Lemsford, Hertfordshire

Historical Description

Lemsford, a hamlet and an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1859 from the civil parish of Hatfield, Herts. The hamlet lies on the river Lee, near the G.N.R., 1 mile S from Ayot St Peter's station, and 2½ miles N by W of Hatfield, and bears the name of Lemsford Mills. There is a post, money order, and telegraph office under Hatfield. Population of parish, 422. For purposes of local government Lemsford forms part of the civil parish of Hatfield. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St Albans; net value, £200 with residence. Patron, Earl Cowper. The church stands opposite the entrance of Brocket Park on lands belonging to Earl Cowper, was erected in 1859 by Countess Cowper and her children in memory of George Augustus Frederick, sixth Earl Cowper, who died in 1856; is mainly in the Early English style, with chancel in a later style, and has a lofty embattled western tower and a stained east memorial window. There is a Wesleyan chapel. Brocket Hall, in which Lord Pal-merston died, is a fine mansion standing in a well-timbered park of 500 acres, crossed by the river Lee, which here expands into a considerable lake.

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Hertfordshire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Lemsford are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Hertfordshire newspapers online:

• Hertford Mercury and Reformer
• Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser
• Watford Observer

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Hertfordshire, 1572 and 1634. Edited by Walter C. Metcalfe, F.S.A. is available on the Heraldry page.