Codicote

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Codicote is a large village, about seven miles (11 km) south of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. It has timber-framed and chequered brick houses, of special interest being the 18th-century Pond House and the half-timbered "As You Like It" Peking restaurant (formerly the George and Dragon Inn). Codicote Lodge is 18th century and Codicote Bury 17th century. The church, mostly rebuilt in 1853, retains 13th-century work in its nave and aisles. A most unusual structure north of the village is the Node Dairy and Stud, erected in 1927. It is circular in design, and thatched, with a circular courtyard and a tower which is, in fact, a silo.

[edit] Landscape

Codicote lies on a chalk ridge on the dip slope of the Chiltern Hills. The highest parts of the parish lie in the north and east, most of which is over 380 feet (120 m) and at one point 450 feet (140 m) is reached. The Mimram Valley is between about 220 and 250 feet (76 m) in the parish. On the west side of the river the land rises to about 400 feet (120 m) at Abbotshay.

A major survey of the landscape in the parish was started in 2007.

[edit] Origins

The first Anglo-Saxon settlements in England were created by the invaders themselves. Later individuals or small groups tended to leave these villages to found other secondary settlements in between. The element '-cote' in the name Codicote is typical of this second phase and so it is likely that this village was founded in the later period of colonisation. Thus at some time, perhaps around 600 AD, a man with a name something like Cudda came to the area and founded a settlement.

In the year 1002 Codicote enters the written records for the first time when King Æthelred the Unready, its owner, sold it by means of a charter for the sum of 150 mancusae, or 900 shillings of pure gold to his 'faithful minster' Ælfelm. It was described as being 'five measures of ground' (of uncertain extent) and known as 'Æt Cuthingcoton'. Shortly after this it passed to the Abbott and Chapter of St Albans Abbey.

By 1086, the Domesday Book shows its value at six pounds. There was a total of eight 'hides' in the manor, perhaps 960 acres (3.9 km²), of which the Abbot's bailiff farmed three and a quarter hides as the Abbots 'home farm'. The rest was shared between a number of tenants, 16 'villeins', three humbler cottagers and one 'Frenchman' who may have been the bailiff. In addition there were four (landless) serfs. This suggests a total population of about 100 persons including women and children. There were two profitable mills (now known as Codicote Mill and Fulling Mill), some meadow and pasture and some woodland.