In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Baldock like this:
BALDOCK, a small town, a parish, and a subdistrict, in the district of Hitchin, Herts. The town stands in a valley between two hills, on Icknield-street, adjacent to the Hitchin and Cambridge railway, near. the source of the river Rhea, 5 miles NE of Hitchin. It has a station on the railway, a head post office,‡ a parish church, four dissenting chapels, almshouses, a banking office, and two good inns; and is a seat of petty sessions. ...
Its name was anciently written Baudoc; and is supposed by some to have been taken from Baalbec in Syria and applied by the Knights Templars. These military monks got a grant of the place, in the reign of Stephen, from Gilbert, Earl of Pembroke; and they built upon it a church, and obtained for it the rights of a market town The present parish church includes some portions of the Templars church; is a spacious edifice, in later English, with a large chancel and an ancient tower; was recently renovated; and contains some monuments of the Templars, a finely-carved oak screen, a very curious font, and part of the ancient rood-loft. The principal street of the town is wide, and has many respectable houses. Much business is done in the corn and malting trades; and a great quantity of straw-plait is made here and in the neighbourhood. A weekly market is held on Friday; and fairs, on 7 March, the last Thursday in May, 5 Aug., 2 Oct., and 11 Dec.—The parish comprises 200 acres. Real property, £6,312. Pop., 1,974. Houses, 408. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester Value, £200.* Patron, Bishop of Rochester. Charities, £270.-The subdistrict contains sixteen parishes. Acres, 28,660. Pop., 8,738. Houses, 1,811.
Baldock through time
Baldock is now part of North Hertfordshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how North Hertfordshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Baldock itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Baldock in North Hertfordshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/30
Date accessed: 18th April 2024
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