North Mymms - Parish and People
by Dorothy Colville

Foreward and Introduction

The parish of North Mymms, as the readers of this book will see, has a long and interesting history, and there is probably no greater living expert on the history of the parish, its life and the characters who lived in it than the writer, Mrs. Dorothy Colville, who was born in North Mymms, was educated at the girls’ school, no longer in existence, at Water End, taught in it and finally became its headmistress.

I am quite sure that the reason why Mrs. Colville has given up her time and study to this subject is to be found in her sincere love for and interest in the place in which she was born, the place in which she has spent all her life and in which she has done her best, and indeed successfully, to play her part.

Those of us who share the same view of affection for and interest in the parish will find this book of profound interest and will be ever grateful to Mrs. Colvilie for having undertaken this work.

Written by the then Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Major General Sir George Burns. February 5, 1972.

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Introduction

Parish and People

Domesday Book of 1086 records "The Bishop of Chester holds Mimmine In King Edward’s time it answered for eight hides and one virgate, now for eight hides. There is land to thirteen ploughs. Pasture for cattle. Pannage for four hundred hogs. This Manor is not part of the See but it was Reyner’s, the father of Bishop Robert."

Nearly 800 years later the Rev Horace Meyer, who had just accepted the living, wrote in his journal "North Mymms parish in Rochester diocese was nearly sixteen miles in circumference; contained 1,300 people and was composed of four hamlets, five large places and four smaller ones, with twenty-two farms The schools were under Government, the church was nineteen miles from London the income about £275"

It is therefore a parish with a long history, but this is not a history book in the generally accepted sense It is rather a collection of facts, extracts from old parish magazines and of stories remembered by older residents, to whom I owe a deep debt of gratitude for their interest and patience.

"To bring the dead to life
Is no great magic
Few are wholly dead
Blow on a dead man’s embers
And a live flame will start.
So grant him life"
Robert Graves

Here then are some embers blown upon and brought to life.

Dorothy Colville, 1971

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Chapter One The Parish
Index - North Mymms Parish and People