The village of Kimpton is situated between the Mimram and Lea river valleys in Hertfordshire, about six miles south of Hitchin. It is approximately four miles from Harpenden and Luton. The Parish of Kimpton comprises Kimpton itself, with a population of around 1,400, and also the adjacent settlements of Blackmore End and Peters Green, housing populations of about 800 and 80, respectively. Some of
the houses on Kimpton High Street date back to the 16th century, although many are 19th and early 20th century, and there are sizeable developments of houses from the 1960s and 1970s. There is a village shop and post office, a doctor’s surgery, and a thriving Primary School and Nursery, as well as a significant number of businesses operating on a small industrial estate on the edge of Kimpton, as well as a large number of people working as sole traders in the area. The village has a reputation for its strong community spirit with over 50 clubs and organisations meeting regularly and helping to support the village as a whole. Every year at the beginning of May, many of these groups set up a stall on the Recreation Ground as part of the annual local fundraiser, the May Festival – an event run over three days featuring an art exhibition, craft market, stalls, arena entertainments, six mile sponsored run, walk with clues to solve, village concert, quiz, cream teas with jazz band. Kimpton has a spacious flint-built parish church in the unusual transitional style between the Norman and Early English – the oldest bell in the tower dates from the 1300s. Internally, the Dacre Chapel has a fine Perpendicular screen, and the remains of early wall paintings in the chancel show St Christopher and the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy, depicting charitable acts toward the needy.
