Wyddial
Wyddial maps (2 available)
Map of Hertfordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Hertfordshire
Personalised maps
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Wyddial books (9 available)
- 1 photos on Wyddial appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Wyddial
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Wyddial and Hertfordshire
Wyddial memories
Read and share memories of Wyddial and Hertfordshire inspired by Frith photos
My memories of Wyddial
My father's people were from Wyddial, their name was Pinner. I was baptized at St. Giles, along with my sister. (My parents felt I should be old enough to remember this event). The dish in the font was cracked. I later stayed with my cousin Angela, she lived in Buntingford, her parents were from Aspenden. For the six weeks I was with her I worked for Mr Hodge, of Hodges Farm, Wyddial. My dad had worked for the same farm as a boy. I worked at the duck farm.
Contributed by valerie stephens
Hertfordshire memories
My memories of Wyddial
My father's people were from Wyddial, their name was Pinner. I was baptized at St. Giles, along with my sister. (My parents felt I should be old enough to remember this event). The dish in the font was cracked. I later stayed with my cousin Angela, she lived in Buntingford, her parents were from Aspenden. For the six weeks I was with her I worked for Mr Hodge, of Hodges Farm, Wyddial. My dad had worked for the same farm as a boy. I worked at the duck farm.
A memory of Wyddial contributed by valerie stephens
The Bell Hotel, Hare Street, Buntingford
I have recently discovered that my Great Grandfather John Main originally from Devon (a shoe maker) and then in Brixton, London as a Dairy Manager owned the Bell Hotel in Hare Street around 1905.
My Grandmother lived there as a little girl and would often tell us stories as children about how it was haunted and about secret panels etc and of an old huntsman who would sit on the garden wall!
I have several old postcards of it and the Street. He was still there in 1916 when my Grandmother married and I think on into the 1920s.
I just wondered if The Bell was still there?
A memory of Buntingford contributed by Judith Irwin
The Picketts of Standon
The majority of my father's family lived in and around Standon from 1600 onwards and one of them was the Sexton of St. Mary's and another was the innkeeper of The Three Horseshoes at Farnham in 1881. My Grandfather was born in the Three Horsehoes. Does anyone have any connections with the Pickett family?
A memory of Standon contributed by Angela Kenny
Extracts From Wyddial & Hertfordshire books
Sad to say, the fine thatched house and barn have not survived; only the row of Rose Cottages stand today as a reminder of the tiny village of Wyddial. The community grew up on the road between Buntingford (or Layston, as it was then called) and the villages of Barkway and Anstey. Wyddial Hall, in 1923 the home of the Heaton-Ellis family, stands on the high ground about 1/4 mile to the right of the photographer, and can be seen for miles around. Wyddial's greatest claim to fame is that is cut in half by the Meridian Line - a tiny cast iron commemoration post has been set up opposite the entrance to Wyddial Hall.
An extract from from"North and East Hertfordshire Photographic Memories".
In 1901, Hermitage Road was a pleasant, open avenue. The building on the left in view
46642, left, is the Hermitage, home of Frederick Seebohm; very little of it still remains.
Windmill Hill is just visible in the background.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
A view of St Marys church in 1931, with the War Memorial in the foreground. In 1752, the Rewd William Cole wrote that the tower was `one of the most clumsy and heavy ones I ever saw`. Perhaps `solid` is a kinder description.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
In the 1960s, the Sun Hotel’s yard did not include
fire escapes from the upstairs rooms, as it does now.
Otherwise, there is little but the parked cars to give
a clue to the date of this photograph. The timber-
framed buildings, on the left, are believed to date
from the 16th century.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
This 1908 view of the churchyard from the south shows the gates that once protected the dead from body snatchers. J Shipley Slipper, a
dentist, held a surgery at Waldock’s on the left, but only on alternate market days - a long wait if you’d just missed him. George Savage’s
draper’s shop is by the gates on the right, and next door to him is Allsop’s, trading as a cash tailor under the slogan: ‘The Novelty House
for Neckwear’. The façade of his shopfront has been rendered, and scoured with lines to give the impression that it is built of stone.
Unfortunately, the years have taken their toll and the render is slowly falling off. Halsey’s is on the right: an advertisement in the window
draws attention to ‘Halsey’s Dog Food’ - packets of puppy biscuits surround it. Strictly speaking, the buildings from Savage’s to Halsey’s are
in the Market Place, whilst those on the other side are in the Churchyard.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".