The Church of St Peter Great Berkhamsted

On the southwest tower pier is a long panel listing the Rectors of Berkhamsted from the 13th century to the present day. Note the rapid succession of incumbents during the 14th century – this was when England was ravaged by the Black Death, a form of bubonic plague. The instability of the English Civil War is not, however, revealed in this list – in 1650 the Revd John Napier was apparently ejected to make way for an “intruder” priest, David Bramley, installed by Parliament, but after the Restoration of the Monarchy Napier returned to his post in 1661. He appears however to have remained in Berkhamsted with his wife Ann during Bramley’s incumbency and they had seven children baptised in St Peter’s between 1648 and 1656.

Notable names among these rectors include:

• John de Waltham (1379-1380), later Bishop of Salisbury, who enjoyed an especially close relationship with King Richard II; he was the only commoner ever to be buried in the Chapel of Edward the Confessor at in Westminster Abbey;
• Revd John Cowper (1722-1756), father of the poet and hymn-writer William Cowper;
• Revd John Wolstenholme Cobb (1871 to 1883), author of The History and Antiquities of Berkhamsted (1855) who also oversaw Butterfield’s restoration of the building. A separate small plaque on this pier also commemorates Cobb’s death.