St Catherine and St Pauls

On the left, a large rectangular stone lies in the grass. It is a copy of the foundation stone of the Girls’ National School which stood in the vicinity. National Schools were Church of England charity schools. This school was erected in 1858, and Hoddesdon’s first charity school, Mrs Easter Jones’ girls’ school in Amwell Street, founded in 1818, was moved here. The building was demolished in the 1970s. Beyond the foundation stone is one of the church halls, which was originally the Infants’ National School.
The church of St Catherine & St Paul has been built in different stages. The eastern end, which faces Amwell Street, is 19th century; the western end was constructed as a private chapel in 1732. When Hoddesdon became a parish in the mid-19th century, this chapel was adopted as the parish church. The church was enlarged in 1865, and the tower was added in 1887. Originally known as St Catherine’s, it was dedicated to St. Paul in 1901, and re-dedicated to St. Catherine & St Paul in 1976.

Follow the path half-right past the western, older, end of the church to the exit leading to Hanover Court. On the right is a raised grave with an embossed cross on the top. This is the grave of Harriet Auber, who died in 1882. She wrote many hymns, the best known of which, ‘Our Blest Redeemer’, was, for lack of writing materials to hand, first scratched on to a window pane of her home in Amwell Street, which stood opposite the church. Retrace your steps past the west end of the church, walk between the church halls into Paul’s Lane, and turn right.