Local History

Codicote is mentioned in the Doomsday Book in 1086, and the Church was dedicated in about 1110, however the present village probably dates from 1267. In this year the King granted the right to the owner of the main manor, the Abbot of St. Albans, to hold a weekly market on Fridays. The market place was set out in the best location in the Parish to catch passing trade, at the junction of the main roads to Hatfield, Hitchin and St. Albans. The Abbot was also granted the right to hold a fair here too, in July 1271.

Within a few years permanent shops were set up around the market place and an inn stood on approximately the site currently occupied by the “As You Like It” by 1279. Over succeeding decades and centuries other permanent buildings were erected on parts of the market place, giving rise to the island sites between Bakers Lane and St. Albans Road, and between the two parts of Heath Lane. Locals know the remainder of the market place as “The Hill”.

As a consequence of the market and fair, Codicote became a substantial and important settlement through the rest of the Middle Ages, but it declined rapidly at the end of this period, leaving large gaps in the street frontage, only to be infilled in the 19th Century.

Most of the older houses in the High Street, and older parts of Heath Lane and St. Albans Road (the last named known as “Irish End”), were built in the 17th Century. Those which originally had only one storey later had their roofs raised to provide for an upper floor and then, in the 18th Century, most were faced with plaster or brickwork so that their timber frames are no longer
visible. A number were previously inns or shops, as their names or appearances bear testimony. A continuous street frontage was achieved by the infilling and rebuilding of the 19th Century. The houses in Newtown (originally “New Street”) were constructed from about 1850, and the south end of the High Street later in that century. The other streets in the village came into existence in the 20th Century.

There have always been farmhouses and hamlets beyond the village, unlike some other parishes, and many of these settlements have grown greatly through the 19th and 20th Centuries. Rabley Heath straddles the boundaries with Welwyn and Knebworth Parishes, while Tagmore End, Nup End, Driver’s End and Codicote Bottom fall completely in Codicote Parish, although some of
them have Welwyn postal addresses or are in Knebworth District Council ward.

Much of the Village growth has been from the mid-1960s with new developments around Bury Lane, Valley Road and subsequent infill sites.