Hertfordshire spike

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}

{{short description|Type of short spire or flèche}}

File:The Church at Ashwell crop.jpg

File:Braughing Parish Church - geograph.org.uk - 79021.jpg, Hertfordshire]]

A Hertfordshire spike is a type of short spire or flèche found on church-towers surrounded by a parapet.{{Citation|title=Hertfordshire spike|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-2249|work=A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture|year=2015|editor-last=Curl|editor-first=James Stevens|edition=3rd|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780199674985.001.0001/acref-9780199674985-e-2249|isbn=978-0-19-967498-5|access-date=2020-05-27|editor2-last=Wilson|editor2-first=Susan}} It is defined in the Buildings of England as a "flèche or short spire rising from a church-tower, its base concealed by a parapet".Pevsner, N., Cherry, B. BoE, Hertfordshire. (1977) As the name suggests, it is common in Hertfordshire, but the same type of structure can be found in other English counties. The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Wendens Ambo, is a good example in Essex,{{cite web|title=Church of St Mary the Virgin|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101238157-church-of-st-mary-the-virgin-wendens-ambo#.WMfpp3TyjMU|website=British Listed Buildings|access-date=17 June 2018}}

and in Buckinghamshire is St Mary the Virgin, Ivinghoe.{{cite web |title=St Mary the Virgin Church, Ivinghoe {{!}} Website of Ivinghoe, Ivinghoe Aston & Pitstone |url=http://ivinghoe.co.uk/localinfo/st-mary-the-virgin-church-ivinghoe/}}

Hertfordshire lacks good building stone, and its spires contrast with, for example, those of Northamptonshire which has a wealth of stone.{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/3357227/The-stone-that-built-a-country.html |title=The stone that built a country |last=Aslet |first=C. |date=2007 |access-date=17 June 2018}}

File:Church of St Peter, Deene - geograph.org.uk - 255749.jpg in Northamptonshire]]

Even so, some Hertfordshire spikes are more elaborate than others. That of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Ashwell, is part of an unusually tall and ornate tower.