Kelshall is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

North Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth Garden City and the largest town is Hitchin. The district also includes the towns of Baldock and Royston ...

district of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. It lies south-west of Royston, its

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

. The parish had a population of 166 at the 2021 census.

Geography

The village lies on top of a broad chalk ridge of high ground. It has a village hall which was originally built in 1895 as the village school. The parish church of St Faith's is on the edge of the village. The parish also includes surrounding rural areas, particularly to the north-west where the parish extends down the hills to the ancient

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, withi ...

, now the

A505 road The A505 is a road in the East of England. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path and runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to the A11 road (England), A11 Abington Interchange North in Cam ...

, which at this point forms the county boundary with

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

History

tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

or bowl barrow stands on Gallows Hill, near the Icknield Way on the northern boundary of the parish, indicating prehistoric occupation in the area. The tumulus has not been excavated or dated. Evidence for

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

occupation has been found in the area. Following the discovery of a Roman copper-alloy jug by a metal detectorist in 2014, a subsequent archaeological dig found a Roman grave, which contained a number of other artefacts believed to date to between 205 and 215AD, including a silver

denarius The ''denarius'' (; : ''dēnāriī'', ) was the standard Ancient Rome, Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the ''antoninianus''. It cont ...

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

, three 2nd century copper-alloy coins, a quantity of

Roman glass Roman glass objects have been recovered across the Roman Empire in domestic, industrial and funerary contexts. Glass was used primarily for the production of vessels, although mosaic tiles and window glass were also produced. Roman glass producti ...

, including bottles, glasses and two polychrome dishes thought to have been made in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. In 2017, the treasure registrar for the Portable Antiquities Scheme judged the dishes to be amongst the five most significant finds of recent years. The artefacts were subsequently bought by the North Hertfordshire Museum. The manor of Kelshall was apparently given to the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

at Ely in the year 1000. The abbey subsequently became

Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 67 ...

. The manor remained in the cathedral's ownership until 1600, when Kelshall was transferred to the crown. It was shortly afterwards sold into private ownership. The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 records 28 households at Kelshall. No priest or church was mentioned at Kelshall in the Domesday Book, suggesting it may not have been a parish at that time. Kelshall's parish church of St Faith's was built in the early 15th century. In the 1880s the church was described as being "ancient, plain, and good, with a tower; and contains a few brasses and monuments". The church was thoroughly restored in 1868–1870, with subsequent restorations in 1911 and 1982. The Green at Kelshall

Whilst Kelshall lies some way south of the main road of the Icknield Way to the north, the "top road" routes along the ridge were also of some local importance in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Kelshall's village green lies at the junction of the top road from Sandon to Therfield and Royston with another road (The Street) which formerly continued to Buckland on the

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln ('' Lindum Colonia'') and York ('' Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earninga ...

. A cross is known to have existed for several centuries at the junction by the village green. Its origins and original purpose are obscure, and by the early 20th century only the base stone remained. To mark the

Millennium celebrations The millennium celebrations were a worldwide, coordinated series of events to celebrate and commemorate the end of 1999 and the start of the year 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. The celebrations were held as marking the end of the 2nd millennium, ...

in 2000, the base of the cross was restored and a new obelisk erected alongside it, known as the Millennium Cross.

Governance

There are two elected tiers of local government covering Kelshall, at

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

level: North Hertfordshire District Council and

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

. Due to its low population, Kelshall has a

parish meeting A parish meeting is a meeting all the electors in a civil parish in England are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish council, with ...

comprising all residents instead of an elected parish council. Kelshall Village Hall

The parish of Kelshall was historically part of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Odsey. Kelshall was included in the Royston

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

from 1835. The

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

created

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and district councils. The part of the Royston Poor Law Union within Hertfordshire became Ashwell Rural District; despite the name, the rural district council was always based in Royston. Kelshall's population was too low to be given a parish council, and so it was given a parish meeting instead. Ashwell Rural District was abolished in 1935, becoming part of

Hitchin Rural District Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county. Evolution The district had its origins in the Hitchin Rural Sanitary District. This had been created unde ...

, which in turn was abolished in 1974, becoming part of

Population

At the 2021 census, the population of the parish was 166. The population had been 163 in 2011. The censuses taken between 1801 and 1961 show the population generally increased from 179 in 1801 to a peak of 326 in 1851. The population gradually decreased after 1851, reaching a low point of 122 in 1961. 20th Century map of Kelshall

References

External links

Kelshall Parish
{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire Roman sites in Hertfordshire