Part 7

(j) Lavender Water is made at Hitchin, from lavender grown in fields close by.

Gravel abounds in many districts, and pits are extensively worked at Rickmansworth, Hertford and at Heath, Wheathampstead, Watford and Harpenden.

There are windmills at Cromer, Albury, Goff's Oak, Anstey, Arkley, Much Hadham, Weston, Tring and Bushey Heath. Water mills are too numerous to specify, there being several on many of the small rivers named in Section II.

VIII. HISTORY

Hertfordshire was formerly a part of Mercia and of Essex. Its share in what is usually called "History" can hardly be called great; but many interesting details of its story are recorded in the histories of Chauncy, Salmon, Clutterbuck, and Cussans. Among smaller works the following will be found useful: Cobb's Berkhampstead; Gibbs' Historical Records of St. Albans; Nicholson's Abbey of St. Albans; Bishop's Hitchin and Neighbourhood, and Bygone Hertfordshire by various writers.

The story of Hertfordshire may be said to commence with the sack of the great Roman city of Verulamium by the followers of Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni (A.D. 61). Our knowledge of the event is largely drawn from Tacitus, and Dion Cassius, who give revolting details of the torture of the inhabitants by the Britons. The martyrdom of St. Alban (circa A.D. 304) the Synod of Verulam (429), the second destruction of that city by the Saxons towards the end of the sixth century and the siege of Hertford by the Danes in 896, when Alfred the Great grounded their vessels by cutting the river banks, are some of the more prominent episodes of pre-Conquest times. William I., entering the county from the direction of Wallingford, met the Saxon nobles in council at Berkhampstead immediately before his coronation at Westminster. The castles of Hertford and Berkhampstead were captured by the revolted barons.

There was a dangerous insurrection of the peasantry in the days of Richard II. Three important battles were fought in Hertfordshire, during the Wars of the Roses: (1) At St. Albans on 23rd (?) May, 1455; (2) on Bernard's Heath, St. Albans, 17th February, 1461; (3) near Chipping Barnet, 14th April, 1471; these battles are mentioned more fully in the Sections on St. Albans and Barnet.

The residence of the Princess Elizabeth at Ashridge Park and her subsequent captivity at Hatfield up to the time of her accession (1558) may be here mentioned, but the more casual visits of monarchs are referred to as occasion requires.

The county was not the scene of any considerable engagement during the great Rebellion; but the Parliamentary troops are held responsible for much ecclesiastical sacrilege at St. Albans, Hitchin and elsewhere, and it was from Theobalds that Charles I. set out to meet his army in 1642. In 1647, when a prisoner in the care of Cornet Joyce, he was taken from Leighton Buzzard to Baldock and from thence to Royston. The march of Cromwell from Cambridge to St. Albans towards the end of the war is recorded rather too literally on the interior of several churches.

Of importance in history was the Rye House Plot (1683), a carefully laid but abortive scheme to murder Charles II. and James, Duke of York, on their way to London from Newmarket. (See Rye House.)

IX. ANTIQUITIES

The antiquities of Hertfordshire have been carefully studied and well repay the labour that has been bestowed upon them. A few words under several heads will suffice to show that the subject is a large one.

1. Prehistoric.--Paleolithic man--in whom we are all so interested, but of whom we know so little--must have dwelt in Hertfordshire for a long period, a period to be measured by centuries rather than by years. Perhaps, however, the word "dwelt" is hardly appropriate here; for doubtless, for the most part, the rude flint-shaper and skin-clad hunter roamed at random over this tract of land wherever necessity led him. It is usual to speak of him as a troglodyte, or cave-dweller, but the caves of Hertfordshire are, and probably were few, and his life in such a district would therefore be more than usually nomadic. As is often the case, we find traces of him in the river-valleys more frequently than elsewhere, and it is in beds of clay, conjectured to be of lacustrine origin, that we find those rudely shapen flint nodules which served him for tools. Such implements have been found in the Valley of the Gade by Sir John Evans, K.C.B.; in more central neighbourhoods by Mr. Worthington G. Smith; and many axes, knives, etc., were discovered only a few years ago near Hitchin. Implements of the Neolithic Age are naturally more numerous and form in themselves an interesting study in the evolution of manual skill. Flint axe-heads, wonderfully polished, have been found at Albury, Abbot's Langley, Panshanger and Ware; chipped flints of more fragmentary character have been found near St. Albans and elsewhere; flint arrow-heads were discovered at Tring Grove nearly 170 years ago. The great number of natural flints found in the county make it very difficult to recognise these archaeological treasures, many of which must thus escape detection and be destroyed. Some details of the discovery of Prehistoric implements are given in the Gazetteer.

2. Pre-Roman.--The earliest inhabitants of Hertfordshire in times more or less "historic" were of Celtic blood; these, after a settlement of considerable duration, were driven out by Belgic invaders, of whom the Cassii, or Cateuchlani, seem to have been one of the most powerful tribes. The Cassii, who shared at least a part of the district with the Trinobantes, were numerous and war-like when Caesar invaded Britain; their chief, Cassivellaunus, is believed to have lived near what is now St. Albans. He was chosen as leader by the British, and offered stout resistance to the Romans, but was driven back and his capital--wherever it was--stormed and captured. Earth works, supposed to have been erected by these Pre-Roman inhabitants, still remain at Hexton, Ashwell, Great Wymondley, Tingley Wood, and elsewhere, but are rapidly disappearing in the general obliteration of ancient landmarks. Grymes-dyke, still to be traced on Berkhampstead Common, is the most famous; but many others are marked in a map prepared by Sir John Evans. Some of these are hardly more than conjectural sites; a few will be mentioned in the Gazetteer. Bronze Celts of many kinds are in the possession of Mr. W. Ransom, F.S.A.; some of these were found at Cumberlow Green. Relics of the Bronze Age in the county include two bracelets of gold found at Little Amwell; and many narrow hatchets, or palstaves, from the neighbourhood of Hitchin.

To the Late Celtic Period belong the imperfect iron sword-blade, in a bronze sheath, discovered at Bourne End and now in the British Museum; also the two bronze helmets, one from the neighbourhood of Hitchin, and one from Tring. At Hitchin, too, was discovered some pottery of the same period.

3. Roman.--Hertfordshire formed a part of the Flavia Caesariensis of the Romans--the district E. of the Severn and N. of the Thames. Most important of their stations was the municipium at Verulamium (W. of St. Albans) of which some fragments of wall yet remain in the neighbourhood of the River Ver and the Verulam Woods; here, too, is the site of the only Roman theatre known in Britain (of amphitheatres there are many remains). There were also stations at Cheshunt (Ceaster), at Braughing (ad Fines), at Berkhampstead (Durocobrivis?), at Ashwell, Wilbury Hill, etc.; there was a cemetery at Sarratt; a sepulchre at Royston. Roman villas have been unearthed at Purwell Mill, Abbots Langley and Boxmoor. The Roman coins found in the county would, if brought together, form an exceedingly valuable collection. They have been found in considerable numbers at St. Albans, Ware, Hoddesdon, Hitchin, Willian, Ashwell, Caldecote, Boxmoor, and many other places. Small bronze coins, known as minimi, have been recently found at St. Albans, and are now in the city museum. They date from after the year 345, when the earliest specimens of this type were struck, and are conjectured to be copies of coins issued under Constantius II. (337-61) and Julian the Apostate (361-3). On the obverse is the "Imperial Head"; on the reverse a soldier striking with his spear at a man on horseback. The coins, however, are assigned by at least one numismatist to a later date. They may have issued from a Romano-British mint at Verulamium. The famous Watling Street entered the county at Elstree and crossed it by way of St. Albans and Redbourn to Dunstable (Beds); the Icknield Way ran N.W. through Ickleford, Baldock and Royston; Akeman Street passed through Watford, Berkhampstead and Tring; Ermine Street, entering Hertfordshire at Waltham, passed through Ware and Braughing to Royston.

4. Saxon.--A few fragmentary remains at Berkhampstead, Bennington, Offley and Hitchin have been thought to mark the sites of the palaces of Mercian kings; but genuine Saxon remains are scarcely found except, perhaps, among the foundations of a few churches, e.g., St. Michael's at St. Albans, Standon and Wheathampstead.

Mention must however be made of the story, narrated in Archaeologia, of the discovery of the sepulchre of St. Amphibalus at a spot near Redbourn called the "Hills of the Banners". St. Alban himself appeared to a layman in a vision and told him where the saint's bones were to be found,--indeed, he is said to have himself gone thither to point out the spot. This was during the abbacy of Symon (1167-83). We learn from Roger of Wendover that the remains of St. Amphibalus were found lying between those of two other men; the bones of seven others were also lying close by. Among the relics found with the bones of the saint were two large knives, one of which was in his skull. We know that the holy relics were deemed worthy of solemn removal to the Abbey of St. Albans; his shrine there is mentioned in the Gazetteer.

In the Antiquary (vol. xi.) mention is made of the supposed discovery of an Anglo-Saxon burial ground in a field near Sandridge. Many bones and some implements were unearthed, and pronounced by local experts to date from Saxon times. They were buried again by some ignorant person.

A bronze brooch, discovered at Boxmoor, has been assigned to "the latest period of true Anglo-Saxon art". A gold ornament, resembling an armlet, was found at the village of Park Street, near St. Albans; it is thought to date from A.D. 700-1000.

5. Churches.--These will be separately mentioned in due order, especially St. Albans Abbey, the unique meeting ground of all Styles; but a few sentences touching the predominant periods may be permissible here:--

Norman work is found in many places; Anstey, Bengeo, Barley, East Barnet, Graveley, Hemel Hempstead, Little Hormead, and Ickleford are largely of this period, and Norman features are mingled with later work at Abbots Langley, Baldock, Weston, Great Munden, Great Wymondley, Knebworth, Redbourn, Sarratt, and the churches of SS. Michael and Stephen at St. Albans. There are Norman fonts at Broxbourne, Bishop's Stortford (found beneath the flooring in 1869) Anstey, Buckland, Harpenden, Great Wymondley and Standon.

Early English churches are at Ashwell, Brent Pelham, Digswell, Furneaux Pelham, Great Munden (Norman doorway), Knebworth, Royston, Stevenage and Wheathampstead. Some of these, e.g., Digswell and Knebworth, are pleasantly situated and others contain features of great interest, but on the whole they can hardly boast of much architectural beauty.

Decorated churches are rarely found without prominent transitional features, the purest structures dating from that period being those at Flamstead, Hatfield, North Mimms, Standon, and Ware. Early Decorated portions are noticeable among Norman surroundings at Hemel Hempstead, and among Early English at Wheathampstead; Late Decorated is found with Perpendicular at Hitchin. Standon is the only W. porch in the county. Flamstead and Wheathampstead are the only churches in the county that have retained their original vestries, N. of the chancel.

Perpendicular churches are fairly numerous in Hertfordshire. Almost purely Perpendicular structures are those at Bishop's Stortford, Bennington, Broxbourne, Clothall, Hunsdon, King's Langley, Sandon, St. Peters (St. Albans), Tring and Watford. Churches later than Perpendicular cannot be mentioned as antiquities.

A characteristic feature of Hertfordshire churches--rare elsewhere--is the narrow tapering fleche, or leaded spire; a feature almost wholly absent is the apse, which is, I believe, present only at Bengeo, Great Wymondley, and Amwell.

X. CELEBRATED MEN

Comparatively few really famous men have been born in Hertfordshire, but very many have resided in the county, or have at least been associated with it sufficiently to justify the mention of their names here.