Anstey, Hertfordshire

Historical Description

Anstey, a parish in Herts, on Ermine Street, near the river Quin, 4½ miles NE of Buntingford station on the G.E.R., and 7 SSE of Royston. Post town, Buntingford, which is the money order office; telegraph office, Barkway. Acreage, 2150; population, 396. A castle stood here upon a high round hill, said to have been erected soon after the Conquest by Eustace, Earl of Boulogne, but was demolished in the, time of Henry III. "because it had been a nest of rebels." The moat which surrounded it still remains. The living is a rectory in the diocese of St Albans; value, £300 with residence. Patron, Christ College, Cambridge. The church was built out of the materials of the castle, and is cruciform and of mixed architecture, from Norman to Perpendicular. There is also a small Primitive Methodist chapel. Austey Hall is a chief residence.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Findmypast, in association with the Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Anstey

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Anstey from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Anstey)

Land and Property

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

Maps

Online maps of Anstey 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.