St John the Baptist, Widford, Hertfordshire

I Location

Site Location
Widford
National Grid Reference
TL 413 158
County
traditional: Hertfordshire
now: Hertfordshire
Diocese
medieval: Lincoln
now: St Albans
Dedication
medieval: not confirmed
now (or name of monument): St John the Baptist
Type of building/monument
Parish Church

II General Description

General view.

General view.

General view of chancel walling.

General view of chancel walling.

The church has a chancel with an organ chamber on the N, nave with N vestry and S porch, and W tower. The nave and chancel are the same width and there is no chancel arch. The chancel and W tower are 14thc. the organ chamber, vestry and S porch are 19thc. The church is built of coursed flint and stone rubble and Barnack stone. Some of the nave walling survives from the original 12thc. church. 12thc. sculpture is found on a pillar piscina and a reset fragment in the S wall of the nave.

IV Interior Features

5. Interior Decoration

c. Miscellaneous

(i) Chevron voussoir
Reset chevron fragment.

Reset chevron fragment.

The fragment, which is carved with two teeth of lateral chevron has been set in a frame above the S doorway and then painted. It was not possible to take measurements.

V Furnishings

3. Piscinae/Pillar Piscinae

(i) Pillar piscina

Pillar piscina, general view.

Pillar piscina, general view.

Pillar piscina, detail, W and N faces.

Pillar piscina, detail, W and N faces.

Pillar piscina, detail, W face.

Pillar piscina, detail, W face.

The base, stem and a flat slab on top of the piscina are all modern. The bowl, which is in the shape of a cushion capital, is carved on three faces. Above necking it has a collar of leaves and above this, following the line of the shields: three fine rolls; a row of beading; then a further fine roll. The shields are decorated as follows:

E face: two inward and downward facing acanthus leaves, with their stems drawn up between them and held by a clasp. Very worn.

N face: two upward and inward facing acanthus leaves, their stems, which are crossed, drawn up between them. A berry or pellet lies just below the crossed stems.

W face: similar to the E face, with inward and downward facing leaves. Very worn.

Dimensions
h. 0.185 m
w. 0. 23 m

VII History

Before the Conquest the manor of Widford was held by Edred, a thegn of Edward the Confessor. At the time of DS it was held by the Bishop of London. Not long afterwards it seems to have been taken over by Ivo de Grentmesnil, who gave the land to Bermondsey Abbey in London. This grant was confirmed in 1118. The manor, which included the advowson of the church, remained in the hands of Bermondsey Abbey until the Dissolution.

VIII Comments/Opinions

VCH notes that there are several 12thc. fragments in the nave and reset fragments of chevron in the interior S wall but at the time of visiting only one fragment was found, as described above. The piscina and other fragments were found near the tower arch when repairs were being carried out in the early 19thc.

VCH refers to the bowl of the pillar piscina as an 'early 12thc. cushion capital'. It is probably c.1130-1140.

IX Bibliography

  • N. Pevsner and B. Cherry, The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire, Harmondsworth, 1953 (1977), 406.
  • The Victoria County History: A History of the County of Hertford, London, 1912, 3:405