|
Stevenage |
|
Adjacent Parishes: Aston, Graveley, Great Wymondley, Hitchin, Ippollitts, Knebworth, Letchworth, Little Wymondley, Shephall, Walkern
It is in Broadwater Hundred and the Hitchin Union
Detail of Charles Smith's
map of Hertfordshire, 1808
See also Stevenage in 1720
| STEVENAGE, a town on the Great North Road, has shifted from
its original position. It once stood farther N.E. and close to
the church; but after a terrible fire which destroyed a large
proportion of its houses the village was gradually rebuilt more
directly on the famous old coaching road. The first paper mill
in England is said to have been built in this parish. Several of
its ends were standing when the regular coaches were on the
road. The old Church of St Nicholas, ¾ mile N.E., is reached through an avenue of limes and chestnuts, headed by a new litch-gate. It is largely Early English. Note the octagonal pillars and pointed arches of the nave and the two small chapels attached to the chancel. The font at the W. end is under an Early Norman arch. There are several modern windows of stained glass, and a good brass, early sixteenth century, in the chancel. The church at the S. End of the town was designed by Sir A. W. Blomfield about forty years back, but has since been much enlarged. Half a mile farther S. on the main road are six almost equidistant mounds, thought to be of Danish origin. At the old Castle Inn, E. side of High Street, great numbers of persons have been shown on the rafters in a barn the coffin of Henry Trigg, whose will was proved in 1724; one of its provisions was that his body should be disposed of in that way. Little more than a mile N.W. from the station, at Redcoats Green, stood, until 1893, "Elmwood House," the home of the Hermit of Hertfordshire. This man, James Lucas, was descended from a good family, but for reasons never satisfactorily explained he lived alone, and in a most filthy condition, from October, 1849, to April, 1874. A concise and reliable account of this peculiar man is issued by Messrs. Paternoster and Hales of Hitchin. |
 |
|
|
|
Book: The History of Stevenage Book: The Book of Stevenage Book: Stevenage History & Guide Book: Notes on Stevenage Illustrated - a 1902 local history. Book: Stevenage - A photographic history (A collection of Frith views) Book: Stevenage Past Book: Stevenage - A History & Celebration Book: Tudor Churchwardens' Accounts Book: The Hellard Almshouses and other Stevenage Charities Book: Stevenage Official Handbook, circa 1990 Article: Monks Wood and Whomerley Wood - Field Survey |
The Font |
 |
Gas House (The Oldest House in Stevenage)
Published by Herbert J. Banks, Stationer & Bookseller, Stevenage
This was formerly the Workhouse. |
Stevenage High Street - Frith
STE 26 - circa 1950
St Nicholas Church - Frith
Postcard posted in 1908 [No 44265 Frith
Year 1899]
Museum: Stevenage Museum - web site www.stevenage.gov.uk/leisureandculture/museum - The Stevenage Society for Local History meets there.
Web Site: Our Stevenage (associated with Hertfordshire Memories)
Web Site: St Nicholas Church, Stevenage
|
|
MARY UNDERWOOD. OB. 1741 This world's a City full of crooked Streets Death is the Market Place where all men meet If life were Merchandise as Men could buy The rich would always live the poor would only die.
An epitaph from Stevanage |
Memorial Inscriptions: A list of the memorials in two cemeteries is on the Jeffery.Knaggs Homepage.
If you know of other books, websites, etc, relating to this place, please tell me.
Last Updated June 2008 - Picture of font
