1866 P.O. Directory of Herts: Walkern

[Including notes on locations in present day Walkern]

Source: HALS

Walkern is a village and parish in Broadwater Hundred, Hertford Union, Hitchin county court district, rural deanery of Benington, archdeaconry of St Albans and the diocese of Rochester, situate on the river Beane, which runs into the river Lea near Hoddesdon, distant from Buntingford 6 miles south west, 3 east from Stevenage station on the Great Northern Railway, and 32 from London. The church of the Virgin Mary, an ancient structure in the Norman style, with square tower and 5 bells, contains a curious tomb of a Knight Templar, which is supposed to have been brought from Baldock Priory. The living is a rectory, value £600, with 16 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of King’s College Cambridge and held by the Rev John Harding MA of that college. A National school was built in 1834. Here are chapels for Baptists, Independents and Wesleyans. On the brook is a mill. The street is 1 mile long. The Earl of Essex is lord of the manor. The area of the parish is 2,924 acres, and the population in 1861 was 823.
At Walkern Bury, one mile east, are the remains of a castle; Bassetts Green one mile east; Clay End is a mile and a half south east.

Parish Clerk: William Green
Post Office: Daniel Pearman, postmaster. Letters through Buntingford, arrive at 6am, dispatched at 8.30pm. The nearest money order office is at Stevenage.
National School: Mrs Jane Ditcher, mistress
Carrier: Owen Cannon, to Hertford, on Saturday, returning same day

Private residents
Beecroft, Mr George
Garratt, Mr Thomas
Harding, Rev John M.A., J.P. (Rector)
Ivory, Robert esq. Walkern Park
Melsham, Rev Henry M.A. (curate)
Pryor, Morris esq., Clay Hall [Walkern Hall]

Commercial
Allison, James, shopkeeper
Andrews, Joseph, farmer
Aylott, George, carpenter
Bridges, Lydia (Mrs), farmer, Clay End [Bridges Farm]
Camp, William, farm bailiff
Cannon, Owen, poulterer
Cock, Charles, blacksmith
Collins, Thomas, beer retailer
Dearman, Daniel, beer retailer
Dearman, Frederick, blacksmith
Dickenson, Joseph, shoemaker
Dickinson, John, beer retailer, Clay End [known as Kings Cross pub]
Dilley, Phillip, ‘Red Lion’ & shopkeeper
Elliott, Eliza (Mrs), ‘White Lion’
Elliott, Henry, ‘Yew Tree’ & bricklayer
Estwick, Thomas, shopkeeper
Gazeley, Jonas, wheelwright [Glebe View area]
Green, William, carpenter
Hill, Robert, farmer, The Bury [Walkernbury Farm]
Hills, William, farmer
Ivory, Robert, farmer, Walkern Park
Elliot Kitchener, John, shopkeeper
Knott, James, shopkeeper
Martin, Hannah (Mrs), harness maker
Moulden, Thomas, butcher & beer retailer
Pearman, Daniel, baker
Pearman, Edward, farmer, Box Bury Farm
Pearman, George David, miller & farmer, Walkern Mill
Pearman, Thomas, farmer, Rook’s Nest
Pettit, George, plumber
Porter, Samuel, farmer, Bassett’s Green
Porter, Samuel jun., farmer,
Rowlatt, Thomas & Son, farmers, Walkern Place [Manor Farm]
Rust, John, tailor
Smith, John, beer retailer
Spriggens, William, shoemaker
Stockbridge, Thomas, baker & corn dealer
Tily, James, surgeon
Woollaston, William, farmer
Wright, Samuel, brewer, maltster & farmer