St Ippolyts
St Ippolyts village sign
St Ippolyts is located in Hertfordshire
St Ippolyts
St Ippolyts
Location within Hertfordshire
Population2,047 (2011 Census including Gosmore)[1]
OS grid referenceTL197270
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHitchin
Postcode districtSG4
Dialling code01462
PoliceHertfordshire
FireHertfordshire
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament

St Ippolyts (or St Ippollitts) is a village and civil parish on the southern edge of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. It has a population of approximately 2,000.

Governance

North Hertfordshire District Council

St Ippolyts is located within the local government district of North Hertfordshire and within the Ward of Hitchwood, Offa and Hoo, a Multi Member Ward currently represented by three Conservative councillors (Cllr David Barnard, Cllr Claire Strong, and Cllr Faye Frost).

Hertfordshire County Council

St Ippolyts is located within the Hertfordshire County Council Division of Knebworth and Codicote and is represented by Cllr Richard Thake (Conservative).

Parliamentary Representation

The Village is represented in Parliament by Bim Afolami MP (Conservative) who was first elected as the MP for Hitchin and Harpenden in 2017.

Geography

St Ippolyts is located in between the A602 (Stevenage Road) and the B656 (Codicote Road), 2 km (1.2 mi) south-east of Hitchin, Hertfordshire. It lies approximately 80 m (260 ft) above sea level in a gap in the Chiltern Hills.

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.

History

The name of St Ippolyts, although spelled in a variety of ways, is derived from St Hippolytus to whom the village church was dedicated. According to Daphne Rance in her book on the parish "St. Ippolyts: a country parish in the nineteenth century" (1987) at various times also known as Epolites, Pallets, Nipples or St Ibbs. In the same vein, the 1881 census mentions the following 28 place names, all of which are believed to refer to it: Iplits, Ipolits, Ipollitts, Ipollyts, Ipolytes, Ipolyts, Ippatyts, Ipplits, Ipployts, Ipplyts, Ippolett, Ippoletts, Ippolits, Ippolitss, Ippolits, Ippolitss, Ippolitts, Ippollit, Ippollits, Ippollitts, Ippollyts, Ippollytts, Ippololits, Ippolts, Ippolytis, Ippolyts, Ippolytts, Ippoplitts. The name of the parish was officially changed from St Ippollitts to St Ippolyts on 2 October 1996.[2] Even in the 21st Century, official road signs to the village on consecutive junctions on the nearby A602 show contradictory spellings of the village name.

St Ippolyts Church

St Ippolyts Church
St Ippolyts Church

The church was built in 1087 in a beautiful setting on the hillside above the village. According to the church records, the building was funded by grants supplied by Judith de Lens, the niece of William the Conqueror. De Lens gave evidence against her husband Waltheof, a Saxon 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,[3] as is Geoffrey Lane, Baron Lane (1918-2005), former Lord Chief Justice of England.

Almshoe

The ancient manor[4] of Almshoe, mentioned in the Domesday Book,[5] is located in the south of the parish. Almshoe Bury—now a farmhouse and wedding venue—is a grade I listed building.[6]

Nearby towns and villages

References

  1. ↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Bulletin of Changes of Local Authority Status, Names and Areas, 1 April 1994–31 March 1997 (PDF). London: Department of the Environment. 1997. p. 10. Retrieved 31 August 2021. District council notices of the change of name of a parish under section 75 of the Local Government Act 1972: Parish of St Ippollitts became St Ippolyts from 2 October 1996
  3. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 34. Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 127.
  4. ↑ "Parishes: Ippollitts | British History Online".
  5. ↑ "Almshoe [Bury] and [Little] Almshoe | Domesday Book".
  6. ↑ "Almshoe Bury, St Ippolyts, Hertfordshire".

Further reading

  • Rance, Daphne (1987). St. Ippolyts: a country parish in the nineteenth century. Egon Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-905858-38-7.
  • Rance, Daphne (1996). The Yeomen of Ippolyts. Cortney Publications. ISBN 0-904378-48-9.
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