BROADWATER HUNDRED 



have subsequently come into the possession of the 

 Lyttons of Knebworth, 8 ' whose estates it adjoined. 



The parish church, the dedication of 

 CHURCH which is unknown, stands to the north 

 of Letchworth Hall and about half a 

 mile to the south of the village. 1c is built of flint 

 rubble with freestone dressings, and the roof is tiled. 

 It consists of a chancel and nave, with a south porch, 

 and has a bellcote at the west end. 9J The original 

 church of the 1 2th century is represented by the 

 nave, while the chancel of the 13th century appears 

 to have been rebuilt, as it leans to the south. In the 

 1 ;th century the south porch was added and the church 

 was re-roofed. About 1500 windows were inserted 

 in the nave, and the bellcote appears to date from 

 about the same time, though it has been altered ex- 

 ternally. The church was repaired in the 1 9th century. 

 The east wall of the chancel appears to have been 

 rebuilt in the 16th or early in the 17th century, 

 and the east window of three lights under a square 

 head is of that date. In the north wall is a 13th- 

 century lancet window, and there is a low-side window 

 of about 1350 in the west end of the north wall. 

 In the south wall are similar windows and a 14th- 

 century doorway, which has been blocked and can 

 only be seen on the outside. The chancel arch has 

 very coarse mouldings, and appears to have been 

 rebuilt in the 1 6th century. The roof'is plastered, 

 but the 15th-century trusses and wind-braces are 

 visible. The nave has two single-light windows in 

 the north wall, of about 1500, with tracery in four- 

 centred heads. The easternmost of these contains 

 15th-century glass, with a shield of Montfitchet : 

 Gules three cheverons or and a label azure. There 

 is also in this wall a blocked doorway, apparently of 

 14th-century date. At the north-east angle a 

 thickening of the wall probably indicates the position 

 of the rood-loft stair, of which the foundations have 

 recently been discovered. At the same angle is an 

 early 15th-century niche for an image. The head 

 is partly buried in the north wall, and the south 

 jamb has been cut back. The windows in the south 

 wall are modern, of two lights, in 13th-century style. 

 The west window, of two cinquefoilcd lights, is of 

 about 1500, and contains some fragments of mediaeval 

 glass. The ceiling of the nave is plastered, but the 

 beams and wall cornices of the 15th-century roof are 

 still in position. The south doorway, of two moulded 

 orders, with a four-centred head, is of the same date, 

 and on the door is some ironwork of the 13 th century. 

 The south porch has a two-centred entrance arch of 

 two moulded orders, with shields in the spandrels ; 

 the western shield is carved with lozenges, the other 

 is illegible. There is the base of a stoup in 

 the north-east corner. The bellcote, which is 

 cemented externally, has north and south windows 

 with two-centred heads, and is supported on a four- 

 centred wooden arch, now painted, which spans the 

 nave at the west end. Its roof is pyramidal and 

 tiled. It contains a bell, probably of the 14th 

 century, by an unknown founder, with the inscription 

 'Ave Maria Dracia (sk) Plena.' 



LETCHWORTH 



The bowl of the font is probably of the 14th 

 century, and there are some 15th-century benches 

 with broken ends in the nave. A remarkable 

 monument on the sill of the north-east window of 

 the nave is a miniature recumbent efhgy (z ft. 2 in. 

 long by 1 ft. wide) in chain armour and a long surcoat, 

 holding a heart in his hands. The figure is of about 

 1300 and is much defaced. In the chancel is a 

 brass of a priest in eucharistic vestments, with an 

 inscription and the date 1475. In the nave is a 

 brass with the half-length figures of a man and his 

 wife, with a fragmentary inscription which records 

 the name of the wife, Isabelle ; the man is said to 

 be William Overbury, and the date is about 1470. 



The plate includes a cup and cover pat 



fttury style, but 

 The registers are in 



1748 ; (ii) baptisms 



1749 to 1754, burials 

 and burials 1807 to if 

 1805. 



without hall-marks, 

 four volumes : (i) 1695 to 

 1749 to 1806, marriages 

 749 to 1804; (Hi) baptisms 



iz; (iv) marriages 175410 



4DP0WS0N 



There is mention of a priest at 

 Letchworth in 10S6." Thechurch 

 of Letchworth was granted, with 



of 1 



the 



all appurti 



parish, to the monastery of St. Albans by William 

 de Montfitchet and Rohais his wife and William 

 their son at the beginning of the izth century." 

 The living was not appropriated and is still a 

 rectory. About 1297 John de Ulscby, rector of 

 Letchworth, was deprived of his living for his 

 connexion with Cardinal James Colonna, who 

 was excommunicated by Bcniface VIII for his 

 opposition to that pope's election. SJ The Abbot of 

 St. Albans then presented Robert de Donnebrugge, 

 but the Bishop of Lincoln refused to institute him ; 

 in I 301, however, Pope Boniface VIII sent a mandate 



1302 and in 1320 the king presented by reason of 

 the voidance of St. Albans ss ; on the first occasion 

 Richard Montfitchet claimed the right, but his claim 

 was not allowed.' 6 The advowson remained to the 

 monastery of St. Albans until its surrender at the end 

 of 1539," after which it was presumably held for a 

 while by the Crown. Some time before 1610 it was 

 granted to Sir Henry Cock, who died possessed of it 

 in that year, and was succeeded by his grandson 

 Henry Lucy, son of his elder daughter Frances and 

 lsdmund Lucy." Soon after this the advowson was 

 acquired by the Lytton family, William Lytton 

 presenting in 1676," and after this it followed the 

 descent of the manor until 1903, when it was sold 

 to Mr. Walter Plimpton, Mr. Henry William Hill and 

 Major Gilbert E. W. Malet, who form a syndicate. 1011 



In 1544, after the dissolution of St. Albans 

 of 13;. from Letchworth rectory 

 George Nodes ' of Shephall, and 

 ned in his family, for in 1643 a 

 George Nodes died possessed of ' rent from the 

 rectory of Letchworth,' leaving a son Charles.' 



In 1638 the parsonage contained 'one hall, one 

 pallor, one kichin, two buttries, one milkhouse, one 



Abbey, 



ntly 



,9 Information kindly supplied by Mr. 

 B. Lmdsell. 



»" Dimensions : chancel, 19 ft. by 14 ft.; 

 te, 32 ft. by 16 ft. 6 in. 

 » F.C.H. Hern, i, 323A. 

 * Dugdale, Mas. ii, 229, 232. 



* Sing. Uni-vinelU, vii 

 w Cat. Papal Lellirs, i, 

 *:>C*l. Pa,. .301-7, p 



p. 446. 



'« Abbrrv, Plat. (R«. 



* Dugdale, Mon. ii, 2t 



123 



, 654. 



38 Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 



"Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.). 



m Information kinHlv s 



B. Lindsell. 



1 L. and P. Hi«. Fill, xix [,), 278 It). 



* Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), dcclxxi, 91. 



ied by Mr. 



