Akeley

105. AKELEY.

(O.S. 6 in. xiii. N.E.)

Ecclesiastical

(1). Parish Church of St. James, in the middle of the village, was re-built in 1854. It contains, from the former church, the following:—

Fittings—Bells: two, 2nd by Richard Chandler, 1674. Plate: includes small cup and cover paten of 1569.

Condition—Good.

Secular

Monuments (2–6)

These cottages are all, except one, of one storey and an attic, built c. 1600. The walls generally are timber-framed, with brick filling, apparently not original. Some of the roofs are thatched.

Main road, S. side

(2). Cottage, 40 yards S.E. of the church. It was built probably in the 17th century. The timber-framing has diagonal braces; all the filling is of modern brick. The roof is covered with slate.

Condition—Good, much re-built.

(3). Cottage, about 120 yards S.W. of the church. The filling in the walls is whitewashed.

Condition—Poor.

N. side

(4). Cottage, about 160 yards S.W. of the church. The walls are partly re-built with brick, and partly covered with plaster.

Condition—Fairly good.

The Leckhampstead Road, N. side

(5). Cottage, now two tenements, about 300 yards S.E. of the church. It is of two storeys, the upper storey partly in the roof; the timber-framing has diagonal braces, but has been partly replaced with brick. The original central chimney stack has one square shaft, set diagonally; the second stack was added in the 18th century.

Condition—Good.

S. side

(6). Cottage, opposite to (5), is of two storeys. At the E. end the timber-framing of the gable has a naturally curved tie-beam. At the W. end is an addition, made late in the 17th century, larger than the original cottage, and built of stone; the roof is tiled; the chimney stack is of stone.

Condition—Good.

(7). The Manor House, about ¼ mile S.E. of the church, is of two storeys, built of stone rubble in the middle of the 17th century, and partly re-faced with brick; the roofs are tiled. The plan is L-shaped, the wings extending towards the E. and S., with a modern lean-to addition in the angle between them. In the N. wall, on the ground floor, is an original window of three lights, and, on the first floor, are two windows, each of two lights; all have moulded wooden frames and mullions, with iron casements and simple furniture. The E. front of the S. wing has a gable, partly faced or re-built with brick. The chimney stacks are original, and have square detached shafts, with linked caps.

Condition—Fairly good.

(8). Cottage, 130 yards E. of the Manor House, is of two storeys, the upper storey in the roof, built probably in the 17th century, and timber-framed, with a stone plinth, and brick filling which is probably not original; the N. end has been re-built or re-faced with stone, the W. front with brick. The roof is thatched. The plan is of the central chimney type.

Condition—Fairly good.