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Hertfordshire HER
.
| HHER Number: | 1987 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | EARTHWORK AND SITE OF MEDIEVAL CHAPEL, CHAPEL WOOD, WATTON-AT-STONE |
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Summary
Earthwork platform, the site of a late 12th century chapel
Monument Types
- CHAPEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1500 AD)
- ENCLOSURE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1500 AD)
Protected Status
- Scheduled Ancient Monument 11523: MOATED ENCLOSURES, WELL WOOD AND CHAPEL WOOD, WATTON-AT-STONE
- Area of Archaeological Significance 106
Full description
A triangular enclosure with entrance in the E side and inside a smaller sub-rectangular enclosure. An excavation at TL 2828 1883 revealed the foundations of a building 8m x 5.5m, possibly of a medieval chapel <1>.
The chapel was endowed and built before his death in 1212 by Henry fitz Ailwin, first Lord Mayor of London, as 'the chapel of the hermitage of Watton <3>'. Henry held the manor of Watton. The chapel was partly of Totternhoe clunch, then just coming into use, and lies just within Watton-at-Stone parish near Datchworth. Adjacent to the north is Well Wood [1780], which also contains medieval remains. In 1360 a larger chapel [12676] was built at Whempstead, and the records for the two have been confused <2, 3>.
In the 1970s Welwyn Archaeological Society carried out excavations in Chapel Wood which revealed the foundations. Fragments of stained glass were identified, much decayed <3>, and moulded window stones were found in the debris <2>.
Ancient Monuments Field Report (Unpublished document). SHT8300.
OS Records (Index). SHT8223.
<1> Page, W (ed.), 1908, VCH Hertfordshire vol.2, - p122 (Bibliographic reference). SHT9314.
<2> Beachcroft, T O, 1995, Five hide village: a history of Datchworth in Hertfordshire - revised edition, Ch.5, 'The chapel in the wood', p34-5 (Bibliographic reference). SHT9469.
<3> Hatfield Advertiser & Welwyn Times, 1.12.1978, 'Medieval chapel discovery' (Serial). SHT4129.
Sources and further reading
| --- | Index: OS Records. |
| --- | Unpublished document: Ancient Monuments Field Report. |
| <1> | Bibliographic reference: Page, W (ed.). 1908. VCH Hertfordshire vol.2. - p122. |
| <2> | Bibliographic reference: Beachcroft, T O. 1995. Five hide village: a history of Datchworth in Hertfordshire - revised edition. Ch.5, 'The chapel in the wood', p34-5. |
| <3> | Serial: Hatfield Advertiser & Welwyn Times. 1.12.1978, 'Medieval chapel discovery'. |
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