Bygrave

Last updated
Bygrave
St Margaret Church Bygrave 359743 00faaf1c.jpg
Hertfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Bygrave
Location within Hertfordshire
Population304 (2011 Census) [1]
OS grid reference TL265362
Civil parish
  • Bygrave
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Baldock
Postcode district SG7
Dialling code 01462
Police Hertfordshire
Fire Hertfordshire
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire
52°00′34″N0°09′29″W / 52.00952°N 0.15802°W / 52.00952; -0.15802

Bygrave is a village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about 2 miles north-east of Baldock. In the 10th century the parish was called Bigraffan and 11th to 16th centuries Bigrave. [2] According to the 2011 census it had a population of 306. [1] A reservoir is situated behind the Old Rectory and used for irrigation of potato crops by Manor Farm.

Contents

The village stands on a clay-capped hill, a defensive position where the original settlement was surrounded by moats built in 1386 which can still be seen today. From these defences, the whole parish bounded by Icknield Way, the Great North Road, the Cat Ditch and a ridge to the north would have been visible.

The village church is St Margaret's and is dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch, while the site on which it stands dates from at least Saxon times with two phases of Saxon construction from 8th-10th centuries. Some Romano-British pottery, pre-dating the present church by several centuries was found under the north nave wall indicating a much earlier settlement on this site. This church has carvings of the ancient game of Nine Men Morris on the frames of the chancel windows. There are wall paintings that date from the mid fifteenth century. A notable rector here was George Coke who went on to be the bishop of Hereford. [2] The Church is open at weekends only and the key is available from the churchwardens.

The peaceful lane leading to the church was once the centre of a busy village and known as the Market Place and flourished between the 13th and 15th centuries. There was a 3-day annual fair beginning at the feast of St Margaret. The date was changed to Easter Monday and survived until Victorian days.

The Manor Farm has contributed much to the life of this village, from when most people living there were actually employed on the farm, to the present day. Sheep are still grazed on the Common.

There is also a tiny airfield used for microlight aircraft.

Sport and Leisure

Croquet

Bygrave Croquet Club was based at The Moat House until 2017 when the owners of the property moved to Great Dunham, Norfolk.

Handbell Ringing

The Bygrave Handbell Ringers were formed in 1999 with the idea of ringing in the millennium. The team has 13 members and meets every week at The Moat House. They give many public performances in the community each year including the Carol Service at St Margaret's Church on Christmas Eve. Their strangest concert was in the Baldock Bypass tunnel before it was opened to traffic in 2006.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herringfleet</span> Human settlement in England

Herringfleet is a place and former civil parish, now in the parish of Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet, in the East Suffolk district, in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is located 5.5 miles (8.9 km) north-west of Lowestoft. The parish was combined with Somerleyton and Ashby to create the parish of "Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet" on 1 April 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldock</span> Town in Hertfordshire, England

Baldock is a historic market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The River Ivel rises from springs in the town. It lies 33 miles (53 km) north of London and 14 miles (23 km) north northwest of the county town of Hertford. Nearby towns include Royston to the northeast, Letchworth and Hitchin to the southwest and Stevenage to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chadlington</span> Human settlement in England

Chadlington is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode Valley about 3 miles (5 km) south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village has four neighbourhoods: Brookend, Eastend, Greenend and Westend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton, Hertfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Norton is a small village and former civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, one of the three original villages which were absorbed into Letchworth Garden City, the other two being Willian and Old Letchworth. The village is known to have existed by 1007, with remains of the medieval settlement visible as earthworks in a field beside the church. However, the history of the village goes back even further than that. In 1901 the parish had a population of 169.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watton-at-Stone</span> Human settlement in England

Watton-at-Stone is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, and is midway between the towns of Stevenage and Hertford in the valley of the River Beane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldenham</span> Human settlement in England

Aldenham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, England. The parish includes Radlett and Letchmore Heath as well as Aldenham village itself. The village of Aldenham lies 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-east of Watford and 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Radlett. Aldenham was mentioned in the Domesday Book and is one of Hertsmere's 14 conservation areas. The village has eight pre-19th-century listed buildings and the parish itself is largely unchanged, though buildings have been rebuilt, since Saxon times when the majority of the land was owned by the abbots of Westminster Abbey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olton</span> Human settlement in England

Olton is an area/suburban village within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands, England. In the 13th century, the Lords of the Manor moved their seat and formed a new settlement, at the junction of two major roads. It was then that Ulverlei was being referred to as ‘Oulton’ to distinguish itself from nearby Solihull. Historically within the county of Warwickshire, the village has gradually become contiguous with Solihull to the southeast, though it retains the character of a large independent village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appleby Magna</span> Human settlement in England

Appleby Magna is a village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It includes the small hamlets of Appleby Parva and Little Wigston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barton Bendish</span> Village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk

Barton Bendish is a civil parish and small ancient village in the English county of Norfolk located 10 miles (16 km) south of King's Lynn and 90 miles (140 km) North East of London. It has two medieval parish churches, and once had three. The parish includes the old hamlet of Eastmoor, and covers 3,936 acres (1,593 ha). The village has been settled since Neolithic times and was expanded during the Saxon period. Today the village has a population of 210 as recorded at the 2010 census and contains eight listed buildings, with the two medieval parishes churches being Grade I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Tisted</span> Human settlement in England

West Tisted is a small village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 6.7 miles (10.8 km) northwest of Petersfield, just off the A32 road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Michael's Church, St Albans</span> Church in Hertfordshire, England

St Michael's Church is a Church of England parish church in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. Much of the building is late 10th or early 11th century, making it the most significant surviving Anglo-Saxon building in the county. It is located near the centre of the site of Roman Verulamium to the west of the modern city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodeaton</span> Human settlement in England

Woodeaton or Wood Eaton is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Oxford, England. It also has a special needs school called Woodeaton Manor School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beckley, Oxfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Beckley is a village in the civil parish of Beckley and Stowood, in the South Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is about 4.5 miles (7 km) northeast of the centre of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish of Beckley and Stowood's population as 608. The village is 400 feet (120 m) above sea level on the northern brow of a hill overlooking Otmoor. The hill is the highest part of the parish, rising to 463 feet (141 m) south of the village near Stow Wood. On the eastern brow of the hill is Oxford transmitting station, a television relay mast that is a local landmark. In 1931 the parish of Beckley had a population of 288. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished to form "Beckley and Stowood", part also went to "Fencott and Murcott".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britford</span> Human settlement in England

Britford is a village and civil parish beside the River Avon about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-east of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. The village is just off the A338 Salisbury-Bournemouth road. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 592.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowhurst, Surrey</span> Human settlement in England

Crowhurst is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England. The nearest town is Oxted, 3 miles (5 km) to the north. Rated two architectural categories higher than the medieval church is the Renaissance manor, Crowhurst Place, which is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallington, Hertfordshire</span> Human settlement in England

Wallington is a small village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England, near the town of Baldock. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 150. Nearby villages include Rushden and Sandon. It shares a parish council with Rushden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matching, Essex</span> Human settlement in England

Matching is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England centred in countryside 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Harlow's modern town centre and 2 miles (3.2 km) from Old Harlow/Harlow Mills area of the town. The terrain is elevated and London is centred 21.7 miles (34.9 km) to the south-west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northchurch</span> Human settlement in England

Northchurch is a village and civil parish in the Bulbourne valley in the county of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It lies between the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Nicholas, Norton</span> Church in Hertfordshire, England

The Church of St Nicholas in Norton in Hertfordshire is the parish church for what was originally the village of Norton but which today has become a suburb of Letchworth Garden City. The present building dates from about 1109 to 1119, with additions in the 15th century including the tower. Before the Reformation it was a stopping point on the pilgrim route to the Abbey of St Albans and the shrine there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Margaret of Antioch, Bygrave</span> Church in Hertfordshire, England

The Church of St Margaret of Antioch is the Anglican parish church for the village of Bygrave in Hertfordshire. Dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch, the church has been a Grade II* listed building since 1968 and comes under the Diocese of St Albans.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bygrave Parish". NOMIS. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 William Page, ed. (1912). "'Parishes: Bygrave', in A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 3". London: British History Online. pp. 211–217. Retrieved 15 October 2016.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Bygrave at Wikimedia Commons