Horse Shoes (½ a mile N. from Smallford Station, G.N.R.) is a hamlet in the parish of Colney Heath.
Howe Green, a small hamlet, is 1¼ mile S. from Cole Green Station, G.N.R. Pretty walks may be taken S. to Bedwell Park, or N.W. to the mill on the Lea, Rye Croft, and Mill Green.
Hunsdon (2 miles N.E. from Roydon Station, Essex) is a very ancient village. The E. Perp. church of flint is thought to date from 1400, and the N. porch of oak is probably coeval with the main structure. Note the finely carved Jacobean screen which divides the Cary Chapel in the S. transept from the nave, and, in the chapel, the imposing monument and alabaster effigies to Sir John Cary (d. 1617) and his wife. The monument is built into the wall; behind it is a rather long, but historically important inscription:—“Here resteth in Peace Sir John Cary, Knight, Baron of Hunsdon (being the fourth Son to the Right Honorable Henry Baron of Hunsdon) and the Lady Mary Hunsdon his Wife, Daughter to Leonard Hide of Throcking in the county of Hertford, Esq.; The Said Sir John Cary was sent to Barwick by the late Queen Elizabeth of Famous Memory, in the Year of our Lord, 1593, to be Marshall of the Town of Barwick, and Captain of Norham; afterwards he was made Governor of the said Town and Garrison of Barwick, and Lord Warden of the East Marches of England,... Scotland, and so he remained until he returned into England with the most famous King James, where he entered into the Possession of the Crown of England; and so having two Sons and two Daughters ended this transitory Life, in an assured Hope to rise again in Christ.” In the chancel windows are some white roses, and a badge of the House of York; note also the canopies in these windows, and the figures of Apostles in the W. window. On the N. wall of nave is a fine brass to James Gray, showing a man shooting at deer with a crossbow; this Gray was gamekeeper for thirty-five years at Hunsdon House. Bishop Ridley preached from the pulpit on several occasions.
Hunsdon House stands between the church and Gilston Park. During the reign of Edward IV., Sir John Oldhall “built here a fair House after the mode of a Castle ... which building, ’tis said, cost £7,222”. This would be an enormous sum of money in those days. The original structure had a high tower and large courtyard. Henry VIII. made the house a palace, and in so doing appears to have almost rebuilt it; it is known that his children were often here, as the King had a high opinion of Hertfordshire air. Queen Elizabeth gave the estate to Sir Henry Cary, Kt., her cousin, and created him Baron Hunsdon. The “palace” was surrounded by a moat, crossed by two bridges; the grand entrance and lofty clock tower, the outhouses and grounds are elaborately depicted in a print in Chauncy’s History. The present house was erected at the beginning of this century, partly on a fresh site, but some portions of what was the W. extremity of the old palace are built into the E. wing. Two fine Jacobean chimney-pieces still remain; but little else is left of the old Tudor home, and the moat has been levelled. The present house, however, is an imposing, even noble structure of red brick, and its position, backed by the grand old elms in the park, is very picturesque. N.E. stood Hunsdon Lodge, the hunting lodge of Queen Elizabeth.
Hunton Bridge is a pleasant little village at the meeting of the roads from Watford, King’s Langley, and St. Albans, on the Grand Junction Canal. The nearest station is King’s Langley (L.&N.W.R.), 1¼ mile N. There is a good modern inn and many pretty cottages, and folk in search of rest and quiet might journey farther and find less suitable retirement. The nearest church is at Langleybury ([q.v.]).
Ickleford, formerly Ickleton, is a village on the Roman Icknield Way, which at this spot fords the little river Hiz; hence its name. It is 2 miles N. from Hitchin. The church was restored in 1860; but portions of the ancient fabric have been carefully retained, and a small chapel added to the chancel. The tower is Norman, as are also part of the nave arcade and the S. doorway. The chancel arch, pointed, is finely carved; the stairs to the rood-loft still remain; there is a piscina in the chancel. Note brass to Thomas Somer and his wife (circa 1400). S. from the church is Ickleford Manor, in a small park, for some years the residence of Commander H. C. Dudley Ryder, R.N. It is not of historic interest.
Ippollitts or St. Ippolitts (2 miles S.E. from Hitchin) was formerly called Hippolits, Eppalets or Pallets, according to the taste of the speaker. It was thought by Norden to owe its name to Hippolits, a supposed Saint, who was very skilful in the treatment of horses. After the Saint’s death a shrine was placed to his honour in the parish church, and to this shrine near the high altar divers persons brought their ailing steeds to be healed by the attendant priest with the help of relics of the Saint. The relics were of efficacy commensurate with the gifts of those who desired the Saint’s blessing! “The horses,” says one writer, “were brought out of the North Street, through the North Gate, and the North Door of the Church, which was boarded on purpose to bring up the horses to the Altar.” The church was restored in 1878; it is of flint and rubble, and is now chiefly Perp. and Dec. with a few older portions. Note (1) ambry and double piscina in the chancel; (2) brass in N. transept to Robert Poydres (d. 1401); (3) brasses in chancel, with effigies, to the Hughes family, one of whom, Alice, was daughter of Thomas Bybsworth, “an ancient dweller in this parish”; she died 1594. There is a tumulus about 1 mile S.
Kelshall (2½ miles S.E. from Ashwell Station, G.N.R.) has a restored, but interesting church, dedicated to St. Faith, partly Perp. and partly Dec. Over the S. porch is a small chamber, and in the N. aisle is a recess, the nature of which is not quite understood, but it was probably used for the safe-keeping of banner-staves, crosses and other pre-Reformation ornaments. There is a brass with two effigies to “Rychard Adane and Maryon his Wyff” (d. 1400 and 1435 respectively). In the churchyard is an old sundial on the shaft of a stone cross. John Janeway, a young divine of astonishing spirituality, whose Life, by his brother James, was subsequently prefaced by Robert Hall, was buried here in 1657: Richard Baxter was one of his admirers. The Manor of Chelesell was the property of the Abbot of Ely at the time of the Conquest, having been given to that ancient foundation by the father of Edward the Confessor.
Kensworth was transferred to Bedfordshire in 1897.
Kimpton (about 2¾ miles N. from Wheathampstead Station) lies between the hills that lead N. to Whitwell and S.E. to Ayot St. Lawrence. The village is very ancient, and was called Kimeton in Saxon days. The church, a little N. from the centre of the village, has been much restored: the N. aisle was added in 1861; the tower and the N. porch (over which is a parvise, as at Kelshall) were restored in 1887-8; the chancel in 1890, when the reredos was added. The building is E.E. Note the finely carved oak screen separating the S. aisle from the Dacre Chapel, formerly the rood screen, the piscina in the chapel itself, and the stained glass in the E. window to Thomas, twenty-second Baron Dacre (d. 1890), to whom the reredos is also a memorial. Kimpton Hoo, in a beautiful park of about 250 acres, is 1 mile N.E. from the village. It is the seat of Viscount Hampden. Pretty walks may be taken E. viâ Kimpton Mill to Codicote, N. to Bendish and Whitwell, W. to Peter’s Green, or S. to Lamer Park.