Part 25

The old Church of St. Nicholas, 3/4 mile N.E., is reached through an avenue of limes and chestnuts, headed by a new lich-gate. It is largely E.E. Note the octagonal pillars and pointed arches of the nave and the two small chapels attached to the chancel. The font at the W. end is under an Early Norman arch. There are several modern windows of stained glass, and a good brass, early sixteenth century, in the chancel. The church at the S. end of the town was designed by Sir A. W. Blomfield about sixty years back, but has since been much enlarged. Half a mile farther S. on the main road are six almost equidistant mounds, thought to be of Danish origin.

At the old Castle Inn, E. side of High Street, great numbers of persons have been shown on the rafters in a barn the coffin of Henry Trigg, whose will was proved in 1724; one of its provisions was that his body should not be buried, but disposed of in that way. Little more than a mile N.W. from the station, at Redcoats Green, stood, until 1893, "Elmwood House," the home of the Hermit of Hertfordshire. This man, James Lucas, was descended from a good family, but for reasons never satisfactorily explained he lived alone, and in a most filthy condition, from October, 1849, to April, 1874. A concise and reliable account of this peculiar man is issued by Messrs. Paternoster and Hales of Hitchin.

STOCKING PELHAM, on the Essex border (51/2 miles N.E. from Braughing Station, G.E.R.), has an E.E. church dating from early fourteenth century; it has no tower. The chancel was restored in 1864. The manor is very ancient, and was held by Simon de Furneaux in the reign of Edward I., but the village now shows little of interest.

Swangles (21/4 miles N.E. from Ware) is a small hamlet a little S. from the river Rib.

Symonds Green (3/4 mile S.W. from Stevenage Station, G.N.R.) is a hamlet between the Great North Road and the ruins of Minsden Chapel.

Symonds Hyde Farm and Wood are in a pleasant district, very diversified, a little S.W. from Brocket Hall Park. Smallford and Hatfield Station (G.N.R.) are from 2 to 3 miles S. and S.W. respectively.

Tea Green, a hamlet near the Beds border, lies between Breachwood Green and Putteridge Bury.

Tednambury and Tednam Mill are on the river Stort and right on the Essex border. Sawbridgeworth Station (G.E.R.) is 1 mile S.

TEWIN (about 2 miles S.E. from Welwyn Station, G.N.R.) is most charmingly situated on high ground above the river Maran. The village is divided into the Upper and Lower Green; the church, 1/4 mile from the latter, stands on a hill that slopes steeply to the river. Note the altar-tomb in churchyard to Lady Anne Grimston (d. 1710). The tomb is forced asunder by ash and sycamore trees growing together, a circumstance popularly attributed to the sceptical opinions of Lady Anne, who is said to have denied the doctrine of immortality, and to have expressed the wish that such a phenomenon should happen if the doctrine were indeed true. The church, which looks very old, is of flint, brick and rubble, with a large diamond-faced clock on one side of the tower. In the S. porch (entrance blocked up) is the marble monument to Sir Joseph Sabine (d. 1739); who fought under Marlborough. Note the pyramid, 15 feet high, and the recumbent effigy, dressed as a Roman soldier. There is also in the S. aisle a good brass to one Thomas Pygott (d. 1610), and a slab with an imperfect Lombardic inscription to Walter de Louthe. Tewin Water, in the park, N.W., is prettily surrounded by trees. Beautiful walks may be taken in almost any direction, especially in the trend of the river Maran towards Digswell and Welwyn.

Tharbes End is 11/2 mile N.W. from Sawbridgeworth.

THEOBALD'S PARK. (See Waltham Cross.)

THERFIELD (3 miles S.E. from Ashwell Station, G.N.R.) was, according to Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, given to the church of Ramsey by Etheric, Bishop of Sherbourne, about 980, and Chauncy "guesses" that an abbot of Ramsey built Therfield church. The present church is a modern Dec. structure, a little W. from the centre of the scattered village. The Icknield Way skirts the parish on the N. and many Roman relics have been discovered in the neighbourhood. There are also several tumuli in the parish, which lies on high, chalky soil.

THORLEY (2 miles S.W. from Bishop's Stortford) can show a good Norman doorway on the S. side of the little church; note the dog-tooth moulding and twisted nook-shafts. The remainder of the building is largely E.E.; there is a piscina in the chancel and--at the W. entrance--a niche for a holy water basin. The font, as at Bishop's Stortford, was a modern discovery. Thorley Wash and Thorley Street are between the church and the G.E.R.

THROCKING (2 miles N.W. from Buntingford Station, G.E.R.) stands on a hill. The church is E.E. and Dec., except the upper part of the tower, of brick, added in 1660. The monuments include one by Nollekens and one by Rysbrack, to members of the Elwes family, of whose manor house there are still some traces adjacent to the Hall Farm. The walk N.W. to Baldock, by way of Julians Park (7 to 8 miles), leads across open, breezy country.

THUNDRIDGE and WADE'S MILL are on the Old North Road, about 2 miles N. from Ware. The river Rib crosses the road at Wade's Mill. The present parish church, E.E. in style, was built about seventy years ago, close to the bridge over the Rib; the tower of the old church; "Little St. Mary's," with a Norman arch stands in the lower meadows 1/2 mile E. On the W. side of the Old North Road, close to Wade's Mill, a low obelisk marks the spot where Thomas Clarkson resolved to give his life to the cause of the abolition of slavery.

Titmore Green is 11/2 mile N.W. from Stevenage Station, G.N.R.

Tittenhanger. (See London Colney.)

Todd's Green adjoins Titmore Green.

Tonwell, on the main road from Ware or Stevenage, is a hamlet near the river Rib. It has a modern chapel-of-ease. Ware is 21/2 miles S.E.

TOTTERIDGE, on the Middlesex border, is 1 mile W. from the Station (G.N.R.). Richard Baxter lived here for a short time. The neighbourhood is well wooded and very pleasing to the eye. The church, on the hill-top, dates only from 1790; but the site was occupied by an earlier structure. The memorials are of no historic interest; but near the enormous yew tree in the churchyard stands the tomb of the first Lord Cottenham (d. 1851). Near by, too, lies Sir Lucas Pepys, physician to George III. (d. 1830). Totteridge Park, W. from the village, was the residence of Baron Bunsen, and of the above-mentioned Lord Cottenham; the large, plain structure in which they lived, recently in part rebuilt, was erected about a century ago, taking the place of the fine old manor house, for some generations the home of the Lee family. At Copped Hall, near the church, the late Cardinal Manning was born in 1808.

TRING is the most westerly place of any importance in Herts. The station (L.&N.W.R.) is nearly 2 miles E. from the town, which is sheltered on the N.W. by the chalk hills, a fresh spur of which crops out 3 mile N.E. at Aldbury (q.v.). The church (Perp.) stands near the centre of the town and is fortunate in having been restored under the direction of Mr. Bodley in 1882. It is an embattled, flint structure; the tower has a corner turret and is, like that at Hitchin, unusually massive. Note (1) the clustered columns of the nave, (2) the quaint corbels, (3) the large, imposing monument to Sir William Gore and his wife (d. 1707 and 1705 respectively); Sir William was Lord Mayor of London; (4) good Perp. windows in each aisle.

Tring was formerly a considerable centre of the straw-plait industry, which is still pursued to a less extent. The place is of great antiquity, Treung hundred dating from the days of Alfred the Great. William I. gave it to Robert Earl of Ewe, and Stephen kindly bestowed it upon the monks of Faversham, "in perpetual Alms for the Health of the Souls of Maud his Queen and all faithful People". Edward II. granted to Tring market rights.

Tring Park (property of Hon. N. C. Rothschild) is surrounded by perhaps the most exquisite woods--largely of beech--in the whole county. Much altered in modern times, it is said to have been designed by Wren, and to have been visited by Charles II. The park is well kept, and contains many living curiosities placed here by Lord Rothschild, a lover of natural history. The Museum, at the top of Akeman Street, containing a fine zoological collection, is the outcome of his lordship's energy and benevolence. The Museum House, to which it is attached, is a prettily designed structure of red brick, with gables.

Tring, Little, is a hamlet 11/4 mile N.W. from the town, and Tring Grove, a hamlet 11/4 mile N.E. The former is near the large reservoirs, upon which several of the rare birds mentioned in the Introduction (Section IV.) were observed.

Trowley Bottom (3 miles N.W. from Redbourn Station, M.R.) is a hamlet a little S. from Flamstead, in one of the most thoroughly rural districts in the county. The Roman Watling Street (St. Albans-Dunstable road) is 1 mile N.E.

Turnford (11/4 mile S.W. from Broxbourne Station, G.E.R.) is a hamlet in Cheshunt parish, on the New River. Broxbourne Bury Park is 1 mile N.

Two Waters owes its name to its position at the junction of two small rivers--the Gade and the Bulbourne. It is in Hemel Hempstead parish, and about 1 mile E. from Boxmoor Station.

Tyttenhanger. (See Tittenhanger.)