A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



The church of ST. MARY consists 

 CHURCHES of chancel 44 ft. by 23 ft. 6 in., nave 

 58 ft. by 28 ft., north aisle 59 ft. by 

 it ft. 6 in., south aisle (inclusive of south chapel) 

 73 ft. by 19 ft., south porch 12 ft. by I oft., west 

 tower 19 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft. ; all internal dimensions, 

 The church is built of flint rubble with stone dress- 

 ings, the chancel walls being coated with cement ; the 

 roofs are covered with lead. 



It is probable that the main part of the chancel, 

 nave and lower stage of the tower were built in the 

 13th century; the north and south aisles and the 

 south chapel were added early in the 14th century ; 

 the clearstory was raised and the nave re-roofed in 

 the 1 5th century, and probably about the same 

 period the south porch was erected and the upper 



The south chapel is used as a vestry, and is partly 

 rilled by the organ. The three-light east window ii 

 of modem stonework ; in the south wall is a blocked 

 window of 14th-century date. At the west end on 

 the north side is the doorway to the rood stair ; the 

 upper doorway opens into the nave ; the stair ii 

 partly blocked. The west end of the chapel opens 

 into the south nave aisle without any structural 

 division. 



The nave has north and south arcades of three 

 bays of pointed arches ; the arches are of two moulded 

 orders, with labels and head stops ; the piers are of 

 quatrefoil section and have moulded capitals and 

 bases. The details of the two arcades differ, the 

 north arcade being the richer, and is probably some 

 twenty years earlier in date than the other. The 



6a waaiDCE worth C; 



from the South-east 



part of the tower built. In 1870 the whole church 

 was repaired, much of the stonework renewed, and 

 the chancel re-roofed. 



In the east wall of the chancel is a large five-light 

 window, one of two lights in the north wall, and two 

 of three lights in the south are almost entirely of 

 modern stonework. The partially blocked doorway 

 on the north side is of 1 cth-century date, it probably 

 opened into a vestry, now destroyed ; the doorway has 

 a four-centred arch with moulded jambs. The south 

 chancel doorway is modern. At the west end of the 

 south wall is a pointed arch of two richly- moulded 

 orders, now blocked by the organ. The inner order 

 is carried on moulded corbels ; it is of about 1300. 

 The chancel arch is of two splayed orders, with jambs 

 of similar section ; it is of 13th-century work, but 

 the jambs, capitals and bases have been repaired. 



clearstory windows are of two cinquefoiled arches 

 under square heads, all of modern stonework. The 

 roof is of 15th-century date, with moulded timbers 

 and tracer ied spandrels, the trusses resting on carved 

 stone corbels. 



At the east end of the south wall of the north 

 aisle is a recess, probably a piscina, with a cinque- 

 foiled arch under a square head ; it has been much 

 renewed. The windows in the east and west walls 

 of three cinquefoiled lights, and those in the north 

 wall of two lights, have moulded internal jambs and 

 rear-arches ; they have geometrical tracery under 

 pointed arches, which has been partly renewed. The 

 north doorway with its moulded arch has been largely 

 renewed. Both the windows and the doorway are 

 of 14th-century date. To the east of the doorway, 

 internally, is a recess with square bracket under. 



