CODICOTE
Cuthingcoton (xi cent.); Cudithote (xii cent.);
Cudicote (xiii cent.); Coticote (xvi cent.); Corricote
and Codicoate (xvii cent.).
The parish of Codicote was originally in the hundred of Broadwater (fn. 1) in which it is locally situated,
but was attached to the hundred of Cashio (fn. 1a) by the
abbot of Saint Albans. The chief part of the parish
lies at a height of about 400 ft. above ordnance datum,
but it drops considerably in the west and south
to the bed of the little river Mimram or Maran
which forms part of the boundary there. On the
slopes are large beechwoods and there is some open
furze common.
The village of Codicote lies along the old turnpike
road about half-way between Hatfield and Hitchin,
and here the main highway is joined by a branch road
which runs north from Wheathampstead. The church
stands a little way from the village on
the east. There are several hamlets on
this side of the parish namely, Driver's
End, Nup End, Plummer's, Rabley
Heath, and Potters' Heath. The last
named is the largest and contains a dozen
or so cottages built by Colonel Blake for
his labourers. The others each contain
one farm and two or three cottages.
In the north of the parish to the west
of the high road is a house called the
Node, standing in its park, which is the
residence and property of Mr. Montagu
Whittingham Price.
Codicote Lodge is the residence of
Mr. Walter Spencer, who is a tenant
of Lord Hampden.
The soil is chalk and flint and the
subsoil chalk. The chief crops are
wheat, barley, and turnips. In 1905 about 1,430
acres in the parish were arable land, 461 acres permanent grass, and there were 42½ acres of woodland. (fn. 2)
There is no station within the parish, but Knebworth, 3 miles north-east, and Welwyn, 3 miles south-east, both have stations on the main line of the Great
Northern Railway. The following place names occur
in a sixteenth-century inquisition, Radling Grove,
Monks Grove, Cokreth Ryddye.
In 1831 an ancient public footpath through Knebworth Park and other paths in the parish of Codicote
were stopped up by Elizabeth Barbara Bulwer Lytton,
widow. (fn. 3)
MANORS
In the year 1002 Ethelred granted to
his 'fathful minister' Elphelmus 5 'mansae' in the place which is called in English
Act Cuthingcoton, to enjoy for his life and dispose of
as he would at his death. This land Elphelmus gave
to the abbot and convent of St. Albans in whose hands
it remained until the dissolution of the monastery. (fn. 4)
In the Domesday Survey it is said that in the reign of
King Edward there had been two manors in this
parish, namely Codicote and Oxew'iche, but they had
been formed into one before 1086. In King Edward's
reign, Alwin Gotone held three hides under the abbot
and the count of Mortain's men entered upon the manor
and succeeded in wresting 15 acres from the abbot. (fn. 5)
The abbots of St. Albans claimed, in addition to the
extensive liberties which they enjoyed in all their
manors, to hold a market and fair at Codicote. (fn. 6) Both
seem to have been obtained from Henry III, by Abbot
Roger of Norton. (fn. 7) In 1262 the jurors before the
itinerant justices presented that 'the abbot of St. Albans who now is, since the last eyre raised a market at
Codicote on Fridays, now ten years passed'; (fn. 8) and in
1272 the abbot and convent obtained a charter granting to them a fair at their manor of Codicote on four
days in the year, namely on the vigil and feast of
Saint James the Apostle and the two following days. (fn. 9)
In the twelfth century Codicote and Walden contributed fifty hens and one pig at Christmas, and 1,000
eggs and one pig at Easter towards the monks' kitchen. (fn. 10)
When Abbot Hugh of Eversdon, two centuries later,
was obliged to lease the manor for a term of years, not
stated, in order to meet the expenses which he had
incurred, he received for the property together with
the mill a total rent of £100. (fn. 11) Sixty years afterwards
this same mill was almost destroyed by fire during the
disturbances consequent upon the stern repression of
the peasants' revolt in 1381. (fn. 12) The incendiary was
said to have been a relative of one of the victims
who had been hanged at Saint Albans by order of the
king, and the abbot was at a loss to understand his
enmity to himself; the hostility of the abbey tenants
towards their overlords during the revolt, however,
seems to have been such as to justify an indiscriminating peasantry in identifying the abbot with any
punishment it might incur. However this might be,
the mill was saved on this occasion by the promptitude
of the miller, and the disturbances ceased, though the
actual perpetrator of them was never discovered.
Codicote: The George and Dragon Inn, 1899
At the Dissolution the manor of Codicote came to
the king's hands, and in 1544 it was granted by him
to one Robert Langley, with power of redemption
within a year. (fn. 13) This redemption seems to have taken place,
for in 1545 the manor with
the water-mill was granted to
John Penne, the king's barber-surgeon (fn. 14) and groom of the
privy-chamber; he died in
1558 (fn. 15) and was succeeded by
his son Thomas, who appears
to have joined with his mother
Lucy in selling part of the
demesne lands and the site of
the manor to his brother
Robert, (fn. 16) who died in February 1592–3, having previously
settled the site of the manor,
Codicote Bury, with certain other lands on his
daughter Anne, the wife of Walter Grey. (fn. 17) Thomas
Penne died in 1603 seised of the manor of Codicote
with the exception of the eighteen messuages and
lands which he had sold to his brother, leaving
Thomas son of John, his grandson and heir, under
age. (fn. 18)
Penne of Codicote. Argent a fesse gules between three lapwings azure with a leopard or between two combs argent on the fesse.
At this time the manor was held of the king in
chief by the service of one fortieth part of a knight's
fee. (fn. 19) In 1653 this John
joined with his sons in selling
the manor to George Poyner,
of the parish of St. Peter-le-Poer in London. (fn. 20) The estate descended to his granddaughter Anne, (fn. 21) who married
James Bisse, (fn. 22) and in 1770
their son George Poyner Bisse (fn. 23)
sold the estate to Thomas
Brand of the Hoo, Kimpton,
from whom it has descended
to the present Viscount Hampden. (fn. 24)
Brand, Viscount Hampden. Azure two crossed swords with their hilts or between three scallops or.
The present manor house,
known as the Bury, is a tall
square red-brick house, near the church. It contains a
very handsome carved oak staircase which reaches to the
top of the house. Several of the rooms are oak panelled,
and have carved overmantels. Other rooms show traces
of having been at one time also panelled. Until two
years ago all the oak in the house was covered with
thick coats of paint, but the staircase has been restored
to its original beauty and the panelling is being cleaned.
The present tenant is Mr. J. L. Hunter.
The manor of SISSERFENS (Sisvierne, xii cent.,
Sisseverne, xiii cent.) is situated in the south-eastern
part of the parish near the borders of Welwyn. As
early as the year 1166 William de Sisvierne was one of
the knights who held under the abbey of St. Albans, (fn. 25)
and in 1210 William de Sisseverne held one hide and
half a virgate of land of the abbot, and together with
the tenants of Childwick, Meriden and Norton, owed
the service of one knight to the king. (fn. 26) In 1245
Thomas de Sisseverne seems to have held part of the
same fee, (fn. 26a) and was apparently succeeded some time
prior to 1258 by another William. (fn. 27) Abbot Roger
of Norton (1260–90) obtained a quitclaim of a rent
in Codicote from a Thomas de Sisseverne, (fn. 28) who is
the last of that name of whom mention has been found.
It would appear that before the year 1301–2 the estate
had passed to one Cheval, (fn. 29) who is numbered amongst
the co-parceners of the knight's fee of Childwick,
Meriden Broadway, Sisseverne and Norton at that
date, in the following year it
is definitely stated that Thomas Cheval held one sixth
part of one knight's fee in
Codicote (fn. 30) of the abbot of
Saint Albans, and in 1428
the heirs of John Cheval seem
to have been holding here. (fn. 31)
Chauncy, in his Antiquities of
Hertfordshire, gives a pedigree
of this family, according to
which it would appear that
John was succeeded in the
estate by one Edmund, whose
son Edmund had an only
daughter Lucy; her marriage with John Penne in
the early years of the reign of Henry VIII brought
Sisserfens into the hands of the family who subsequently
held the manor of Codicote. Sufficient evidence has
not been found entirely to confirm the pedigree traced
by Chauncy, but the statement with regard to the
marriage of Penne with the heiress of the Chevals
would seem to be correct; (fn. 32) from this time the two
manors followed the same descent till 1698 when John
Poyner sold Sisserfens to Thomas Kentish (fn. 33) in whose
family it remained till 1814 (fn. 34) when it was held by the
Rev. John Kentish.
Cheval. Azure three horses' heads argent cut off at the neck with their bridles gules.
Cussans says (fn. 35) that the Rev. John Kentish died without issue, in 1853, and Mary his widow (nèe Kettle) to
whom the estate came, died in 1864, having devised it
to her niece Mrs. Sarah Scott, of Stourbridge. The
manor now belongs to Colonel Arthur M. Blake,
C.B. V.D., of Danesbury, Welwyn. There is now
a farm-house bearing the name of Sisserfens.
The estate of ABBOTS HAY was a portion of the
manor of Codicote sold by
John Penne to Nicholas Bristowe in 1546. (fn. 36) This estate
descended with the family of
Bristowe till 1697. (fn. 37) Some
fifty years later it had passed
to Sarah Poynter, (fn. 38) and in
1795 it had passed to Thomas
Brand, (fn. 39) in whose descendant,
Viscount Hampden, it is now
vested.
Blake of Danesbury. Argent a cheveron between three sheaves sable.
Another estate, called MICHELL'S FEE, was carved
out of his manor of Codicote
by John Penne in 1546, (fn. 40) and
sold to John Michell. In 1659 John Michell
received licence to alienate to his son Thomas this
estate, which was held of the queen for onehundredth part of a knight's fee. (fn. 41)
The manor descended in the family of Michell till
1704, (fn. 42) when Thomas Michell held it, after which
date its history is lost.
CHURCH
The church of ST. GILES has a
chancel 17 ft. by 12 ft., with a south
chapel (the Dacre chapel) 17 ft. by
15 ft. 6 in., nave 46 ft. by 17 ft. 6 in., with south
aisle 63 ft. 6 in. by 13 ft., south porch and west
tower 14 ft. 4 in. by 13 ft. 4 in., all measurements
being internal.
The plan is in several respects a curious one, and
the building has evidently developed in an unusual
manner, but most unfortunately a drastic 'restoration'
carried out in 1853 has destroyed any evidences
which might have given the key to the question of
its growth.
The earliest parts are probably the west tower,
whose massive walls are 5 ft. 2 in. thick in the ground
story, and the south wall of the south aisle, (fn. 43) 3 ft. 8 in.
thick, but neither has any architectural detail which
can be older than the fifteenth century.
Ralph, bishop of Rochester, 1108–14, dedicated
the church of Codicote, (fn. 44) but whether any part of the
existing building belongs to this time is a matter of
conjecture only; the thickness of the walls is, of
course, in favour of an early date. The centre line
of the nave is nearly 3 ft. to the south of that of the
tower, and the north wall of the tower projects some
4 ft. northward of that in the nave. (fn. 45) In the nave
wall, which is only 2 ft. thick, and close to its
junction with the tower, is a much repaired lancet
window which may belong to the beginning of the
thirteenth century; and the bases of the south
arcade of the nave have a thirteenth-century profile,
and may be earlier than the arcade. The south or
Dacre chapel (fn. 46) is said to have been built in 1312,
and the arches which separate it from the nave and
south aisle might well be of this date, the chancel
arch and nave arcade, except for its bases, being of
like detail and perhaps contemporary. There are
several bequests to the church in the St. Albans wills
of the fifteenth century, to the fabric in 1427 and
1473, to mending the belfry in 1449, and to repair
in 1471, but nothing done during this century appears
to have affected the plan. (fn. 47) In 1853 the west wall
of the south aisle was taken down and the aisle
lengthened.
The north and east windows of the chancel are
modern, and in the north wall is a modern trefoiled
recess used as a credence. On the south the chancel
opens by an arcade of two bays, of two chamfered orders
with octagonal shafts and moulded capitals and bases,
into the Dacre chapel, which is of the same length as the
chancel but wider. The chapel is now used as an organ
chamber, and has an east window of three lights, and
a south doorway made in 1853, with a modern trefoiled recess taking the place of a piscina. The west
arches of the chancel and chapel have the same detail
as the arcade which separates them. Cussans mentions
an inscription recording the building of the chapel in
1312, set over the arcade, and an inscription exists
in that position, but making no reference to anything
of the sort. It is on a white marble slab and records,
in a Latinity characteristic of its date, the making in
1736 of a vault by James Bisse, and the placing
therein of such of his ancestors' bones as he could
collect. The nave has in its north wall, in addition
to the thirteenth-century lancet at the west, already
noted, three windows of fifteenth-century style, in
modern stonework, the middle window of three
lights with a four-centred head, and the others of
two lights with square heads. The south arcade is of
four bays, with details like the arches in the chancel
and chapel, but bases of earlier style, as before noted.
The clearstory has three windows a side, square-headed of two cinquefoiled lights, the stonework
being modern; it was doubtless first built with
the aid of the fifteenth-century bequests already
noted. The south aisle is lighted by three threelight windows on the south dating from 1853, and
a two-light window in the western extension, which
is used as a vestry, and has a doorway in its northwest angle. The south doorway is also modern, with
its door, but a piece of wrought-iron scroll work of
simple and probably early date is fixed to the new
door. It may be as old as the twelfth century.
The tower of three stages has a heavy eastern arch
of two orders, with a round shaft to the inner order,
of fifteenth-century date, the opening being nearly of
the full span of the tower. There is a west doorway,
and over it a three-light window of fifteenth-century
style, all the stonework being modern. There is a
vice in the south-west angle, its lower door preserving
the old strap hinges; it stops at the first floor,
which is used as the ringing loft, and has a trefoiled window on the east. The belfry windows
are completely modernized, and the tower is refaced
throughout.
There are no old fittings in the church except the
pulpit, which belongs to the early part of the seventeenth century, and has two tiers of panels, the upper
arcaded and the lower with lozenges in the middle of
the panels. The octagonal font is modern, and stands
under the tower.
There are six bells, all by John Briant of Hertford,
the treble of 1812, the tenor of 1792, and the others
of 1782. On the sound bow of the treble is this
inscription:—
Thomas Quint he gave me
With good will frank and free
For to ring merriley.
The plate consists of a small communion cup of
1558, with a cover paten of 1568, and a large standing
paten of 1772, given in that year by George North,
vicar.
The registers begin in 1559; Book i contains baptisms from 1559 to 1667, burials from 1558 to 1666,
and marriages from 1559 to 1687; Book ii, baptisms
and burials from 1559 to 1808; and marriages from
1559 to 1771; Book iii, baptisms and burials from
1809 to 1812; Books iv, v and vi, marriages from
1754 to 1791, 1792 to 1808, and 1809 to 1812
respectively. These six books are now in two
volumes. (fn. 47a)
ADVOWSON
The advowson and rectory of the
church of Codicote belonged to the
priory of Sopwell till its dissolution in
1537, but the date at which they acquired it is not
known. (fn. 47b) In 1534, the farm of the rectory was leased
to John Michell for twenty-one years, (fn. 48) and ten years
later Henry VIII granted the rectory and advowson
of Codicote to his servant, Sir Richard Lee. (fn. 49) At the
beginning of the next century the rectory, which had
been lately in the possession of Thomas, Lord Seymour
of Sudeley, but had come into the hands of the king
on Seymour's attainder, was conveyed to the bishop
of Ely, (fn. 50) and the advowson was in his gift apparently from 1661 to 1852, when it was transferred to
the archbishop of Canterbury, (fn. 51a) who is the present
patron. (fn. 52)
Three Nonconformist ministers of note are connected
with this parish. Robert Lockyer (fn. 53) and Nathanael
Eeles both preached here, and Jeremiah Burwell died
at Sisserfens. (fn. 54) In a list of 'Conventicles' of 1669
Codicote is said to possess four, and the manor-house
of Sisserfens was registered in 1689 for Protestant
dissent. (fn. 55)
CHARITIES
In 1616 Richard Hale, citizen and
grocer of London, by his will charged
his capital messuage or farm called
Hallwood's or Perkin's in this parish and Welwyn
with the annual payment of £5, £4 to be distributed
amongst the poorest inhabitants on Christmas Day
and St. John Baptist's Day equally, and 20s. for two
sermons on the Sundays next after the feasts of St.
Bartholomew and Sts. Philip and James.
The rent-charge is duly paid by Colonel A. M.
Blake, C.B., the owner. By an order made in 1899
under the Local Government Act, 1894, the charity
was apportioned as to £1 for ecclesiastical purposes,
and the residue for non-ecclesiastical purposes, and
trustees appointed.
Prior to 1666 (when the property charged was
burnt down) Joseph Parratt, by his will, gave to the
poor of this parish £6 per annum, payable out of his
freehold lands and houses in Little King's Head
Court, Shoe Lane, London. The rent-charge is
paid, less £1 4s. for land tax.
Poor's Land Charity.—The parish was formerly
possessed of two acres called 'Labour in Vain,' lying
intermixed with other lands, which, under the Inclosure Act of 1510, was exchanged for 5 roods of land
called Hallard's Close, now let at £4 10s. a year.
In 1692 Haynes Barlee by will devised 'Harrolds'
and 5 closes of land in Berden, Essex, to trustees,
rents to be applied in apprenticing one poor child to
be selected from three parishes in Essex, two parishes
in Cambridgeshire, and from this parish.
The sum of £12 is received every sixth year from
Clavering, Essex, and applied in apprenticing. The
last payment was made in 1904.
In 1712 Thomas Kentish by his will gave an
annuity of 10s. issuing out of a farm called Sisserfens
for bread for the poor. The charge is paid by Colonel
Blake, C.B. The income of these charities is applied
mainly in the distribution of money.
In 1904 Mary Ilott by will left £200 to the
parish council upon trust out of the income to keep
up certain graves in the churchyard as long as the law
would permit, and subject thereto to divide the
annual income on or about Christmas Eve between
not more than twelve needy widows and widowers
over sixty years of age settled in the parish. The
legacy—less duty—was invested in £170 7s. 4d.
Metropolitan Consolidated 3½ per cent. stock in
the corporate name of 'the Official Trustees of Charitable Funds.'