Kimpton is a 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

North Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth Garden City and the largest town is Hitchin. The district also includes the towns of Baldock and Royston ...

district of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. It lies south of

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

, its

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

, north of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

and from both

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

and

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

. As well as the village itself, the parish also contains the hamlets of Peters Green and Blackmore End and surrounding rural areas. The population of the parish was 2,261 at the 2021 census.

History

Kimpton is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

: "In the Half-Hundred of HITCHIN 24 Ralph holds KIMPTON from the Bishop. It answers for 4 hides. Land for 10 ploughs. In Lordship 2; a third possible. 2 Frenchmen and 12 villagers with 2 smallholders have 7 ploughs. 3 cottagers; 5 slaves. Meadow for 6 oxen; woodland, 800 pigs; 1 mill at 8s. The total value is and was £12; before 1066 £15. Aelfeva, mother of Earl Morcar, held this manor." The manor was later held by the Hoo-Keate family, and then by marriage to the

Dacre family Baron Dacre is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England, each time by writ. History The first creation came in 1321, when Ralph Dacre was summoned to Parliament as Lord Dacre. He married Margaret, 2nd Baroness Multo ...

. Kimpton's parish church, dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, dates back to circa 1200. It is a spacious

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

-built building in the unusual transitional style between

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

and Early English. The Dacre Chapel has a fine

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

screen, and the remains of early wall paintings in the chancel show

St Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximinus Daia (). ...

and the Seven Corporal

Works of Mercy Works of mercy (sometimes known as acts of mercy) are practices considered meritorious in Christian ethics. The practice is popular in the Catholic Church as an act of both penance and charity. In addition, the Methodist church teaches that th ...

. The belfry contains a peal of eight bells, the oldest having been cast c. 1390.

The Kimpton Flood

In February 2001, Kimpton was hit by flooding due to an unprecedented amount of rainfall. The dried up river Kym, which was now a vital road, emerged again and followed its natural course from Netherfield Springs, through Kimpton and joined the Mimram at Kimpton Mill. The situation became fairly serious on the 24th when business owners from the industrial estate on Claggy Road and also residents at risk hired pumps and called the fire brigade to try to deal with the 1-metre-deep water flow. The total cost of the damage caused by the flood was approximately £500,000. There is evidence suggesting that this is not the only flood to occur in the history of the village. There was a BBC news report on the situation.

Geography

The village lies along the valley of a dried-up river bed and is about one mile long. Some of the houses on the High Street date back to the 16th century, but most are 19th and early 20th century. Behind the High Street are two large housing estates built in the 1970s. The village has a primary and nursery school with over 150 children. The Dacre Rooms on High Street were donated to the village in 1879 by Susan, Lady Dacre, and are used as an events venue. The main village hall is now a modern building called the Memorial Hall on Hall Lane. Bright Star at Peters Green

As well as Kimpton village, the parish also includes the hamlets of Peters Green and Blackmore End and surrounding rural areas.

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering Kimpton, at

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

, and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

level: Kimpton Parish Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, and

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

. The parish council generally meets at the Memorial Hall.

References

External links

Kimpton Village WebsiteKimpton Scouts WebsiteKimpton Art Show
{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire District