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Reed, Rushden and St. Ippollitts
Reed (population 290*)
Another Saxon settlement on the chalk ridge is the village of Reed, south of Royston and just east of Ermine Street (the old Great North Road, now A.10). The village church, with its 14th century tower and chancel, has the characteristic "long and short" work at the nave angles, which is reputed to be the only undoubted piece of Saxon work in the district.
Rushden (population 242*)
Rushden is a scattered pretty village situated in the high plateau behind the chalk ridge. Within the hamlets of Shaw Green, Southern Green and Cumberlow Green are several 17th century houses and cottages. The nave and tower of the church are 14th and 15th century, although the chancel was not added until 1849.
St. Ippolyts (population 2014*)
A village on the southern edge of Hitchin whose name, although spelled in a variety of ways, is derived from St. Ippolyts, to whom the church was dedicated when built in the 11th century. In a beautiful setting on the hillside above the houses the church was rebuilt in 1878 carefully using old materials. Features of the village are a 17th century gabled house, the timber-framed house formerly the Olive Branch Inn, and a 16th century house built around an even older timbered and aisled hal l-house. To the west in the hamlet of Gosmore is Bunyan's Dell, a natural amphitheatre deep inside Wain Wood where the author of Pilgrim's Progress preached in secret when his faith was persecuted after the Restoration.