Westmill or Westmill-cum-Wakeley   [Note that there is a West Mill near Hitchin]

Old Herts Places Westmill

Westmill Church circa 1840 (from Westmill)

The Village Green at Westmill

On my left lies the village of Westmill, two miles from Braughing, said to owe its name to the three mills that stood here beside the Rib in the days of the great Survey. [Domesday Book] ... From the meadow above the village, a meadow honeycombed by innumerable rabbits, I can look down over Westmill, which today is but a cluster of cottages around an old church, looking, I doubt not, much as it looked in the days of Nathaniel Salmon. Salmon, once curate here at Westmill, deserves a passing word. ... He was the author of a History of Hertfordshire which was published in 1728. ... At Westmill, as at Braughing, coins and pottery have been found bearing the hallmarks of the ubiquitous Roman ... The men of Westmill had already forgotten the Roman and all his ways when the Conqueror gave Westmele to Robert de Olgi, a brave Norman who had fought for him to some purpose at Hastings. ...

Highways & Byways in Hertfordshire 1902

Westmill Church, Buntingford Published by E. E. Darville, Stationer, Buntingford Phototyped in Frankfurt Unused - back suggests about 1904 Kelly's 1902 Rev Charles Percy Jones, Rectory, Westmill Edwin E Darville, stationer, cycle agent & fancy dealer Buntingford

Westmill (2 miles N.W.) is a pretty parish on the Rib. It includes Knights Hill, Wakeley and Cherry's Green. At the last named stands the quaint little 17th century cottage called Button Snap, described by Charles Lamb as the only landed property he could ever call his own. This was presented to the Royal Society of Arts in 1927 and has now been purchased by the Charles Lamb Society which hopes to convert it into a Lamb museum.

The manor of Westmill was granted by William the Conqueror to Robert de Olgi. The parish church retains traces of pre-Conquest work with incorporated Roman bricks. The tower has a newel stairway and a bell here, cast six centuries ago, is one of the oldest in the county. The flintwork and other fabric of the church dates from the 12th to the 15th centuries.

Braughing Rural District Official Guide 1971

Westmill multiview card Published by Robert H Clark posted 1922

Book: Westmill - Westmill-cum-Wakeley

Web Site: Friends of Westmill Church