Codicote, United Kingdom

By 1086, the Domesday Book shows its value at six pounds. There was a total of eight 'hides' in the manor, perhaps 960 acres (3.9 km2), of which the Abbot's bailiff farmed three and a quarter hides as the Abbot's 'home farm'. The rest was shared between a number of tenants, 16 'villeins', three humbler cottagers and one 'Frenchman' who may have been the bailiff. In addition there were four (landless) serfs. This suggests a total population of about 100 persons including women and children. There were two mills (now known as Codicote Mill and Fulling Mill, both on the Mimram), some meadow and pasture and some woodland.

No priest is mentioned in the Domesday Book at Codicote, suggesting it was not yet a parish. Codicote has a very irregular parish boundary with Welwyn (which did have a priest mentioned in the Domesday Book). Such irregular boundaries often indicate the division of a larger parish in the period after the Norman Conquest. Codicote's parish church of St Giles was built in the early 12th century. It is known that it was dedicated by Ralph d'Escures whilst he was Bishop of Rochester, which was between 1108 and 1115. Presumably, Codicote became a separate parish around the same time. The church was extensively restored in 1853; the main earlier material still visible is the 15th century tower.

St Giles stands on the north-eastern edge of the modern village, alongside the manor house, known as The Bury. The area around the church may indicate an early centre for the village. The main road through the parish (now High Street, the B656) passes 500 metres south-west of the church. In the late 13th century, St Albans Abbey as the manorial owner of Codicote secured a market charter and annual fair for Codicote. A market place was established at the junction of St Albans Road and High Street, and the focus for the village shifted to be around the market place (which became known as The Hill) and along High Street.

Codicote was badly affected by the Black Death of the late 1340s, with half the village's population dying from the disease. The market continued to operate until the Reformation. Codicote's landlord, St Albans Abbey, was dissolved in 1539, and Codicote's market seems to have ceased operating around the same time. The Codicote estates of St Albans Abbey were claimed by the crown and subsequently sold into private ownership.

The Welwyn Turnpike Trust was established in 1726 to improve various roads in the area, including Codicote's High Street as part of the main road linking Hitchin to the Great North Road at Welwyn. Codicote had several public houses along the High Street, including the George and Dragon, the Bell, and the Red Lion, which have all since closed and been converted to other uses. The prominent timber-framed George and Dragon, which dates back to at least the 16th century, became a Chinese restaurant before being converted into housing called Taverners Place. There are two pubs still operating on the High Street, being the Globe and the Goat, the latter being another timber-framed building dating back to the 16th century.