Ayot St Lawrence is a small English village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, west of
Welwyn
Welwyn is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands, Hertfordshire, Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, ...
. There are several other ''Ayots'' in the area, including
Ayot Green
Ayot Green is a hamlet in Hertfordshire, England and is near the A1(M) Motorway, close to Welwyn Garden City. It is a typical traditional English village, centred on a village green. There are several other ''Ayots'' in the area, including Ayot ...
and
Ayot St Peter
Ayot St Peter is a village and civil parish in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, England, about two miles north-west of Welwyn Garden City. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 166. At the 2011 Census the population ...
, where the census population of Ayot St Lawrence was included in 2011.
Heritage
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
lived in the village, at
Shaw's Corner
Shaw's Corner was the primary residence of the renowned Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw; it is now a National Trust property open to the public as a writer's house museum. Inside the house, the rooms remain much as Shaw left them, and the ga ...
, from 1906 until his death in 1950; his ashes are scattered there. The house is open to the public as a
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
property.
Other residents of the village included Shaw's friend, neighbour and bibliographer
Stephen Winsten (1893–1991) and his wife, the artist
Clare Winsten (1894–1989).
During the 1950s, the silk-maker
Zoe Dyke (1896–1975) moved her business to
Ayot House Ayot may refer to several things in Hertfordshire, England:
* Ayot St Lawrence, a village and parish, residence of George Bernard Shaw
* Ayot St Peter, a village and parish
* Ayot Green
Ayot Green is a hamlet in Hertfordshire, England and is nea ...
.
[John Martin, "Dyke, (Millicent) Zoë, Lady Dyke (1896–1975)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 200]
accessed 12 July 2017
/ref> The historical novelist, biographer and children's writer Carola Oman
Carola Oman CBE (11 May 1897 – 11 June 1978) was an English historical novelist, biographer and children's writer. She was best known for her retelling of the Robin Hood legend and for a 1946 biography of Admiral Lord Nelson.Entry for Carola O ...
, Lady Lenanton (1897–1978) lived at Bride Hall with her husband. She died there on 11 June 1978.
Amenities
The village has a timber-framed public house, '' The Brocket Arms'', which may date back to the early 16th century. It also offers meals and accommodation.
The village has two churches:
* Old St Lawrence Church, in the centre of the village, was partially demolished in 1775, because it was obstructing the view from Sir Lionel Lyde's new home.
Field Marshal Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Frederick Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan, (16 October 1865 – 28 August 1946), known as Viscount Kilcoursie from 1887 until 1900, was a British Army officer and Chief of the General Staff ...
(1865–1946), a British Army officer and Chief of the Imperial General Staff, is buried in the churchyard.[CWGC casualty record.]
* New St Lawrence Church was designed in a neo-classical style
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
by Nicholas Revett
Nicholas Revett (1720–1804) was a British architect. Revett is best known for his work with James "Athenian" Stuart documenting the ruins of ancient Athens. He is sometimes described as an amateur architect, but he played an important role in t ...
and features a Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
-style frontage with Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
columns.
References
Gallery
Image:Shaw's Corner1.jpg, Shaw's Corner
Image:IMG 0235 Church Ayot St. Lawrence.jpg, Ruins of the old Church
External links
*
{{authority control
Villages in Hertfordshire
Civil parishes in Hertfordshire
Welwyn Hatfield