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Summary

Medieval parish church, redundant by 1535 and demolished

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1500 AD)

Full description

The Church of St Mary has very few surviving records. The first known reference dates to 1218, when the vicar was John de Aiete <1>. The church itself is thought to have adjoined the market cross in the Old Cross area and lies within the supposed site of the northern Anglo-Saxon burh [9830], so may have late Saxon origins <2>. In 1428 there were fewer than 10 householders in the parish of St Mary, and the church had apparently fallen into disuse by the early 16th century, as the living had been united with that of St Andrew and St Nicholas before 1535. The inventory of Church Goods, compiled in 1552, made no mention of the building or its remains, which may suggest that it was demolished about the time of the Reformation <4>. However, a messuage called St Mary’s Churchyard was included in the grant of the manor to the Earl of Salisbury in 1630 <3> and in 1700 the site of the church was described as lying 'between the Street leading to Cowbridge, called St Mary’s Street, and the back Lane which leads to the River Lea, in which place now stands a little House with a Smith’s shop adjoining to it' <5>. These two structures may be those shown on the 1838 tithe map <6>, in the same position as the site of 'St Mary's Church' marked on the 1881 OS map <7>. The church evidently stood at the head of the open space called Old Cross.

In 1881 Cussans noted that 'the newspaper office of the Herts Guardian marks the site of the old church; a piscina, sedillia and aubreys, with carved mouldings around them, still remain in the cellar beneath' <4>. In 1888 excavations on this site for the construction of the public library revealed a considerable number of building stones from the earlier church. Some of these, including a 13th century clunch window, were reused in the construction of a memorial fountain next to the library <3>. There is an altar slab in St Andrew's [1696].

Human bones uncovered in a utility trench outside the library in 2015 were not in situ <8>, but presumably came from the churchyard here.
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Listed Buildings description (Digital archive). SHT6690.

<1> Clutterbuck, Robert, 1821, The history and antiquities of the county of Hertford; vol II, - p172 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2479.

<2> Kiln, R J, & Partridge, C R, 1995, Ware and Hertford: the story of two towns from birth to middle age, - p81 (Bibliographic reference). SHT8599.

<3> RCHM (England), 1911, Inventory of the historical monuments in Hertfordshire, - p113 (Bibliographic reference). SHT9222.

<3> Page, W (ed.), 1912, VCH Hertfordshire vol.3, - p509 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2329.

<4> Cussans, John Edwin, 1874-8, History of Hertfordshire vol 2, - p93 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2788.

<5> Chauncy, Sir Henry, 1700, The historical antiquities of Hertfordshire, - p512 (Bibliographic reference). SHT2425.

<6> Tithe map and award, Hertford St Andrew, 1838 (map) (Cartographic material). SHT1377.

<7> OS 25 inch map, 1st edition, 1881 (Cartographic material). SHT8116.

<8> Hertfordshire Police (Verbal communication). SHT2964.

Sources and further reading

Related records

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