Kensworth (St. Mary)
KENSWORTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Luton, hundred of Dacorum, county of Hertford, 2½ miles (N. W.) from Market-Street; containing 842 inhabitants. The parish comprises by computation 2500 acres, of which the surface is very hilly, and the soil various, but chiefly a strong red clay, alternated with marl. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 13. 4.; net income, £180; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, London. The tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in 1798; the glebe comprises 110 acres. The church has portions in the early English style, with some of later date. The capitals of the western pillars exhibit the fable of the Wolf and the Crane on one side, and that of the Eagle and the Hare on the other; the doorway within the tower has capitals representing birds and human heads. Both doorways are of Caen stone.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.