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General
The village of Cottered is mentioned in the Domesday book when its name was ..... Cottered. The origins of the name are uncertain but it may derive from cod and rith meaning ‘spawn of fish stream’ or it could mean ‘Codda's stream’ though this is thought to be less likely.
To the southwest of the village lies the Cromer Windmill, the only surviving post mill in Hertfordshire dating from 1679.
Cottered is a pleasant parish lying within undulating chalk hills. After the Norman Conquest the manor was granted to Walchlin, Bishop of Winchester. The Lordship, a magnificent former farmhouse, is one of the most ancient domestic buildings in Hertfordshire.
The church of St. Mary dates from the fifteenth century and has a lofty spire, a fine old timbered roof and mediaeval wall paintings.
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Local Estate
During the 1920s a farmer at Cottered met and befriended a gentleman of the road nicknamed ‘Old Charlie’. Old Charlie was a lonely man so the offer of a home in return for doing light work was appreciated. Because of his way of life Charlie chose to sleep in the barn instead of the house. When Charlie eventually died his ghost returned to the barn where he had lived. Unfortunately the site is now beneath a housing estate; nevertheless a ghostly old man has been seen shuffling along the streets near to where the barn stood before vanishing.
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