A HISTORY OK HERTFORDSHIRE 



opening has been cut through the cast end of the 

 wall, and above it is the blocked doorway to the rood- 

 loft.' The three-light window and the doorway in 

 the south wall are modern. The roof is probably of 

 i ^th-ctntury date and is plain. 



In the north wall of the aisle arc two modem 

 windows ; in the west wall is a two-light window 

 with modern mullions and tracery ; the outer four- 

 centred arch is of brick of the early 16th century 

 with hollow-chamfered edge and label over. 



The west tower is of three stages with embattled 

 parapet ; the roof is pyramidal and slated and is 

 crowned with a small octagonal leaded spire. The 

 tower arch is very lofty and consists of three splayed 

 continuous orders which are stopped on a splay at the 

 base. The west doorway has 



vith i 



■ ulded label formir 



squa: 



head < 



and jamb are continuously moulded and on 



each side is a niche for an image, with crocketed 

 canopy, and at the apex are carved figures of two 

 angels ; in the spandrels are carved figures of angels 

 holding censers ; the doorway is much decayed and 

 has been repaired with cement. The west window is 

 of three dnquefoiled lights with traccried head, and 

 has been repaired with cement ; the belfry windows 

 are also much decayed ; they arc of two cinquefoiled 

 lights with traccried heads. Their moulded labels are 

 returned round the tower as a string-course. The angle 

 buttresses of the tower terminate at the belfry stage. 



The octagonal font is of clunch and dates from the 

 latter part of the I ;th century ; the south side of the 

 bowl is plain, the others have traccried panels ; the 

 stem is plain. 



At the west end of the nave and atsle and in the 

 chancel are some 16th-century benches and standards ; 

 the communion rail is of late 17th-century date and 

 has twisted balusters. 



There are five bells : the treble by Thomas Mean, 

 1S38; the second by Lester & Pack, 1757; the 

 third is inscribed 'Sancta Margarcta Ora Pro Nobis'; 

 the fourth by William Rofford, undated, but probably 

 c. 1350 ; the fifth by Miles Graye, 1616. 



The communion plate consists of a cup, 1562, a 

 cover paten without hall marks, dated 1630, a large 

 paten, 1713,3 modern paten and a plated cup. 



The registers are in four books as follows : {i} 

 baptisms 1580 to 1730, burials 1565 to 1736, 

 marriages 1562 to 1730; (») baptisms and buriali 

 1731 to 177;, marriages 1750 to 1753 ; (iii) bap- 

 tisms and burials 1776 to 1812 ; (iv) marriages 1755 

 to 1812. 



The advowson of the church w« 

 ADl'Oli'SON appurtenant to the manor of West- 

 mill held by the Leukenores. In 

 1311 John de Leukcnorc conveyed it to Walter de 

 Huntingfield, 70 from whom it was evidently acquired 

 hy Aymer de Valence Earl of Pembroke. 80 It 

 descended with the manor of Westmillbury until 

 1 796, when it was reserved in the conveyance of the 

 manor by Philip Earl of Hardwicke to John Mcliish. 81 

 The living is now in the gift of Mr. T. T. Greg of 

 Coles. 



A meeting-place for Quakers was certified in 

 Westmill in 1693, and one for Protestants in 1810." 

 There is now 00 Nonconformist place of worship in 

 the parish. 



In 1826 Philip Earl of Hardwicke, 



CHARITIES by deed dated 13 November, gave 



the land tax or annual sum of £1% 



charged upon the parsonage-house of Westmill for 



the benefit of the National school. 



In 1736 Jane Francis by her will charged a 

 messuage and garden in the village with 101. a year 

 for the poor. 



WIDFORD 



Wideford, Wydeford, Wydmrd <xi-xvi cent.) ; 

 Wodeford (once in xiv cent.) ;' generally Widford after 



Widford is a small parish of 1,167 acres, of which 

 about two-thirds are arable land and about one 

 quarter pasture. 1 The commons, which were exten- 

 sive, were inclosed under an award of 185.6. 2 The 

 only wood of any size is Lily Wood to the west of 

 the village ; Mirshland Wood, which adjoined East- 

 wick Wood in the neighbouring parish of Eastwick, 

 was cut down about 1877. The River Ash, some- 

 times called Widford River, runs in a westerly direc- 

 tion through the northern part of the parish. From 

 north to south the parish is intersected by the road 

 from Hadham to Hunsdon and Sianstead Abbots, 

 whilst at right angles with this another road joins 

 the village with Ware on the west. The Great 

 Eastern railway has a station on the Buntingford 

 branch at Widford, at some distance to the west of 

 the village. 



The meadows occupying the low ground by the 

 Ash on the north of the parish are pleasant, the 

 banks of the stream being lined with willows. The 

 ground rises steeply to the south of the river. On 

 the cast and west the parish is flat and uninteresting. 

 The soil is mixed, the subsoil clay and chalk. 



On a hill on the north-west of the parish are two 

 barrows of unknown date, one of which was opened 

 by the Hon. Richard Braybrook in 1851. It has 

 been suggested that the names Godwyn's Wood and 

 Battles Wood in the neighbourhood may tradition- 

 ally preserve the history of some local event. 3 

 Barrow Farm, to the north, takes its name from the 

 tumuli. 4 Nether Street is the name of a road, lately 

 re-made and planted with trees, which enters the 

 parish on the east and, after running in a curiously 

 straight line for some distance, is continued as a lane 

 on to the river, and is traceable for some way on the 

 other side, passing close by Barrow Hill. It then 

 joins another lane which here for 2 little distance 



•A of F. Her 



.Mi). 



.Elw.II.n-v.&t. 



e 365, , 



81 Close, 3 6 Geo. Ill, pt iiiii, no. 6. 

 6s Urwick, op. cit. 724. 

 1 Statistics !M.m EJ. of Asric. (190O. 

 ' Blue Bk. ltd. Aiuardi, 65. 

 1 East Htr,i. Anh. Set. Triou. ii, 130. 



Widford Glebe clo» 



Goodwynj (16] 1-96), which wii f robiblj 

 in this field (information from Mr. H. 

 Gosselin Crimihawe). 



' Atteberwe and Dt la Berwe are tht 



