A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



with credence shelf; 

 ot early i6th-cer 



mted, and i 

 roof retain 



in buttressed, 

 md modem 



rch, of 



t is of brick, ce 



,vork. The na 

 t old tie-beams. 

 The west tower is of three stages, 

 and is finished with an embattled parapet 

 copper-covered spire ; a turret stair at th 

 angle gives access to the belfry. The to 

 the full width of the tower, is of three continuous 

 moulded orders. The 14th-century west doorway is 

 of two moulded orders and label with returned stops; 

 of the same date is the window above, of two cinque- 

 foiled lights with a cusped opening in the head. 

 On each face of the belfry stage is a window of two 

 trefoiled lights, all of modern stonework. 



The font date? from about tj.zo ; it is octagonal, 

 and on each side of the bowl is a square panel con- 

 taining a cusped circle, the centres being carved with 

 various devices such as the head of a nun, a lion, 



ndents of a half-figui 



In the tower is a slab 

 with shields and inscripti 



The paintings on the chancel 

 by Miss F. C. Hadsley Goneli 



betv 



[881 and 



There are six bells : the treble by Me.irs & 

 Stainbank, 1890 ; the second recast by John Taylor, 

 1S69 ; the third by Robert Oldfeild,' i6z- {incom- 

 plttcdate); the fourth is .1 I jth-century bell inscribed 

 'Sanaa Katcrina Ora Pro Nobis' ; the fifth by Robert 

 Oldfeild, [624 ; the tenor by Lester & Pack, 1766. 



The communion plate consist! of a chased cup, 

 I 562, a cover paten without a hall mark and a 

 modern flagon. 



The registers are in four books as follows : (i) 



baptisms r;6z to 1 644, burials 1558 to 1676, 

 marriages 1558 to 1660 ; (ii) baptisms 1674 to 

 1762, burials 1674 to 1757, marriages 1674 to 

 1752; (iii) baptisms and burials 1763 to 1811 ; 

 (iv) marriages 1754 to 1812. 



The advowson of the church of 

 ADrOiTSON St. John the Baptist was appurte- 

 nant to the manor until the sale of 

 the latter by William Parker Hamond to Nicholas 

 Parry, when it was reserved by Hamond. It was 

 bought about five years ago by Captain Alwyn 

 Gosselin, and the last presentation was made by 

 trustees, he as a Roman Catholic being unable to 

 present.* 3 



A burial-ground for Roman Catholics was made 

 near the churchyard by Sir Martin Gosselin shortly 

 before his death in 1905. IS 



In 1808 Mary Mason by her will 

 CHARITIES gave £300 for the benefit of the 

 poor. The legacy is now repre- 

 sented by a sum of £372 \$s. -]d. consols with the 

 official trustees, producing £i) 6s. 4/ yearly. 



The Parliamentary Returns of 1786 state that a 

 donor unknown gave lands to the poor. The parish 

 is in possession of 1 3 a. 2 r. of land lying in the 

 common fields and producing _£i2 4/. yearly. 



The income from these charities was in 1 9 10 

 applied as to £ 5 as a subscription to a nursing fund, 

 £3 in outfits to five girls, £3 to eight widows, 15*. 

 to two aged men and £5 5*. for special cases. 



The Congregational chapel and trust property 

 comprised in an indenture dated 1; January 1898 is 

 regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners 

 dated 27 April 1906. 



" For 1 dcKriptinn of ihcm ire J. 

 T ravin -Lock wood, IVUhrd and Widfird 

 Char.h, -wiih an rxp/aaarisn of At, rccenlh 

 €ompl,ttd parting b t F. C. HaJiltr Gmtti*. 



•' I normal ion from (he Rev. J. H. 

 Hirt. The Crown prneiiied in i-fic by 

 rcjion of ihe lunacy of William Parker 

 (Guildhall VS. +Si). In 1806 II. Part- 



ridfic pre 



probably pro ka< i>ict 

 frum Mr. H. Gouelin 



