The Story of a Church

and the murderous pieman of Hertford

The county town of Hertford was well known for its weekly markets and annual fairs held on feast days and Saints’ days throughout the year, attracting farmers, traders and buyers from far and wide. Although good money was to be made at these fairs and many returned home far wealthier than they started out, it was not without its perils. Walter Clibbon, of Babbs Green near Ware, made an excellent trade selling game pies at the Hertford fairs, but he also had a profitable side line. He kept a keen ear the ground listening to the gossip amongst the other traders and soon established who had done especially well on any particular day. Then along with accomplices, usually members of his family, disguised in labourers’ smocks with soot blackened faces, he would ambush and rob those he had pinpointed as having made the most money as they made their way home. If they cooperated and handed over the cash they might escape with just a few bruises, but many also paid with their lives. Such gangs of footpads (highwaymen without horses) were common in the 18^th century and there were lucrative pickings, but on the cold winter evening of 28^th December 1782 Walter Clibbon was to meet his match.

He made the mistake of robbing farmer’s son young Robert Whittenbury as he made his way by cart through the dark lanes of Hertford Woods back home to Datchworth. Robert sensibly handed over his cash to preserve his life but afterwards made his way to the nearby home of his uncle Benjamin, where he raised the alarm. Robert, his uncle and a servant called North then set out with a dog and gun to hunt down the robbers. On finding the assailants, a fight broke out, but the vigilantes were no match for Clibbon and his two thugs and it looked like all was lost. As Benjamin lay on the ground with Clibbon’s knife at his throat, he called out to North who discharged the gun, killing Clibbon outright. The other two members of the gang, both Clibbon’s sons, fled in fear for their lives. One of them escaped but the other was captured and was later hung for his crimes.

Clibbon’s Post, Tewin Hill

Due to his notorious crimes Clibbon was not given a traditional criminal’s burial at a crossroads. Convicted criminals could not be buried in consecrated ground so it was usual practice to bury them at a crossroads, the cross being a nod to Christianity. However Clibbon was put in the ground at the spot where he fell, with a stake driven through his heart to stop his ghost from rising up and wandering the lanes. The original stake has long rotted away but has been replaced over the years and a post still marks the spot of Clibbon’s demise. Despite the stake, stories of ghosts prevail to this day and tales are often told of travellers hearing the sound of horses dragging a cart near Clibbon’s post. As for North, he was acquitted of murder and the jury delivered a verdict of justifiable homicide.

But it wasn’t only in Hertfordshire that farmers were being robbed on their way home from market, it was a country wide problem. It was almost a century before Clibbon met his end, that a fabric merchant and farmer in Nottinghamshire, Thomas Smith founded a banking business, which has links to today’s NatWest bank, so that farmers and traders could bank their takings before setting out for home from local fairs. And it was it was one of Thomas’s descendants, Robert Smith born in 1833 that brings us back to Hertford and provides a very tenuous link to the subject of this week’s newsletter. In fact so tenuous it’s barely discernible but I thought you would enjoy the story! *

As we know banking is a lucrative business, and Robert’s grandfather Samuel Smith owned substantial property and land near Hertford. On the occasion of his grandson’s marriage he gifted him the Goldings Estate which included the hamlet of Waterford just a couple of miles from Hertford. Robert and his wife Isabel began to make improvements to the house and subsequently to the village, rebuilding and restoring cottages and establishing a small school.

St Michael and All Angels church, Waterford

Following his recovery from a severe illness, Robert decided to express his thanks for his return to health by building a church for Waterford. There was already a small chapel in the schoolroom that held a service just once a week on a Sunday, but the nearest proper Parish church was a mile away in Bengeo. The walk to Bengeo was an arduous climb up a steep hill making funerals difficult and also providing a convenient excuse to those so inclined not to attend services. So plans were made to build St Michael and All Angels church in Waterford, with a wish to make it as perfect as they could. The first stone was laid on 28^th October 1871 and within a year on 25^th July 1872 just a little over 150 years ago, the church was consecrated. The architect was the eminent exponent of the Gothic Revival, Henry Woodyer, but the most notable and stunning feature of this little church’s interior are the collection of William Morris stained glass windows mostly designed by Edward Burne-Jones, although there is also work by Ford Maddox Brown, Dante Rossetti and even Morris himself.

St Cecilia and Angel, 1929, Karl Parsons

Interestingly, the window that really took my breath away was the one that faces you on entering the church, a stunning stained glass featuring St Cecilia, which was not actually made by Morris. It was installed in 1929 in memory of local resident Rachel Prentice who died just aged 19. Rachel’s parents commissioned Dublin glass artist Harry Clarke to create a window of St Cecilia, the Patron Saint of Music but Clarke’s original design was rejected by Diocesan Advisory Committee as being not in keeping with the other, pre-Raphaelite windows in the church. A few years later a revised design was submitted by Karl Parsons, who had worked with Clarke and the new design was accepted. Sadly there are no known copies of the original design, so we have nothing to compare it with, but the window that was installed is beautiful, full of rich jewel colours.

St Cecilia and Angel, detail

Walking down the nave to the right, are six more stunning windows from the workshops of William Morris, five of them designed by Edward Burne-Jones and the sixth by Morris himself. The first is Christ with St Mary the Virgin, a window installed in 1917 in memory of Robert’s wife Isabel.

St Peter, 1876, Edward Burne-Jones

Next is St Peter, holding the keys to heaven and hell, that was installed in memory of Reverend Charles Deedes, the rector of Bengeo at the time the church was built. There is speculation that the model for St Peter was William Morris himself, although others think it was Rev Deedes. There is a triptych of angels in memory of Robert Smith who died in 1894, then the prophetess Miriam depicted dancing and clashing cymbals, King David playing the harp and finally the Annunciation by Morris.

St Michael the Archangel, 1872, William Morris

Another William Morris window is to the left of the altar and features St Michael the Archangel dressed in full armour. It is of interest because it features both painted glass and stained glass. The yellow/gold of the armour is achieved with stained glass, a technique created by painting the glass with a chemical before firing, which results in a chemical reaction that colours the glass. However painted glass which can be seen on the silver/grey areas of the chain mail is literally that, glass that is painted with coloured pigment. This is also fired but only to harden the paint fusing it to the glass.

A section of the Reredos

As well as beautiful windows there are several opaque glass mosaics in the ‘Opus Sectile’ style forming the Reredos surrounding the altar, which was very much a speciality of the firm that installed the mosaics, James Powell and sons. There are also gorgeous painted panels, some fine examples of recently worked kneelers, further mosaics on the sanctuary walls and an impressive organ with over 700 pipes, the outer examples of which are all engraved. So many treasures in such a small church.

One of the mosaics on the sanctuary walls

Until the day before our visit a couple of weeks ago I was totally unaware of this absolutely stunning little church, but a neighbour had read what I had written about the Chagall windows in Tudeley and had suggested I might like to see those in St Michael and All Angels too. It was just a half hour drive from home, and we had plenty of time to explore the church, whose outside appearance gave no clues to the treasures held within, pop into Hertford for a quick coffee and then we were back home by lunchtime… a perfect impromptu outing

*Thanks to the writer of the booklet picked up in the church for introducing me to Walter Clibbon and thank you too to all the lovely readers who left comments or sent me emails last week encouraging me to start writing fiction. I have begun!