HERTFORD HUNDRED 



parish. They formed a ' hardwich ' of Stevenage, 13 

 to which manor they remained appurtenant." 



The church of ST. PETER stands 

 CHURCH about a quarter of a mile to the south- 

 west of the village ; it consists of a 

 chancel 28 ft. 6 in. by 1 5 ft., north vestry, nave 

 36 ft. 6 in. by 18 ft. 6 in., south aisle 38 ft. 6 in. 

 by 7 ft., south porch 12 ft. by 9 ft., and west tower 

 12 ft. square. These measurements are all internal. 

 The walls are built of flint rubble covered with cement 

 and have stone dressings ; the roofs are tiled. 



The nave, and probably the chancel, were erected 

 in the late 1 1 th or early 1 2th century. Early in the 

 13th century the chancel was altered and possibly 

 partly rebuilt ; later in the same century or early in 

 the next the south aisle was added and clearstory 

 windows inserted above the arcade. 15 The west tower 

 was built about the end of the 15th century and the 

 south porch added in the 16th century. The church 

 was repaired during the 19th centur 

 it was carefully restored ; a number of 

 were brought to light and a modern vestry 

 on the north side of the chancel. 



In the east wall of the chancel [O 

 is a late 15th-century window of 

 three cinquefoiled lights, most of 

 which is of modern stonework. 

 The only opening in the north 

 wall is the modern doorway to 

 the vestry. In the south wall 

 are two early 1 3th-century lancet 

 windows, with deeply splayed 

 jambs and chamfered rear-arch. 

 West of these is a window of two 

 cinquefoiled lights with a square 

 head, of late 15th-century date. 

 At the east end of the wall is a 

 piscina with splayed edge and 

 pointed trefoiled head, with a 

 scroll- moulded label, probably of 

 late 13th or early 14-th-century 

 date ; the projecting basin has 

 been cut away. In the same wall 

 is a blocked modern doorway. 



The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders which 

 die upon splayed jambs. 



In the north wall of the nave close to the east end 

 is the eastern jamb and part of the rear-arch of an 

 early blocked window ; west of this are two late 

 1 5th-century windows, each of two cinquefoiled 

 lights under a square head ; between them, high 

 up in the wall, is a narrow round-headed window, 

 now blocked, of late nth or early 12th-century date. 

 The north doorway with single splayed edge is almost 

 entirely of modern stonework ; above is a small square 

 window probably inserted to light a gallery erected 

 in 1864, now removed. On the south side of the 

 nave is an arcade of three bays of the 13th century. 

 The arches are of two splayed orders ; the piers are 

 octagonal with moulded capitals and damaged bases ; 

 the chamfers have been omitted on the south side of 

 the western bay of the arcade. On the north-west 

 face of the eastern pier is a small pointed niche with 

 a hole in the stonework underneath, probably for a 

 bracket to support a light. Over the piers are two 



TEWIN 



blocked clearstory windows contemporary with the 

 arcade; they are circular on the outside and have round- 

 headed rear arches inside ; they are now covered by 

 the aisle roof, which is a continuation of that over 

 the nave. In the south wall of the aisle are two 

 13th-century lancet windows; in the east wall is a 

 window of two cinquefoiled lights under a square 

 head, of late 15th-century date. The south doorway 

 has moulded jambs and arch of mid-i+th-century 

 date, with label stops outside much defaced. On the 

 eastern jamb of the doorway outside is an oval recess, 

 formerly the stoup. The south porch is built of 

 timber and brick and is of 16th-century date ; a 

 large 18th-century monument to General Joseph 

 Sabine, Governor of Gibraltar, and one of Marl- 

 borough's generals, blocks the original entrance, but 

 a modern doorway has been opened in the west side. 

 In the west wall of the aisle, high up, is a small 

 square-headed window of 18th-century date. The 

 nave roof is of 15th-century date; the rafters are 

 plastered underneath, but the moulded tie-beams are 

 exposed. 



The west to-. 

 buttresses on the 

 is about 3 ft. 6n 



II IB Century 

 131 Century 



^141 Century 

 S3 I5HI Century 

 e^ I61U Century 

 EZiD 18™ Century 

 □Modern 



s of two stages, with diagonal 

 : ; the centre line of the tower 

 rth of that of the nave, the two 

 alls being nearly in a line. The tower arch 

 is of two splayed orders which die upon square 

 jambs. The west doorway is modern. In the north 

 wall is a blocked 18th-century door. Over the west 

 doorway is a single pointed light. The belfry stage 

 has windows of two cinquefoiled lights ; the parapet 

 is embattled, and above is a low timber spire. 



The communion table appears to be cf late 17th- 

 century date. In the chancel is a slab of Pur beck 

 marble inscribed ' Orate pro anima Walter! de Louthe.' 

 He was instituted rector of the church early in the 

 14th century. There are several 17th-century slabs 

 in the chancel to members of the Butler family of 

 Queenhoo Hall. In the south aisle is a small brass, 

 with figure, inscription anc 



3 Thomas Pygot 

 id 10. 



There are live bells : the treble by John Briant, 

 1799 ; the second, third, fourth and fifth by Anthony 



i, 3.2*. 



+85 



