Hertfordshire

Part 1

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HERTFORDSHIRE

HERTFORDSHIRE

By HERBERT W. TOMPKINS F.R.Hist.S.

With Illustrations by EDMUND H. NEW AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS AND TWO MAPS

"Hearty, homely, loving Hertfordshire" --CHARLES LAMB

LONDON METHUEN & CO. LTD. 36 Essex St. Strand

Second Edition, Revised

First Published March 1903 Second Edition, Revised 1922

TO MY WIFE

PREFACE

In the following pages I have endeavoured to give a brief description of Hertfordshire on the lines of Mr. F. G. Brabant's book in this series. The general features of the county are briefly described in the Introduction, in sections approximately corresponding to the sections of the volume on Sussex. I have thought it wise, however, to compress the Introduction within the briefest limits, in order that, in the Gazetteer, I might have space for more adequate treatment than would otherwise have been possible.

I have visited a large proportion of the towns, villages and hamlets of Hertfordshire, and have, so far as possible, written from personal observation.

I desire to thank Mr. John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.G.S., etc., for his kindness in writing the sections on Climate and Botany; Mr. A. E. Gibbs, F.L.S., F.R.H.S., for his permission to make use of several miscellanies from his pen, and Mr. Alfred Bentley of New Barnet for his courtesy in placing some photographs from his collection at the disposal of Mr. New.

VERULAM, SOUTHEND-ON-SEA, 1903.

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 1

I SITUATION, EXTENT AND BOUNDARIES 1

II PHYSICAL FEATURES 2

III CLIMATE 11

IV FLORA AND FAUNA 15

V POPULATION 23

VI COMMUNICATIONS 25

VII INDUSTRIES 28

VIII HISTORY 31

IX ANTIQUITIES 33

Part 2

X CELEBRATED MEN 39

DESCRIPTION OF PLACES IN HERTFORDSHIRE ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY 45

INDEX TO PERSONS 235

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

THE RAILWAYS OF HERTFORDSHIRE Front Cover

THE ABBEY CHURCH, ST. ALBANS Frontispiece (From a Photograph by the Graphotone Co., Enfield)

LEAFLESS BEECHES IN NOVEMBER, ASHRIDGE WOODS To face page 2 (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead)

ON THE RIVER COLNE 8 (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead)

GRAND JUNCTION CANAL AT TRING--THE HIGHEST WATER LEVEL IN ENGLAND 10 (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead)

THE PARISH CHURCH, ALDBURY 47 (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead)

ASHRIDGE HOUSE 53 (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead)

OLD COTTAGE, BALDOCK 59 (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee)

CASTLE STREET, BERKHAMPSTEAD 72 (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead)

BISHOP'S STORTFORD 74 (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate)

BROXBOURNE 79

CHORLEY WOOD COMMON 87 (From a Photo. by the London Stereoscopic & Photo. Co.)

HATFIELD HOUSE 109 (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee)

KING JAMES'S DRAWING-ROOM, HATFIELD HOUSE 111 (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee)

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD 115

HERTFORD 117

HITCHIN 125 (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate)

KNEBWORTH PARK 139

OLD COTTAGES NEAR MACKERY END 146 (From a Photograph by the Author)

RICKMANSWORTH 170 (From a Photo. by the London Stereoscopic & Photo. Co.)

THE HIGH STREET, ROYSTON 172 (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee)

THE FIGHTING COCKS, ST. ALBANS--THE OLDEST INN IN ENGLAND 178 (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee)

BACON'S MONUMENT 183 (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate)

RUINS OF BACON'S HOUSE 184 (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate)

Part 3

ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE 192 (From a Photograph by the Graphotone Co., Enfield)

STEVENAGE CHURCH 204 (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate)

WALTHAM CROSS 214

MAP OF HERTFORDSHIRE 233

INTRODUCTION

I. SITUATION, EXTENT AND BOUNDARIES

Hertfordshire, or Herts, is a county in the S.E. of England. On the S. it is bounded by Middlesex; on the S.W. by Buckinghamshire; on the N.W. by Bedfordshire; on the N. by Cambridgeshire; on the E. by Essex. Its extreme measurement from due E. to W., say from Little Hyde Hall to Puttenham, is about 38 miles; from N. to S., from Mobb's Hole at the top of Ashwell Common to a point just S. of Totteridge Green, about 30 miles; but a longer line, 36 miles in length, may be drawn from Mobb's Hole to Troy Farm in the S.W. Its boundaries are very irregular; the neighbourhood of Long Marston is almost surrounded by Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, that of Hinxworth by Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, and that of Barnet by Middlesex. Its extreme points are:--

N. Lat. 52 deg. 5' (N.) E. Long. 0 deg. 13' (E.) W. Long. 0 deg. 45' (W.) S. Lat. 51 deg. 36' (N.)

Its area is 404,523 acres or 632 square miles. It is one of the smallest counties in England, the still smaller counties being Rutland, Middlesex, Huntingdon, Bedford and Monmouth. Hertfordshire is one of the six home counties.

II. PHYSICAL FEATURES

Hertfordshire, being an inland county, is naturally devoid of many charms to be found in those counties which have a sea-coast. But it has beauties of its own, being particularly varied and undulating. Its scenery is pleasantly diversified by many woods, which however are mostly of but small extent, by swelling cornfields, and by several small and winding streams. There is much rich loam in the many little valley-bottoms traversed by these streams, and other loams of inferior quality are found in abundance on the higher levels of the arable districts. The soil in many parts, owing to the preponderance of chalk, is specially adapted to the cultivation of wheat. Its trees have elicited the admiration of many, particularly its oaks and elms, of which colossal specimens are found here and there throughout the county, and its beeches, of which the beautiful woods on the Chiltern slopes and elsewhere in the W. are largely composed. The hornbeam is almost restricted to Essex and Hertfordshire. The woods of Hertfordshire form indeed its sweetest attraction in the eyes of many. The districts of Rickmansworth, Radlett, Wheathampstead and Breachwood Green, among others, are dotted with coppices of ideal loveliness, and larger woods such as Batch Wood near St. Albans and Bricket Wood near Watford are carpeted with flowers in their season, interspersed with glades, and haunted by jays and doves, by ringlets and brimstones. Hazel woods abound, and parties of village children busily "a-nutting" in the autumn are one of the commonest sights of the county. It abounds, too, in quiet park-like spots which are the delight of artists, and contains many villages and hamlets picturesquely situated upon slopes and embowered among trees. A large proportion of the birds known to English observers are found in the county either regularly or as chance visitors, and will be treated more fully in a separate section. The many narrow, winding, flower-scented lanes are one of the chief beauties of Hertfordshire. The eastern part of the county, though, on the whole, less charming to the eye than the rest, contains some fine manor houses and interesting old parish churches. Its most beautiful part is unquestionably the W., near the Buckinghamshire border; its greatest historic interest centres around St. Albans, with its wonderful old abbey church now largely restored; Berkhampstead, Hertford, Hatfield and Hitchin. The county contains rather less than the average of waste or common land; the stretches of heath used for grazing purposes only aggregating 1,200 acres.

Among the finest panoramic views may be mentioned:--

(1) From the hill near Boxmoor Station.

(2) From the village of Wigginton, looking S.

(3) From the high-road between Graveley and Baldock.

(4) From Windmill Hill, Hitchin, looking W.

There were medicinal waters at Barnet, Northaw, Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn, but these are now disused. Many other details touching physiographical characteristics are mentioned as occasion arises in the Alphabetical Gazetteer which follows this Introduction.

The Geology of Hertfordshire must be here summarised in few words. The predominant formations are the Cretaceous and the Tertiary.

CRETACEOUS.--Ignoring the Gault, which barely touches the county, this formation consists chiefly of Chalk-marl, Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk. A series of Chalk Downs, an extension of the Chiltern Hills, stretches, roughly speaking, from Tring to Royston, forming by far the most prominent natural feature of Hertfordshire. The oldest rocks are in the N.W.

The Chalk Marl is superimposed upon the Gault and Upper Greensand beds, which are confined to the western portion of the county. Its upper layer passes into a sandy limestone, known as Totternhoe stone, which has furnished materials for many churches in the shire. Ashwell, Pirton and Tring may be named as neighbourhoods where this stratum may be traced.

The Lower Chalk is devoid of flints, and rests, in somewhat steeply sloping beds, upon the Totternhoe stone. It forms the western slopes of the Dunstable Downs, and of the Chiltern Hills. It is fossiliferous, one of the commonest of its shells being the Terebratula.

The Middle Chalk, of resonant hardness, is laminated, and has at its base the Melbourn Rock and at its summit the Chalk Rock. Nodules of flint, greenish in appearance, and (rarely) arranged in layers, occur sparsely in the Middle Chalk, which may be traced in the neighbourhood of Boxmoor, Berkhampstead and Baldock, and also in a few other districts.

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