Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for PIRTON

PIRTON, a village and a parish in Hitchin district, Herts. The village stands near the boundary with Beds, 3 miles N W by W of Hitchin r. station; was known at Domesday, as Peritone, signifying " Peri's town; " tookthat name from a previous Saxon owner, called Peri; and now has a post-office under Hitchin, and a fair on thefirst Thursday of Nov. The parish comprises 2, 560 acres. Real property, £4, 363. Pop. in 1851, 897; in 1861, 1,023. Houses, 188. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged, from the time of William the Conqueror, till 1611, to the De Limesies; and was then divided between S. Docwra, Esq., and Eton College. A church and a castle were founded heroby the first De Limesie; and traces of the castle stillexist. High Down was the seat of the Docwras, built in 1612; and is now a farm-house. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £275.* Patrons, the Representatives of the late R. Lindsay, Esq. The church was rebuilt about the middle of the 15thcentury, but retains some Norman work of the previonsedifice. There are a national school, and charities £12.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Pirton AP/CP       Hitchin RegD/PLU       Hertfordshire AncC
Place names: PERITONE     |     PIRTON
Place: Pirton

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