Northchurch
| Northchurch | |
| Hertfordshire | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's, Northchurch | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP973087 |
| Location: | 51°46’9"N, -0°35’24"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | HP4 |
| Local Government | |
Northchurch is a village in the Bulbourne valley of Hertfordshire. It is contiguous with Berkhamsted, standing to the northeast of that town along the ancient route along the Bulbourne Valley, halfway to neighbouring Tring.
The Roman road known as Akeman Street (the road from ‘’London’’ to ‘’Chester’’) follows the valley and forms the major axis of Berkhamsted, Northchurch and Tring. A major Roman villa dating from about 60 AD, the very start of the Roman occupation of Britain, was discovered on this route in Northchurch in the 1970s.
The village predates the neighbouring larger town of Berkhamsted[1] and may have been the original Berkhamsted before the name moved southeast.
Parish church
The parish church of St Mary is in appearance a large, mediæval, Gothic church, but it dates from Anglo-Saxon times and is one of the oldest churches in Hertfordshire. Part of the original Saxon building still remains in the south and west walls. Flint wall extensions were built between the 11th and 14th centuries, to form a cruciform building. A stone-faced tower was added over the crossing during the 15th century. A Victorian north aisle, vestries and south porch were added in the 1880s.[1]
The churchyard contains the grave of Peter the Wild Boy a German feral child adopted at the court of King George I and II. His grave can still be seen in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, directly outside the main door to the church.[1][2]
History
Earlier names for Northchurch include Berkhamsted St Mary and Berkhamsted Minor, both names supporting the view that Northchurch may have been the site of the original Berkhamsted which expanded down the Bulbourne Valley following the construction of the Berkhamsted Castle two miles to the southwest.[3] [1] The village eventually became known as the area around the North Church, St. Mary's, lying to the northwest of the newer parish church of St. Peter built to the southeast nearer the castle.
The almshouses known as Church House on Northchurch High Street were built in the 15th and 16th centuries. They are two-storey half-timbered houses built for the poor of the parish.
The Grand Union Canal was completed only in the twentieth century but its route was dug through along the Bulbourne valley, abstracting the river’s flow as it went, in the nineteenth century.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 St Mary's church - Our History Accessed July 2011
- ↑ Peter the Wild Boy's condition revealed 200 years after his death Maev Kennedy, The Guardian 20 March 2011
- ↑ Birtchnell P, A Short History of Berkhamsted, Clunberry Press 1972
- Hastie, Scott, Berkhamsted, an Illustrated History, Alpine Press, 1999, ISBN 0-9528631-1-1
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