DIGSWELL
Dicheleswell (xi cent.); Digeneswell, Dikneswell
(xiii cent.); Digoneswell (xiv cent.); Dikkeswell,
Dixwell (xvi cent.); Diggeswell (xvii cent.).
The parish of Digswell has an area of 1,673 acres,
of which 746¼ acres are arable land, 465¾ acres
permanent grass, and 18¼ acres wood. (fn. 1) The land
reaches an elevation of over 400 ft. in the south,
where the rectory and Sherrard's Park Wood are
situated, but is lower in the north, sloping down to
the River Mimram, which crosses the parish in that
part. The northern part of the parish is divided
from the southern by an irregular strip of the parish
of Welwyn. It lies at an altitude of from 300 ft. to
400 ft. The larger part of it has been developed by a
syndicate, and is now covered with houses; its western
boundary takes in a small portion of the hamlet of
Burnham Green. A detached portion of Welwyn
parish was added to Digswell for ratable purposes
under the Divided Parishes Act of 1882.
The village of Digswell is situated in the valley of
the Mimram, in an open space surrounded by the
park, the church and manor-house, the seat of
Mr. Alfred Dyke Acland, lying at the south-western
end. From these a long avenue called the 'Monk's
Walk' leads to the rectory and Sherrard's Park Wood.
In the east of the parish, on the main road from
Welwyn to Hertford, is the hamlet of Digswell Water,
now recognized as the village of Digswell, though
some way from the church. It was probably here
that the market was held. The Great Northern
railway passes through the parish, crossing the valley
of the Mimram by a viaduct. The nearest station
is Welwyn, half a mile north-east. The subsoil is
chalk in the north, and London Clay and Reading
and Woolwich beds in the south. There are two
disused chalk-pits in Digswell Park, another near
Digswell Lodge Farm, and a fourth in the north-east.
A large gravel-pit is still worked south of Digswell
Water, and there are several disused ones further
down the road.
The following place-names occur in the middle
of the 17th century: the Malmes, Dockclose, the
Scrubbs, Cowmead, Henley hill, Conduck hill, Tylekill field, Piggott hill, Estoll hill, and Hatches wood. (fn. 2)
MANOR
Before the Conquest DIGSWELL
formed part of the lands of Asgar the
Staller, and was subsequently granted to
Geoffrey de Mandeville, being then assessed at 2 hides. (fn. 3)
One hide, which had been held by Topi, a man of
Almar, presumably Ælmar of Benington, was in
1086 in the possession of Peter de Valognes. (fn. 4) This
hide, which was held by a certain Roger, probably
became absorbed in the manor, as it is not heard of
again; half the multure of one of the two mills at
Digswell belonged to this estate in 1086. (fn. 5)
The lands of Geoffrey de Mandeville descended
to his grandson Geoffrey, first Earl of Essex, (fn. 6) and
remaining with the holders of that earldom (fn. 7) came to
Maud the heiress of the Mandevilles, who married
Henry de Bohun Earl of Hereford and died in 1236. (fn. 8)
The Earls of Hereford and Essex continued to hold
Digswell (fn. 9) until their lands were divided between the
daughters of Eleanor, daughter and co-heir of Henry
de Bohun, and King Henry V, who represented her
sister Mary. (fn. 10) Digswell thus came into the possession
of the Crown, and was thenceforward held of the
king, of the duchy of Lancaster, as of his manor of
Hertford by fealty and the rent of 6d. or one pound
of pepper, to be paid yearly at Christmas. (fn. 11)
In the time of Edward the Confessor and in
1086 the sub-tenant of Digswell was Torchil (fn. 12) ; he
was one of the Domesday jurors for Broadwater
Hundred, (fn. 13) but nothing is known of his descendants.
Between 1167 and 1189 the manor was granted by
William de Mandeville to William son of Benedict
of London, (fn. 14) who seems to have been also known
as William de St. Michael. (fn. 15) In 1223 Laurence de
St. Michael, son and heir of William de St. Michael,
did homage for lands in Nottingham, (fn. 16) and in 1248
this Laurence is called son of William son of
Benedict. (fn. 17) Laurence died some time previous to
1268, for in that year his widow Ada complained that
malefactors had lately come to her manor of Digswell
and taken her goods and chattels to the value of
100 marks and more. (fn. 18) The manor passed before
1274 to another Laurence de St. Michael, (fn. 19) presumably her son, who died about 1283, leaving a son
Laurence (fn. 20) and a widow Margaret. (fn. 21) This Laurence
obtained a licence in 1285 to stop a path through
his wood of Slirigge, leading from Digswell to Bishop's
Hatfield (where he held the manor of Ludwick), on
condition that he made another path on the east side
of the wood. (fn. 22) In 1291–2 he closed a path running
through the middle of 'Chirchegrave,' and made
another which, he averred, would be much more
useful. (fn. 23)
The manor was shortly afterwards acquired by
William de Melksop, who received a grant of free
warren in his lands in Digswell in 1301–2. (fn. 24) These
lands were probably not the manor, for the latter
was not conveyed to him by Laurence de St. Michael
until 1305. (fn. 25) This William had been assessor for
a subsidy in Surrey in 1297 (fn. 26) ; in 1298 he was
appointed attorney for two years to Stephen, Prior
of Holy Trinity, London. (fn. 27) In 1300 he and John
de la Leye were commissioned to survey the obstructions in the river leading from Ware to the Thames. (fn. 28)
In 1304 William de Melksop was keeper of the
manor of Clopton, formerly part of the possessions
of Edmund Earl of Cornwall, (fn. 29) and about the same
time he bought from the executors of the same
Edmund the custody of the lands of Hamo de Gatton,
which in 1305 he sold to John de Northwode. (fn. 30)
In 1313 and again in 1315 he received licence to
go 'beyond seas' with Aymer de Valence. (fn. 31) He
died about 1317, having been for some time previous
to his death farmer of the king's castle and manor of
Hertford, where he had executed extensive repairs. (fn. 32)
He had a son William, (fn. 33) who in 1318 received a
pardon for killing William de Ponton at a tournament
at Luton. (fn. 34) Henry de Melksop is mentioned as of
Digswell in 1323, (fn. 35) but apparently the manor was
alienated soon afterwards, for by 1346 (fn. 36) it had come
into the possession of William de Ludwick, (fn. 37) from
whom it passed to his son John de Ludwick before
1377. (fn. 38) In 1414 it was conveyed by Ludwick's
feoffees to John Perient, (fn. 39)
who according to the monument to him in the church
died in the following year.
He was succeeded by his son
John, from whom it passed in
1432 to his son John, (fn. 40) who
died in 1442. (fn. 41) He was succeeded by Edmund Perient,
who died in 1474, when
Digswell came to his son
Thomas. (fn. 42) In 1539 Thomas
Perient the younger succeeded, (fn. 43) and died in 1545,
leaving four daughters, Mary the wife of Affabell or
Amphabell Rowlett, Dorothy, Anne, and Elizabeth. (fn. 44)
Digswell came to Mary, the eldest daughter, whose
first husband died in 1546, (fn. 45) and who married secondly
George Horsey, and held the manor until her death in
1551. (fn. 46) It was then divided between her sisters Dorothy,
who had married George Burgoyne, and Anne the wife
of Anthony Carleton (fn. 47) ; Elizabeth had presumably
died in the mean time. In 1552 Anne and Anthony
Carleton conveyed their moiety back to George
Horsey, (fn. 48) who had just married Anne Sadler, (fn. 49) and
in 1557 he acquired the second half from George
and Dorothy Burgoyne. (fn. 50) Ralph Horsey succeeded
his father (fn. 51) before 1591, (fn. 52) and in 1599 conveyed
Digswell to John Sedley and Nicholas Hyde. (fn. 53) John
Sedley died in 1605 seised of half the manor, which
passed to his brother William. (fn. 54) Apparently the
moiety held by Nicholas Hyde also came to him, for
in 1656 he sold the whole
manor to Humphrey Shallcross. (fn. 55) The latter died in
1665, (fn. 56) and was succeeded by
his son Francis Shallcross, (fn. 57)
and his grandson Francis
Boteler Shallcross in 1681. (fn. 58)
The last-named died without
issue in 1693, (fn. 59) and Digswell
passed to his uncle Henry
Shallcross, (fn. 60) who died in
1696. (fn. 61) Henry's son Thomas
is mentioned as lord of the
manor in 1728 (fn. 62) and 1729, (fn. 63)
and William Shallcross in
1757. (fn. 64) He was succeeded by another Thomas
Shallcross, who died in 1770 (fn. 65) and left Digswell
to Richard Willis, the husband of his niece. (fn. 66)
Elizabeth Willis, their daughter, sold the manor in
1786 to Henry Cowper. (fn. 67) The latter occupied the
position of guardian to the young Earl Cowper, (fn. 68)
and the sale was in reality to his ward, for the earl
was in possession of the manor in 1821. (fn. 69) Digswell
remained in the possession of the Earls Cowper uncil
the death in 1905 of the seventh and last earl,
whose trustees are at present lords of the manor.
Perient. Gules three crescents argent.
Shallcross. Gules a saltire between four rings or.
The manor of Digswell possessed two mills as early
as 1086, at which time a half mill was held by Roger
of Peter de Valognes. (fn. 70) Two mills, together
with a carucate of land, were the subject of a fine
in 1233 between Simon Fitz Simon and Henry
Sifriwast, (fn. 71) to one of whom they had doubtless been
leased by the lord of the manor. They are mentioned
as late as 1786, (fn. 72) but only one exists now.
Laurence de St. Michael in 1274 had free warren
on one side of the river, and claimed it on the other
side. (fn. 73) He also claimed at the same time view of
frankpledge, gallows, and amendment of the assize of
bread and ale. (fn. 74) William de Melksop received a fresh
grant of free warren in 1301–2. (fn. 75) In 1278 Laurence
de St. Michael claimed by charter of Henry III a
weekly market on Thursdays and a fair every year for
ten days. (fn. 76) Neither now survives. They probably
died out owing to decrease in the population, caused
presumably by the Black Death, for in 1428 Digswell
only possessed six householders. (fn. 77)
CHURCH
The parish church of ST. JOHN (fn. 78) is
covered with cement outside and plastered
inside, and consists of a chancel, nave,
north chapel and north aisle, north-west tower, and
south porch.
The original church, probably consisting of a
chancel and nave, was built in the 12th century,
and to that date the present chancel and nave may
probably be referred. The north aisle was built
about 1300, with a chantry chapel added at its east
end a quarter of a century later, but the arcade no
longer exists.
In the first decade of the 16th century the present
north chapel was built, replacing the smaller chantry,
for the erection of which John Perient left £200 at
his death in 1324 for the souls of himself, his wife
and parents, and John Ludwick and John Derham. (fn. 79)
At the same period the north-west tower was added
to the west of the aisle, its north and west walls being
continuous with those of the aisle and nave. The
south porch seems to belong to the end of the 17th
or the beginning of the 18th century. The church
was extensively altered in 1811, and was restored in
1874.
The chancel has a modern east window of three
lights in a two-centred head. On the north side is
an arch of about 1200 opening into the north chapel.
The face towards the chancel is modern. The arch
is two-centred of a single chamfered order; to the
east of it is a deep recess with a four-centred head, of
the 15th century, which may have been originally open
on both sides. In the south wall at the east is a
modern three-light window with a square head. At the
west end of this wall is a lofty segmental-headed
window, probably of the 13th century, now blocked.
To the east of the easternmost window in the south
wall is a double piscina of the 13th century with
two high two-centred chamfered heads and a central
shaft, of which the base is old.
Plan of Digswell Church
Between the chancel and the chapel is a screen of
the early 16th century, of which the lower part has
been destroyed. A similar screen, formerly the
rood screen, with the lower part also destroyed,
divides the chapel from the
aisle. The north chapel has
two early 16th-century windows, that in the east wall
having three trefoiled lights
in a four - centred head,
and the north window
two cinquefoiled lights in a
square head. At the northeast corner is a small door
with a two-centred head,
leading to the churchyard.
On each side of the east window is a stone bracket,
moulded and carved with
shields of Perient, three crescents quartering a cross paty.
It is possible that these may
have been originally in John
Perient's chantry. The roof
of the chapel is low pitched,
of panelled oak, and dates
from the early 16th-century
remodelling.
The nave walls are probably of the 12th century,
but there is no detail of an
earlier date than the 15th
century. There were three windows in the south
wall, but the middle one of three lights is blocked
by the east wall of the porch; the other two contain
some 15th-century stones and are of two cinquefoiled
lights with tracery above in a two-centred head.
The west window is of three lights with tracery
above in a two-centred head. The roof has 15th-century tie-beams. The south door opens to the
cemented and embattled porch, which has a small
light in the east and west walls.
The north aisle opens to the nave by a single
modern arch, which replaces the original arcade of
two bays. In the north wall are two-light
cinquefoiled windows of the same date as those of the
chapel, and obviously inserted when the chapel was
rebuilt. Between them is a remarkable recess with
a richly moulded two-centred arch, containing tracery
of the end of the 13th century. The lower part of
the recess is destroyed, but the tracery is intact and
consists of four high trefoiled heads, supported on
three corbels with the heads of a priest, a woman and
a bishop, and having above them two trefoils surmounted by a quatrefoil, the space in the middle
being filled by the dove, the symbol of the Holy
Ghost. The lower part of the label of the arch,
with returns, is modern.
The north-west tower has a north wall of the
same thickness as that of the nave. It is open only
to the aisle by a four-centred plastered arch. The
oak doors in this arch, of early 16th-century work,
were probably originally those of the rood screen.
They have traceried and moulded panels and a fourcentred cusped and foliated head. The west window
of the tower is of a single light, of the 16th century.
It is unglazed and closed by a door. The four bellchamber windows are also of the 16th century, of
two cinquefoiled lights under a square head.
In the chapel are mural monuments to William
Sedley, 1658, Eliza Shallcross, 1677, and Francis
Shallcross, 1681, and some 17th-century floor-slabs
to members of the Shallcross family. There is in
the chancel a brass of John Perient, standard-bearer
to Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, and his
wife Joan Risain, who died in 1415. The figures
are 5 ft. long. The man is in armour, and the
arms and part of the inscription remain. Another
brass of a knight in armour, with two symbols
of the Evangelists, is most probably that of his
son John Perient, who died in 1432. On the
same slab is an inscription to Thomas Robynson and
his wife, 1495. A brass of Thomas Hoore, 1495,
his wife, four sons and eight daughters, has an
inscription and four shields with a double-headed
eagle, the arms of Hoore, the Mercers' Company
and a defaced coat. There are also in the chancel
brasses of William Robert, auditor of the Bishop
of Winchester, 14—(the date has not been filled
in), his wife, 1484, and two sons; the figures are
shrouded and there are two shields and an inscription: of John Perient, a small, undated inscription; of Robert Battyl, 1552, his wife, four
sons and six daughters; and of two daughters of
Sir Alexander Cave, 1637.
Digswell Church: North Aisle, Showing Recess With Tracery
The bells are three in number, the first and second
by Robert Oldfeild, 1605.
The plate includes an engraved cup of 1563, a
paten of 1673 and a flagon of 1672.
The registers are in three books: (i) all entries
from 1538 to 1731; (ii) baptisms and burials from
1731 to 1812 and marriages from 1731 to 1753;
(iii) marriages from 1758 to 1812. Book i has been
recovered since the return of 1830.
ADVOWSON
The church was given to the
abbey of Walden, in Essex, by Geoffrey
de Mandeville, first Earl of Essex, the
founder of that monastery (fn. 80) and lord of the manor of
Digswell. The grant was confirmed by Alice de
Vere, (fn. 81) said to have been the sister or half-sister of
William de Mandeville, the third earl. (fn. 82) Geoffrey
Fitz Piers, who was Earl of Essex from 1199 to
1213, (fn. 83) laid claim to the advowson, and litigation
arose between him and the Abbot of Walden. It was
decided that the earl and his son Geoffrey should
present to the church during their lives, and that
after their decease it should return to the abbot for
ever. (fn. 84) The advowson then remained to Walden
Abbey until the surrender of the abbot in 1533. (fn. 85)
The church was never appropriated, and the living
was always a rectory. In 1538 the abbey, at the
earnest suit of Thomas Audley, then Lord Chancellor, (fn. 86) was granted to him with all its possessions, (fn. 87)
among which, however, Digswell advowson is not
mentioned. (fn. 88) Although there is no record of any
grant, (fn. 89) the advowson seems to have been acquired by
the lords of the manor, for John Sedley was seised of
half of it at his death in 1605. (fn. 90) After that date
it descended with the manor until 1786, (fn. 91) when it
was sold by Elizabeth Willis to Jane Pearce, (fn. 92) who
left it by will to her nephew the Rev. Nathaniel
May, (fn. 93) the patron in 1811. (fn. 94) In that year, however,
he sold it to Joshua Watson, to hold in trust for the
use of his brother the Rev. John James Watson and
his heirs. (fn. 95) In 1829 the advowson was sold by
Dr. Watson to S. Everard, (fn. 96) who again sold it late in
1836 to William Willoughby Prescott. (fn. 97) The latter
died in the same year, leaving it by will to his fourth
son, the Rev. George Edward Prescott, who was
patron and incumbent until 1888. (fn. 98) His trustees
held the presentation from that date until 1900,
when it was acquired by Miss Wilshere (fn. 99) of the
Frythe, Welwyn, who is the present patron.
In 1638 the parsonage of Digswell was said
to be 'sufficient and commodious for habitation.'
Adjoining there was 'one large nue barne thatched
and bourded on the outside, of length five bayes,
also one hay barne and stable nue built conteining both fower bayes covered with tiles being all
under one roofe.' The glebe lands amounted to
40 acres. (fn. 100)
CHARITIES
The parliamentary returns of 1786
mention certain tenements and land
held by the parish under a gift of
Thomas Shallcross and of a donor unknown, situated
respectively at Burnham Green and at Harmer Green.
Questions arose, however, as to the title of the parish
to the property at Burnham Green, but three small
tenements at Harmer Green were inhabited by three
poor families rent free.