Ayot St Lawrence is a small English village and
civil parish in
Hertfordshire, west of
Welwyn
Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to distinguish it from the much newer and larger ...
. 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 S ...
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, from 1906 until his death in 1950; his ashes are scattered there. The house is open to the public as a
National Trust property.
Other residents of the village included Shaw's friend, neighbour and bibliographer
Stephen Winsten (1893–1991) and his wife, the artist
Clare Winsten
Clara Birnberg (1892 or 1894–1989) was a British artist, illustrator, portraitist and sculptor. After her marriage to the artist Stephen Weinstein, they changed their surname to Winsten (with her becoming Clare Winsten) and both became Quaker ...
(1894–1989).
During the 1950s, the silk-maker
Zoe Dyke
Zoe Dyke (6 February 1896 – 12 February 1975) was a British pioneer of British sericulture. The silk created in her businesses has been used by British Royalty including the wedding dresses of Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales.
Li ...
(1896–1975) moved her business to
Ayot House Ayot may refer to several things in Hertfordshire, England:
* Ayot St Lawrence
Ayot St Lawrence is a small English village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, west of Welwyn. There are several other ''Ayots'' in the area, including Ayot Green a ...
.
[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 ...
, 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 (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 by Nicholas Revett and features a Palladian-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