St Hippolytus Church, St Ippolyts, Herts, UK - Medieval Churches on Waymarking.com

The parish church of St. Hippolytus, in the middle of the village, consists of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, north and south porches and west tower. It is built for the most part of flint with dressings of limestone and clunch. The tower is partly covered with cement, and the south porch is of brick, with a timber south front.

The original church, of the late 11th century, consisted of a chancel and nave, to which north and south aisles were added about 1320, when the chancel was rebuilt. The south aisle was built first and then the north, and the west tower was begun immediately after the completion of the aisles. The 15th-century alterations consisted of the widening of the chancel arch and the erection of the north and south porches. In 1879 practically the whole of the church, with the exception of the tower, was taken down and rebuilt from the foundations, but the old materials were replaced with great care, so that the history of the original building can be followed with ease.

The chancel has a modern window in the east wall, one north and two south windows, all of two lights with tracery. They are of the 14th century and have been much repaired.

The nave has two 14th-century arches on either side, inserted in the earlier wall. The remains of an original round-headed window built of tufa are visible in the wall above the south arcade.

The north aisle has modern windows, but the north doorway is of the early 14th century, restored, and the rear arch is modern. The doorway opens into the north porch, which is of stone, repaired with cement, and has a pointed entrance.

The east and south windows of the south aisle are of the 14th century; the former is a narrow pointed window of two lights with simple tracery, and the latter a square-headed window of two lights, repaired. The west window is modern. To the west of the south window is the south doorway, dating from about 1320, of moulded clunch, opening into the south porch, which has brick sides and a timber framing.

The west tower is entered from the nave by a plain arch. The west window is of the 14th century and has three lights, with tracery. The second stage of the tower is lighted by loops and the bell-chamber has two-light windows. The tower is embattled, with a string-course immediately below the battlements, but is otherwise plain. It has square angle buttresses, and the low pyramidal roof is tiled and surmounted by a tall leaded post.

Building Materials: Stone

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/21/2017 greysman visited it