St Ippolyts (historically St Ippollitts) 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 ...

on the southern edge 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 ...

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. As well as the village itself, the parish includes the hamlet of Gosmore and southern parts of the Hitchin built up area, alongside rural areas particularly to the south of the village. The parish had a population of 2,076 at the 2021 census.

Toponymy

The name of St Ippolyts, although spelled in a variety of ways, is derived from St Hippolytus to whom the village church was dedicated. Variant spellings which have been recorded include Epolites, Ippolitts, Pallets, Nipples or St Ibbs. The name of the parish was officially changed from St Ippollitts to St Ippolyts with effect from 2 October 1996. Even in the 21st Century, road signs to the village on consecutive junctions on the nearby A602 show contradictory spellings of the village name.

History

St Ippolyts historically formed part of the

ancient 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 ...

of Hitchin. A church dedicated to St Hippolytus was built around 1087 as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

for the southern part of Hitchin parish, and subsequently gave its name to the small village around it. St Ippolyts became a separate parish from Hitchin in the middle ages. Some features of the village are a 17th-century gabled house, a timber-framed house formerly known as the Olive Branch Inn, and a 16th-century house built around an even older timbered house.

St Ippolyts Church

The church was built in 1087 in a hilltop position. According to the church records, the building was funded by grants supplied by Judith de Lens, the niece of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

. De Lens gave evidence against her husband Waltheof, a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

Earl, which led to his execution. The funding of the church was an attempt to make amends for this act. The church was rebuilt in the mid nineteenth century using old materials 'recycled' from the nearby abandoned Minsden Chapel. Apart from St Ippolyts, the church also serves the nearby villages of Gosmore and Langley. The noted theologian Fenton John Anthony Hort (Fenton Hort) is amongst the former vicars of St Ippolyts church where he stayed for 15 years before taking up a fellowship and lectureship at Emmanuel College in Cambridge. Politician George Lloyd, 1st Baron Lloyd (1879–1941) was buried in the churchyard, as is

Geoffrey Lane, Baron Lane Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane, (17 July 1918 – 22 August 2005) was a British barrister and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992, having previously served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1977 until 19 ...

(1918-2005), former Lord Chief Justice of England.

Geography

St Ippolyts is located in between the A602 ( Stevenage Road) and the B656 ( Codicote Road), south-east of Hitchin, Hertfordshire. It lies approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

in a gap in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...

The parish includes the village of St Ippolyts and the adjoining hamlet of Gosmore, and also includes southern parts of the Hitchin built up area. There is a village shop at Waterdell Lane. Wymondley grid substation is in the parish, south of the A602, but takes its name from the neighbouring parish of Wymondley. The substation covers 78 acres, and eventually cost £7.5m, built by Howard Farrow Construction.

Almshoe

The ancient manor of Almshoe, 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 ...

, is located in the south of the parish. Almshoe Bury—now a farmhouse and wedding venue—is a grade I listed building.

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering St Ippolyts, at

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: St Ippolyts Parish Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, and Hertfordshire County Council. The parish council meets at the Parish Hall on Waterdell Lane. For national elections, the parish forms part of the Hitchin constituency.

Nearby towns and villages

* Gosmore * Great Wymondley * Hitchin * Kings Walden * Little Wymondley * Preston * Stevenage

References

External links

St Ippolyts Church web site
{{authority control Saint Ippolyts Areas of Hitchin Civil parishes in Hertfordshire