A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



The subsoil of the parish is chalk. Baldock station, 

 on the Cambridge branch of the Great Northern 

 railway, is in the extreme north of the parish. 



Part of the hamlet of Clothall End is included in 

 the north-east of the parish. Elmwood Manor is a 

 large house surrounded by a park, situated to the 

 south of that end of the town known as Pembroke 

 End, and is the residence of the lord of the manor of 

 Baldock. 



At the time of the Domesday Survey 

 BOROUGH BALDOCK was a part of Weston 

 (q.v.) and consequently then belonged 

 to William de Ow. 3 A little before the middle of 

 the 1 2th century Gilbert de Clare Earl of Pembroke, 

 who died in 114.8, granted 10 librates of land from 



road from Stevenage This would indicate that the 

 ordinary route here from south to north was along 

 the Stevenage road through the High Street, Baldock, 

 at the northern end of which it turned almost at 1 

 right angle down what is now White Horse Street 

 and so into the Roman road. The borough was 

 established at the angle formed by the High Street and 

 White Horse Street, the church of St. Mary being 

 built on the west side of the angle and the market- 

 place apparently extending originally up both streets. 

 Here also the fairs were held. 



Besides the two principal streets High Street and 

 White Horse Street, Church Street, Norton Street, 

 and Hitchin Street 6 probably mark mediaeval lines. 

 There are a few interesting houses in these streets. 



Baldock Village 



his manor of Weston to the Knights Templars with 

 ample liberties.' These 10 librates became the parish 

 of Baldock, and here the Templars, probably about 

 1 199 when they received a grant of market and fair 

 (see below), 5 ' built a certain borough which is called 

 Baldock.' This was a period for the founding and 

 developing of towns with primitive borough rights, 

 and Baldock, being on one of the principal lines of 

 traffic to the north, formed a very eligible site for a 

 market town. It may be noticed that Baldock is not 

 actually on the Roman road which followed the line 

 of Pesthouse Lane to the east, but lies on the main 



In High Street are Wynne's almshouses built in 1621, 

 consisting of a row of six red brick houses with tiled 

 roofs. Each house is of two stories with a mullioned 

 window below and a dormer window above ana a 

 porch. There are modern shafts to the three ancient 

 chimney stacks. Above the mullio 

 dat 



indows is the 

 , and in the middle there i> 



the following inscription on a 



'Theii alma 



howeses are the gieft of Mr. John Wynne cittezen and 

 mercer of London latelye deceased who hath left i 

 yearely stipend to everey poore of either howira to the 

 worldes end September Anno Domini 1620.' Ob the 



* V.C.H. Hira. i, 3 i-i. 



* Dujdalt, Mo*, vii, 82c 

 5 Chart. R. i John, pt. i 



'■Crown' fi 561) (Feet of F. Hern. Mich. 

 3 & 4 Eliz.) i 'George' (Chan. Proc. 

 [Ser. 2.], bdle. 282, no. 2%) ; the ' Swan * 

 (1557) (Fee. of F. HerW. Trin. 3 4 4 

 Phil, and Mar)-); the 'Tabaid' (1537) 



66 



{L. and P. Bin. VIU, *ii [*], «+7)i 

 Florye. in Brcde Street (Earlr Chut 

 Proc Wle. 41, no. 44) 1 le CokwtKt, 

 I5JJ (Add. MS. 56349). 



