BRAUGHING HUNDRED 



descended with Standon, 16 being now held by the 

 Duke of Wellington. 



Appurtenant to the manor of Standon Friars was 

 a grange at a place called Papwell to which were 

 attached the tithes of a part of the parish lying 

 between Old Hall Green and Latchford. 1 * The 

 name Papwell does not seem to survive now, but in 

 the 17th century the ' liberty of Poppwell or Pap- 

 well Walk ' occurs as the name of a division of the 

 parish for the collection of the hearth tax, 17 and from 

 thefactthat i;$ householders were assessed there it 

 seems that this district must have included the hamlet 

 of Collier's End. 16 Papwell Walk also occurs as the 

 name of a common field which seems to have lain 

 between Collier's End and Old Hall Green (see 

 above). There is no further record of this grange, 

 but part of the Old Hall estate acquired by Bishop 

 Talbot in 1787 consisted of copyhold held of the 

 rectory manor. 19 The 'parsonage of Standon and 

 Papwell' mentioned in a 16th-century lease shows 

 that there was still a distinction between the tithes 

 of the two districts. 80 



The abbey of Croyland had a small estate in 

 Standon. According to the forged history of Ingulph 

 the abbey had 5 hides there confirmed by chaners of 

 Edred and Edgar, and a house is said to have been 

 built there in 1032 by the Abbot Brichtmer. 21 

 The abbey certainly had lands there in the 13 th 

 century. 23 John Field had a lease of these lands 

 in 1470, and later his widow Agnes and her husband 

 Robert Morton held them. 23 At the time of the 

 Dissolution the farm of the lands was z6/. 24 



In the 10th century a certain Ethelgiva devised 

 lands in Standon to the abbey of St. Albans, but 

 there is no Further trace of them after this date. 25 



The church of ST. MARY, situated 

 CHURCH in the middle of the village, consists of 

 chancel 38 ft. 6 in. by 20 ft. 6 in., 

 north vestry, south organ chamber, nave 71 ft. 6 in. 

 by 22 ft., north and south aisles 73 ft. by 12 ft., 

 south porch 9 ft. by 7 ft. 6 in., west porch 

 14ft. 6 in. by lift., south-east tower 14ft. square, 

 all internal dimensions. The walls are of flint 

 with stone dressings ; the tower is covered with 

 cement. 



The earliest part of the existing church is the 

 chancel, which dates from about 12 30-40. The nave 

 appears to have been rebuilt about the middle of the 

 14th century, but the west doorway is earlier, about 

 1320-30. The north and south aisles are of the same 

 date as the nave. The west porch and a detached 

 tower to the south of the chancel were added in the 

 15th century. The unusual position of the tower is 

 probably due to the existence of the west doorway of 

 an earlier date. In 1 864 the church was thoroughly 

 repaired, much of the external stone was replaced, the 

 whole building re-roofed, a vestry built north, of the 

 chancel, the upper part of the tower repaired with 

 brick and cemented, an organ-chamber erected on the 



STANDON 



south side, connecting the chancel with the tower, 

 and a timber south porch added. 



This church presents several interesting features 

 unusual in the Hertfordshire churches. The chancel has 

 a considerable elevation above the floor of the nave. 

 The floors of both nave and chancel have a perceptible 

 inclination upwards towards the east ; this is pro- 

 bably partly due to the slope of the ground, and there 

 is a belief, which, however, has never been investigated, 

 that a vault exists under the chancel. The other 

 unusual features are the detached tower on the 

 south, now connected with the chancel, and the west 



e by a flight 

 eel, most of 



rch. 



The chancel is approached from the n 

 of eight steps, the full width of the ch 

 them projecting into the nave; the rise 19 4 tt, 1 in. 

 There is another flight of five steps, also the width of 

 the chancel, from the floor of the chancel to the foot 

 pace round the communion table, with a rise of 

 z ft. 3 in. ; there is also a slight slope in the floor 

 upwards towards the east. 



The three single lights in the east wall are modern. 

 To the south of these lights is a moulded bracket sup- 

 ported by an angel bearing a shield, fn the north 

 wall are two modern lancet windows and a doorway 

 to the modern vestry. In the south wall are a single- 

 light window and an arched opening to the organ- 

 chamber, both modem. In the same wall is a blocked 

 doorway. The fine chancel arch dates from about 

 1230-40. The arch is of two richly moulded orders, 

 with the dog-tooth ornament between. The jambs 

 are moulded, and have modern detached shafts of red 

 Devonshire marble. The moulded bases and the 

 capitals of carved foliage are original. The wall on 

 either side of the chance! arch is pierced by a squint 

 with pointed arch ; it was originally open down to 

 the floor, but the lower part was subsequently built 

 up. These openings have been repaired, but appear 

 to be coeval with the chancel arch. 



The nave has north and south arcades of five pointed 

 arches. The arches are of two moulded orders with 

 moulded labels next the nave. The piers, of oolite, 26 

 are of four grouped semi -octagonal shafts separated by 

 a fillet. The capitals and bases are moulded ; they 

 date from about 1340—50. Over each pier is a 

 clearstory window of two lights, the inner jambs of 

 which belong to the early 15th century, the rest of 

 the stonework being modern. 



The west doorway is of early 14th-century date, 

 with moulded chinch arch and jambs of oolite. The 

 west window has four lights, with flowing tracery of 

 about 1340-50. 



The east window of the north aisle is of three 

 cinquefoiled lights with flowing tracery. The west 

 window is also of three lights with flowing tracery. 

 The four windows in the north wall are of two lights 

 with traceried heads. All the windows are of mid- 

 I4th-century date, repaired. On the east wall of the 

 aisle is a bracket for an image, square with a plain 



!i There is a gram to Tipper and 

 Dawe, fishing grantees, in 1592 (Pat 

 3+Eliz. pt . vii, m. 1 [znd pt of roll]). 



16 Cott. MS. Nero, E yi, fol. in. 

 These may have possibly been the endow- 

 ment of an ancient chapel. 



"Lay Subs. R. bdle. 248, no. 2j 

 (.663). 



"The t 



s probably u 



on account of ihe earlier connexion 

 the Hospitallers. 



18 Information from the Rev. E. B 

 D.D. m Cott. MS. Claud, E vi, f< 



31 ' Hist. Croyland Ingulphi,' 

 Anglkamm Scriptorum vettrum, 1, 

 Dugdale, Mm. Angt. \i, 96. 



index, fol. 46. 



> Edw. 



, Agar 



363 



" Harl. Chart. 44 C. 59-64, 44 D. 



2J Dugdale, Mm. Angl. ii, 114. 



" Cott. MS. Nero, D. 7 ; Thorpe, Cad. 

 Dip!. 497. 



M The jambs of the nurth, south and 

 west doorways are also of shelly oolite, 

 the arches are of elunch. 



