The haunt of kings and a comic

Mr Simmonds said: “The first mention of Chipperfield is Chippervile Wood. It was granted to the priory of Kings Langley by Edward I in 1280.

“It was part of the manor of Kings Langley for many, many years. Each successive king granted the ward of Chipperfield to the manor of Kings Langley and it was part of the great hunting park where various kings used to hunt. The famous one people know the most is Richard the Third.

“In the woods are two mounds of earth. We don’t know what they are, they may be ancient burial grounds but another suggestion is they may be archery mounts because they’re 100 yards apart.

BBC television cameras and presenter Richard Dimbleby on July 29, 1950. Does anyone remember the day?

“Over the years, Chipperfield remained part of Kings Langley. In 1838 the parish church of St Paul’s was built in the village. It’s unusual in that it’s built the opposite away around to other churches, in that the altar is on the west side and not the east end. It originally had a gallery and in the late-1800s the church was altered considerably and the gallery was removed.

“The ground for the church was provided by John Parsley who was Lord of the Manor at the time. He lived in Chipperfield Manor House. His tomb is in the churchyard.

“The other church in Chipperfield at that time was also built at exactly the same time, which was the Baptist church. This part of Hertfordshire was a very strong Baptist area. Before the church was built, the protestant dissenters used to meet in private houses. The Baptist church was originally much shorter than it is now. In the 1880s they built an extension and a steeple, and a gallery.

“A third church has been here about 30 years – the Roman Catholic church.

“Chipperfield had a watermill. All that remains is a mill house at the Sarratt end of Chipperfield Common. It remained there until the latter part of Queen Victoria’s reign when it had fallen into disrepair. It was made of wood.

Members of Chipperfield’s Home Guard. Does anyone recognise any of these faces? Picture provided by Terry Simmonds.

“The great thing in Chipperfield was cricket was played on the Common. Over 150 years ago, Chipperfield Cricket Club started up.

“One of the oldest houses in Chipperfield is in Chapel Croft, which was used as a straw plaiting service. Straw plaiting was a great cottage industry in the village. It was a very poor village in Victorian times. Property was very run down right into the 20th Century. The main occupation of the folks that lived here was in agriculture. Folks also used to spend their time stone-picking. Stones had to be removed from the fields and used to build the roads.

“St Paul’s School was built in the 1800s. The clock was put on in 1897 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. It was there ever until the early-1970s when a new school was built – the current St Paul’s. It was originally the first circular school in the country. Gradually they discovered it wasn’t big enough and have had to build bits on so it’s no longer a perfect circle.

“Braziers House is still there. It’s several hundred years old. In the late-1800s it was occupied by Sidney Paget. A lot of people won’t have heard of him but most people will have heard of Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle. The illustrations for Sherlock Holmes were originally published in a magazine and later in book form were done by Sidney Paget and he had his studio in the grounds of Braziers House, in Tower Hill.

Churchgoers pictured outside Chipperfield Baptist Church sometime in the late Victorian era. Can any readers put names to any of these faces? Picture provided by Terry Simmonds.

“Chipperfield Football Club is about 100 years old. Football didn’t get popular until the late-1800s.

“The Two Brewers pub was originally a school master’s house on the left and cottages in the middle, which became the inn and on the right hand end there was a store – the village shop at the time selling groceries and all sorts of bits and pieces. The cricketers used to go there (to the pub). There was also boxing on the common in front of the Two Brewers. The shop was moved out of the Two Brewers before World War Two. Until it closed down it was relocated to Queens Street. The Chipperfield Larder opened in the early-1900s run by the Laurence family. Today it’s a delicatessen.

“The post office started off in one bit of the Two Brewers inn. It was relocated to a cottage opposite the pub. Early in the 1900s it moved to The Street. Around 2000 it moved to the front of Garden Scene.

“There are many farms in Chipperfield. It’s a great farming area. Members of the Carter family used to live at Jeffreys Farm. They were ancestors of US President Jimmy Carter.

“There have been many pubs in Chipperfield – The Boot, the Royal Oak, the Two Brewers and The Windmill, with the Plough at Belsize and Cartland Horses at Commonwood. Pubs that have closed down include Travellers Friend, The Anchor, The Swan, The Poachers’ Retreat and the Rose and Crown.

“Chipperfield is on quite an important route, from Bovingdon to Watford. Drovers used to come along from Belsize through the back of the common through Penmans Green, driving their cattle along their on their way to market in Watford.

“For a number of years the Lords of the Manor were the Blackwell family, of Cross and Blackwell. They were great benefactors to the village. Two of Samuel and Elizabeth Blackwell's sons, Charles and William Gordon, were killed during World War One. In memory of them they gave the village the village club, which remained a club until quite recently. It’s now been renamed Blackwells and it's both a club and cafe on the common.

“The village hall, which was called the Church Institute, was put up in 1909.

“Some 130 young men from Chipperfield went off to fight in World War One. Over 30 of them were killed. There was hardly a family in Chipperfield that didn’t lose someone. The population would have be many hundred at the time and more than a hundred went off to war. In 1920 the war memorial was put up on the common. Engraved on it are all the names of those who died in both world wars. There were far fewer folks who died during World War Two.

“The Earl of Dudley lived in Great Westwood House. When he was in occupation during and after World War Two, a regular visitor to the house was the Duke of Windsor – who, before he abdicated – was Edward VIII.

One of the earliest known pictures of St Paul’s Church. Provided by Terry Simmonds.

“In the early 20th Century, some council houses were put up in Chipperfield. The biggest was the Croft estate which was put up in the 1950s.

“There was a pest house in Chipperfield, which was thought to be where they brought folks during the plague. There was a Pest House Lane until they built the council estate. They didn’t like the name so they changed it to Croft Lane.

“On July 29, 1950, Chipperfield was invaded by the BBC. All the programmes on the Saturday were filmed here. They brought with them Richard Dimbleby who spent time interviewing Chipperfield folk. It was the very first village cricket match televised in the world and thought to be the very first televised match outside London. Our side played against Welwyn Garden City.

“A late occupant of the Manor House in the 1960s, was Peter Sellers. At the time he was making the film The Millionairess, with Sophia Loren, so she visited the village. At a later date, the Manor House was owned by the Earl of Dartmouth. His first wife was Raine who became Princess Diana’s step-mother. Raine was the daughter of Barbara Cartland.

“In 2000, the parish room was built by the church of St Paul’s. It was opened by the then Bishop of Bedford, John Richardson. Back in the 1960s and 1970s he was the vicar of Chipperfield.

“One day the Windmill pub became the Calham Cross Inn, when it was featured in the television programme Midsomer Murders. The episode was shown just before Christmas. They have shot other episodes in Chipperfield, as well as episodes of Love Soup and Thomas and Sarah.

Does anyone recognise any of these pupils pictured outside St Paul’s School in the early 20th Century? Picture provided by Terry Simmonds.

“In the woods of Chipperfield is a fish pond, otherwise known as The Apostles’ Pool. There were originally 12 lime trees planted around it. One of the 12 died so that one became known as Judas. They are all being replaced now.”