-east of the church, is a house of 17th-century 

 date, formed out of five two-roomed cottages. It is 

 timber-built, most of the framing being filled with 



The Wyck, Little Ai 



old timber has been used for the framing of some 

 fireplaces, but the doors and windows are modern. 



Other hamlets in the parish are New England, on 

 the London Road to the north-east ; Ashbrook, about 

 a mile to the north-west ; and St. Ibbs and Little 

 Almshoe to the south. 



Further south still is Almshoebury and the site of 

 the old chapel. It was at the park here that Isabella 

 wife of Edward II and her daughter are said to have 

 hunted on one occasion. 8 A small stream called 

 Ippollitts Brook, rising near Little Almshoe, flows 

 northwards through a pond in the park. It is joined 

 by another stream called Ashbrook, and further on 

 flows into the River Purwell. There are about 



" Crwiclc, Nonconformity 



paratively late date from Hitchin ; ef. the 

 pre-Conquest tenure. 



' Abbrev. Rot. Orig. (Rec. Com.), iii, 

 310; Pat 13 Eliz. pt. ii, m. 10; 19 



; Sill. R. (Herts. Co. 

 :. 1+ Jan. I, pt. xii, 



