A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



loft, the stairs to which remain on the north-ca t in 

 the thickness of the wall. The upper and lower door- 

 ways are also still in existence, but their stonework 

 has been entirely renewed. The nave roof is of th 



The towe 

 orders, the ii 

 and the oute 



id rests on large grotesque corbels, 

 ch is four-centred and of two moulded 

 r resting upon the shafts of the jambs 

 aniinuous. The work is of late i jth- 



arked externally 



The tower is of three 

 by strings, and has diagor 

 is embattled and the roof is pyramidal and tiled. 

 The west doorway is two-centred, of two moulded 

 orders, and has been greatly repaired. The west 

 window above it is old, but the tracery is wholly 

 modern. In the belfry stage there is a window of 

 two lights in each face ; all of these are much re- 

 paired. The string below the parapet has a gargoyle 

 in the middle of each face, and at the north-west 

 corner the stair-turret rises above the parapet. 



In the north-east corner of the nave is an image 

 niche with a trefoiled head. The font, which is oct- 

 agonal and quite plain, is of the late 15th or early 16th 

 century. At the west end of the nave are several 

 late 15th or early 16th-century benches, repaired. 



:, at the north-east, is a floor slab, 

 ry Barnewcll 1638.' On the outside 

 ill is an imperfect incised sundial, 

 six bells, of which the third is by 

 1760, and the fifth by John Dyer, 

 emaindcr are by Mean & Stainbank, 



produced the charter and ronfirnutionj by William I 

 and Henry I and II, also the testimonials of the arch- 

 deacon and the bishop who dedicated the church, 

 and of Henry the king. Regina'd on the other 

 hand said that the church of Wymondley had never 

 pertained to that of Hitchin, and that in the time of 

 William I a certain Allied made presentation to that 

 church, and that afterwards it was given to his grand- 

 father Reginald together with the manor, and there- 

 fore he now claimed the advemson, as two present- 

 ments had already been made by his family. In 

 120S-9 Richard de Argentein, the son of Reginald, 

 acknowledged the right of the Abbess of Elstow to 



In th 

 inscribed ' H 

 of the south 



There an 

 Joseph Eayri 

 i 59S . The 

 1908. 



The plate 



modern. 



the 



ndit 



. that 



■uld ' 



him into all benefits ;md prayers which were made in 

 the church of Elstow.' 8S About this time Elstow 

 appropriated the church, and a vicarage was ordained 

 by Hugh Wells, Bishop of Lincoln, whose episcopacy 

 lasted from 1 209 to 1 2 3 -. M Elstow kept the church 

 until the Dissolution, after which the tithes were 

 included in the grant of Hitchin rectory to Trinity 

 College, Cambridge, by Hen,y VIII. The church 

 was evidently still a chapel to Hitchin and the 

 advowson is not mentioned in the grant. 06 The few 

 presentations of which there are record were mide by 

 Trinity College except in 1663 and 1675, when the 

 Bishop of Lincoln presented by lapse. 015 The benefice 

 was united with that of St. Ippolitts by an instrument 

 dated 1; March 1685," and the vicar resides in the 

 latter parish. 



; for Protestant Dissenters in Great 

 e registered at various dates from 



thr, 



1710 to 1812, buri, 



to l 755 ; (lii) man 



siDrOlt'SON 

 mbj, 



' 1561: 



:ing-pla< 

 Wymondley w 

 1776 to 1814. : 



of Great Wyrr 



ln 1623 John Welch by will 

 books : (i) all entries 1561 to 1690 ; (ii) baptisms CHARITIES charged his estate of Redcoats in 



this parish with an annuity of £4, 



of which £1 lor. was payable to the vicar and £z 



to the poor for bread and ioj. to Little Wymondley. 



In 1735 Robert Tristram by his will devised lor. 



a year for bread for the poor of this parish. 



In 1S21 James Lucas by deed gave £150 consols, 

 the annual dividends, amounting to £3 15/., to be 

 applied as to two-thirds for the relief ; 

 of the poor of this parish and one-third for the c 

 of Little Wymondley. 



The charities are duly applied. 



chapel to Hitchii 

 : of 



In 



mdley 



ally a 



: '99 «■ 



Reg 

 Argentein and the Abbess of Elstow. ' n 

 abbess maintained that Judith niece of Will..... 

 Conqueror, who founded the ahbev of Elstow, ga 

 to the nuns the vill of H' ' 

 the chapel of Wymondley pertaining to it, and si 



The 

 the 



,nd 



LITTLE WYMONDLEY 



This 



i-h ha, 



rable land, 



jf 1,006 acres, of which 

 :6J acres permanent grass 

 portions of the parish are 

 .11 area lies west of Red- 



Lower Titi 



jf)t,aci 



and 6\ acres wood. 1 ' 

 detached. One of veri 

 coats Green and the other is situated south of 

 s a few cottages which a 

 ten. The parish slopes downw, 

 in a south-westerly direction from an elevation 

 nearly 400 ft. The Great Northern railway pa: 

 through the village, but the nearest stations 

 Stevenage, 1 miles south-east, aud Hitchin, 2^ m 



" See Pope A7.-*. Tax. (R«. Com.), 36. Conquen. It . 

 ™ Akbrru. Plat. (Ree. Com.), 8 ; Rut. Great Wvmon, 

 Cur. Reg. (Rcc. Com.), i, 



north-west. The village lies on the road from Hitchin 



to Stevenage. Near its centre a road branches ofF 



northwards to Great Wymondley, passing the site of 



the former priory. The Great North Road runs 



.ore along the north-east boundary of the parish. The 



lied subsoil is chalk with a layer of boulder clay; the sur- 



'ard face soil is clay and gravel with occasional chalk. There 



i of is a chalk-pit south of the village and a gravel-pit in 



field east of the vicarage. The village has many old 



id picturesque cottages. The Buck's Head Inn is 



i early 17th-century timber and plaster house, with 



:b he whogranted * Irnt. Bits. (P.R.O.). 



. Mary of Chat- " Information kindly supplied by the 



n. Eur«r of Trinity Coll. 



31 Liter Antique (ed. Gib 

 95 Information kindly sup 

 Bursar of Trinity Coll. 



