Little Wymondley

History

The Domesday Book of 1086 records 58 households at Wymondley, with the land being divided between four owners. It does not distinguish between Little Wymondley and Great Wymondley, but later historians have deduced that the lands Robert Gernon and Odo of Bayeux correspond to Little Wymondley, whilst the lands of Gosbert of Beauvais and those held directly by King William were Great Wymondley.

Wymondley was anciently part of the parish of Hitchin. There was a church at Great Wymondley by the 12th century, which was originally a chapel of ease to St Mary's Church, Hitchin. The church at Great Wymondley had its own clergy by the early 13th century and Great Wymondley was thereafter treated as a separate parish, although it retained some ties to Hitchin until the Reformation in the 16th century. The boundary between the two parishes of Great Wymondley and Little Wymondley was complex, as was often the case with parishes created at this time out of a previously united territory. Both parishes had detached parcels of land in the area around Titmore Green and Todds Green at the southern end of the old Wymondley territory.

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Little Wymondley, is a Grade II* listed building.

Little Wymondley has several interesting houses, including the moated Bury of the 16th and 17th centuries, the fine 17th century Hall, the late Georgian Wymondley House, and Wymondley Priory, an early 13th century foundation turned into a house in the 16th and 17th centuries.

From 1799 until 1832/33, Wymondley House at Little Wymondley was the location of a dissenting academy for the education of future nonconformist ministers. The academy went under various names, including Wymondley College.

Services

The village has a primary school, Wymondley JMI School, which serves both Little Wymondley and neighbouring Great Wymondley.

There are two public houses, both on Stevenage Road, being the Plume of Feathers and the Bucks Head.

Governance

Little Wymondley forms part of the parish of Wymondley. There are three tiers of local government covering Wymondley, at parish, district, and county level: Wymondley Parish Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, and Hertfordshire County Council.

The civil parishes of Little Wymondley and Great Wymondley were merged into a single parish called Wymondley in 1937. In 1931 (the last census before the abolition of the civil parish), Little Wymondley had a population of 445.

References

References

1. "Population estimates - small area (2021 based) by single year of age - England and Wales". Office for National Statistics.
2. "[Great and Little] Wymondley".
3. (1912). "A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 3". Victoria County History.
4. (1912). "A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 3". Victoria County History.
5. Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith. (2020). "The Archaeology of the Wymondleys".
6. (1979). "Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume I". Royal Historical Society.
7. (2000). "Discovering Parish Boundaries". Shire Publications.
8. (1884). "Hertfordshire Sheet XII". Ordnance Survey.
9. "Church of St Mary the Virgin".
10. "Wymondley Academy (1799-1833)". Queen Mary Centre for Religion and Literature in English.
11. (1912). "A History of the County of Hertford".
12. "Wymondley Junior Mixed and Infant School".
13. "Wymondley Parish Council".
14. "Little Wymondley Ancient Parish / Civil Parish". GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth.
15. "Population statistics Little Wymondley AP/CP through time". [[A Vision of Britain through Time]].