Piccotts End

---

title: "Piccotts End" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-hertfordshire", "dacorum"] description: "Village in Hertfordshire, England" topic_path: "general/villages-in-hertfordshire" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccotts_End" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village in Hertfordshire, England ::

::data[format=table title="infobox UK place"]

Field	Value
country	England
coordinates
official_name	Piccotts End
shire_district	Dacorum
shire_county	Hertfordshire
region	East of England
constituency_westminster	Hemel Hempstead
post_town	Hemel Hempstead
postcode_district	HP1
postcode_area	HP
dial_code	01442
os_grid_reference	TL051090
::

|country = England |coordinates = |official_name= Piccotts End |population = |shire_district= Dacorum |shire_county = Hertfordshire |region= East of England |constituency_westminster= Hemel Hempstead |post_town= Hemel Hempstead |postcode_district = HP1 |postcode_area= HP |dial_code= 01442 |os_grid_reference= TL051090 }}

Piccotts End is a village in Hertfordshire, England situated on the upper River Gade. While often mistaken for a hamlet, it became a village when its church – All Saints – was dedicated in 1907 and remained a place of worship until the 1970s. It is in the Dacorum Ward of Gadebridge.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/The_Marchmont_Piccotts_End_Hemel_Hempstead_-geograph.org.uk-_43673.jpg" caption="Marchmont House, now a pub"] ::

The village is home to several medieval cottages and a number of Georgian and Regency villas. One of these, Marchmont House, is now a pub. There is an extensively restored 19th century watermill. Piccotts End is positioned on the edge of Hemel Hempstead's extensive urban area, but careful planning has kept green space between it and the town.

The Piccotts End Pumping Station operated by Affinity Water takes its name from the village, but is actually located across the Leighton Buzzard Road on a dedicated utility site containing water treatment works and an electricity sub-station.

Piccotts End Murals

Main article: 130–136 Piccotts End

In 1953 some unusually fine medieval wall paintings were discovered in some cottages here. The paintings date to between 1470 and 1500 and show a number of religious scenes, including the baptism of Jesus by St John (wearing camel skin complete with head and hoofs) and a scene of the Virgin Mary holding Christ's body in front of the cross. Also depicted are St Peter, St Catherine of Alexandria with her wheel and sword and St Margaret of Antioch emerging from the belly of the dragon. It is believed that these wall paintings show a link to the 'heretical' Cathar beliefs of southern France and adjacent areas of Catalonia and northern Italy. The building was also found to have a hidden room in the roof, suggesting it was a priest hole and an Elizabethan painted room in the next door cottage. In 1827 the same building had been converted into the West Herts Infirmary, the first cottage hospital, by Sir Astley Cooper, providing free medical services.

References

References

1. [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/f691cb5d-f689-4ed7-8fa6-a77eeecd55a3 National Archives] Hemel Hempstead Parish Records, 1558-1993
2. [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45907/page/2272 London Gazette] The London Gazette, 16 February 1973: to the north of the front entrance to Piccotts End farmhouse opposite All Saints Church
3. "Wall paintings on the move", ''[[Financial Times]]'', 28 October 2000, p. 18; and
4. "Piccotts End". Dacorum Heritage Trust.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::