Chapter III: Part 3

It was in the reign of the last-mentioned sovereign that invaders of another nationality--namely the Danes--began to make their presence seriously felt in the south; but it was not till the time of his son and successor Aethelwulf that they landed on the east coast. Early in his reign a council of Mercians and West Saxons was held at Kingsbury, near St Albans, to devise means for repelling the invaders; while a second assembly was called for the same purpose at Bennington in the year 850. Neither seems to have resulted in effectual measures, for in 851 we find a large Danish fleet which had sailed up the Thames beating off one of the Saxon kings, who had marched to stop its progress; and after this event the county was harried and raided time after time, till it was eventually divided about the year 880 by a treaty executed at Wedmore between the Saxon sovereign Alfred and Guthrum the Dane by a boundary line running from the mouth of the Lea to its source, and thence straight across country to Bedford. A few years later, however, namely in 894, the Danish fleet sailed up the Lea to Hertford, where Alfred crippled it by cutting into the banks of the river, so that by loss of water the vessels became stranded, and the Danish force had to fight its way to the west of England. After numerous skirmishes and fights, and the building of forts at Hertford and on a small island near Bishop’s Stortford, the Danish invasion was practically crushed by King Edward, who died in 925. Much, however, still remained to be done by his son Aethelstan, who stoutly attacked the invaders after they had made a raid on St Albans in 930. A memorial of the Danish sojourn still exists in Dacorum, the name of the western hundred in which Tring is situated; there is also evidence to the same effect in the records of gifts to St Albans Abbey by Danes who had settled in the neighbourhood. The Mercian shire-system, which was probably instituted as an aid against the Danes, is known to have come into force by 957; but in place of Hertfordshire having a sheriff of its own, it shared one with Essex; an arrangement which remained in force till the reign of Elizabeth. This was in Edgar’s reign (957–975); but even then we do not reach the end of the Danish trouble, which did not cease till after Sweyn’s invasions between the years 1011 and 1014, which were worse than their predecessors, and included the pillage of Canterbury. About this time occurs the first mention of “Heorotford” as the name of the county.

Scarcely had the country recovered, in greater or less degree, from the Danish raids than it was conquered by the Normans under William I, who soon after the battle of Hastings marched through the country south of the Thames till he reached Berkhampstead in this county, where he built the castle whose foundations and earthworks remain to this day. By relentless severity against all who stood in his way on the march, William had succeeded in instilling a wholesome fear into the Saxon (or, as we now say, English) inhabitants of the country; and, although he is reported to have been successfully opposed by Frederic, Abbot of St Albans, he was finally tendered the submission of the people and the English crown at Berkhampstead.

To follow in detail the events of the troublous times which succeeded the conquest is here impossible; and it must suffice to state that at Christmas, 1116, Henry I paid a visit to St Albans for the purpose apparently of quelling trouble among the turbulent Norman barons who had now become the paramount lords. Stephen also held a court at St Albans in 1143 in connection with other troubles. With the bare mention that several Hertfordshire barons accompanied Richard I in his crusade to the Holy Land, we may pass on to the quarrel between King John and his barons, which has a very intimate connection with our county; among the opposing noblemen being Robert Fitzwalter, their leader, and the Earls of Essex and of Hertford. The barons advanced from Northampton to Bedford, while the main body of their army marched to Ware and thence to London. The signing of Magna Charta produced temporary peace; but this was soon succeeded by fiercer fighting than ever in this county. At the commencement of 1215 John himself was in St Albans, and also had possession of Hertford and Berkhampstead castles. In May of the same year Louis landed from France, and in due course besieged Hertford and Berkhampstead till they surrendered, and then proceeded to St Albans, where he was for some time defied by the abbot. At the departure of Louis the castles were restored to the king.

The next event is the looting of St Albans by Fulke de Breauté and his band in 1217.

The trouble with the barons continued into the reign of Henry III; and in the year 1261 the autumn parliament was held at St Albans. Up to 1295 the shires alone sent representatives to parliament but in the session held at St Albans in that year the cities, boroughs, and chief towns were each permitted to elect two parliamentary burgesses. During the reign of Edward II the county was considerably involved in the affairs of Sir Piers de Gaveston, who spent much of his time at King’s Langley, where Edward had a palace, and where Gaveston was buried after his execution in 1312. During that year the papal envoy met the barons at St Albans with a view to the settlement of their differences with the king; and in July, 1321, the barons marched through that city on their way to London. During the fourteenth century the county suffered severely from plague; but in spite of this Edward III spent much time at Langley; and in 1361 the king and queen came to Berkhampstead to take leave of the Black Prince (to whom the castle had been given) previous to his departure for Aquitaine.

In 1381, owing to exactions on the part of the king and the abbot of St Albans, there broke out the peasants’ revolt, in which Hertfordshire men took a large share. Indeed after the execution of Wat Tyler the king proposed to go himself to St Albans to punish the insurgents, but was persuaded to send a commission in his stead; although a short time later, after another riot, his majesty appeared in person in that city at the head of an armed force.

With the bare mention that in the second year of his reign King Henry IV visited the abbey, we pass on to the Wars of the Roses, and especially the first battle of St Albans, which was fought in May, 1455. The Lancastrians, or royalists, held the main street of the city till the Yorkists, under the leadership of the Duke of Warwick, burst through the defences from the direction of Sopwell and cut the royalist position in half. In less than an hour they had the city in their own hands, after a great carnage, during which King Henry VI himself was wounded. In 1458 the king visited Berkhampstead with the object of quelling the strife, but to no purpose; and in February, 1461, the two factions again fought an engagement at St Albans, this time at Bernard’s Heath, to the northward of St Peter’s Church. This second battle of St Albans ended in a victory for the king. On 14th April, 1471, Edward defeated Warwick in the great battle of Barnet, on the south-east border of the county.

Hertfordshire had much to do with royalty during the reign of King Henry VIII, the palace at King’s Langley being bestowed on Queen Catherine, while the king himself spent much time at Hunsdon House, and also had a residence at Tittenhanger. There is, moreover, a tradition that he was married to Anne Boleyn at Sopwell. The Princess Mary lived for a time at Hertford Castle previous to her removal to Hunsdon, where Princess Elizabeth also lived before her long sojourn at Hatfield, in which beautiful park she was informed of her accession to the throne. When queen, Elizabeth continued to be a frequent visitor to the county; and in her reign, owing to plague in London, the law courts were held for a time at St Albans, while, for the same reason, Parliament sat at Hertford in 1564 and 1581. The sovereign herself came as a guest to Lord Burleigh at Theobalds, to the Earl of Essex at Cassiobury, and to Sir Nicholas Bacon at Gorhambury. James I likewise spent much time in the county, having an establishment at Royston, and dying at Theobalds. During the civil wars Hertfordshire men played an important part in connection with what was known as the Eastern Association; and in 1643, when the High Sheriff ventured to read a royal proclamation in the market-place at St Albans, he was arrested by Cromwell himself. To follow the fortunes of Hertfordshire during the conflict between Charles I and Parliament would occupy too much space; and it must suffice to mention that in 1660 Sir Harbottle Grimston of Gorhambury was Speaker of the House of Commons and took a leading part in the restoration of King Charles II.

The last event in the history of the county to which space admits allusion is the Rye House Plot. “In the spring of 1683,” to quote the words of a well-known local writer, “Charles II and James Duke of York went to see the races at Newmarket. Just opposite to the Rye House Inn there stood then a castle, built in the days of Henry VI, and in that castle lived one Rumbold, formerly an officer in the parliamentary army. Rumbold and about a score of equally reckless malcontents put their heads together over their tankards, and, so far as can be gathered from many rather contradictory narratives, they formed a plot to delay the royal party on the return journey from Newmarket to London, by placing an overturned cart in the road-way, in order that they might shoot the King and the Duke of York in the confusion. The conspiracy was frustrated, for the royal party returned earlier than Rumbold had been led to expect, and presently the plot leaked out. The Rye House was searched, incriminating papers were discovered, and the affair culminated in the arrest of those nobler patriots who, in concert with Argyle, had been planning the overthrow of what they honestly regarded as a corrupt government.”

The Rye House, it may be added, is situated in the south-eastern border of the county, a short distance north-east of Hoddesdon.

15. Antiquities--Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon.

The earliest evidence of the presence of man in Hertfordshire is afforded, as elsewhere in this country, not by written or sculptured records, but by stone implements of various shapes and types. The very earliest of these implements, at any rate, belong to a time when the mammoth inhabited this country, which was then united to the continent; and their age must be reckoned by thousands, if not by tens of thousands, of years. The period to which all these implements belong, being before all human records, is known as the Prehistoric; and it is important to mention that this term should be restricted to the epoch intervening between the time of the formation of the uppermost portion of the Tertiary beds and the first dawn of history. We often find the term “prehistoric monsters” applied to the great reptiles of the Chalk and Oolites; but such a usage, although etymologically justifiable, is technically wrong.

The Prehistoric period for lack of all other means of dating has been divided by antiquarians, according to the material of which man formed his implements, into the Stone, the Bronze, and the late-Celtic or Iron Ages; the Stone age being further divided into an older, or Palaeolithic, section, in which all the so-called “celts,” or flint implements, were formed simply by chipping, and a newer Neolithic section, in which they were often ground and polished. In connection with these implements attention may be directed to some of the ancient earthworks in the county, although the age of many of these is unknown, and in some cases may be later than the Roman occupation. The antiquities newer than the late-Celtic age are described as referable to the Roman or the Saxon period, as the case may be. These correspond with the history of England from 55 B.C. to 1066 A.D.

Palaeolithic implements are found locally in certain parts of the county, although from the gravels of a very considerable area, especially the Harpenden district, they appear to be absent. The larger implements, or “celts,” which are often six or seven inches in length, seem to have been employed for all purposes, and to have been held in the hand, without handle or shaft, although some of them might easily be used as spear-heads. The first discovery of an implement of this type in the county was made near Bedmond, Abbot’s Langley, in 1861. A few specimens have been obtained in other parts of the Colne basin; but in the district round Kensworth and Caddington vast numbers have been discovered, although for the most part just outside the county boundary. In fact, near Caddington the Stone-age men had a great manufactory of these implements:--a kind of Palaeolithic Sheffield. In the basin of the Lea a few flakes, etc., have been found at or near Ayot St Peter, Welwyn, Hertford, Bengeo, Ware, Amwell, Hoddesdon, Ippolits, Stocking Pelham, and elsewhere. Much more important is a “find” at Hitchin, near the source of the Hiz, and thus situated, in part at any rate, in the Ouse basin. These implements, which were first brought to notice in 1877, occur in clay-pits worked for brick-earth, and are accompanied by bones of the mammoth, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros.

(_From Kent’s Cavern, Torquay_)]

(_From Bridlington, Yorks._)]

Between the Palaeolithic and Neolithic age exists a gap of untold length, for the land had again to be re-peopled. Chipped, or rough-hewn celts, or hatchets, of the latter age have been picked up in fields near Abbot’s Langley, Bedmond, Kensworth, Wheathampstead, Markyate Street, and Weston. Polished celts are more rare, but specimens have been found at Panshanger, King’s Langley, Aldbury (near Stortford), Ashwell, and between Hitchin and Pirton. Perforated axe-heads and hammer-heads of stone, which may belong to the close of the Neolithic or commencement of the Bronze age, are still more uncommon, although a few such have been found, notably a hammer, near Sandridge, now preserved in the British Museum. Much the same remark applies to chipped arrow-heads--the fairy darts of a more poetical age--but a few beautiful specimens have been found near Tring, some so long ago as the year 1763 or thereabouts, and others at Ashwell and Hunsdon.

After a time man learnt the use of metal. The smelting of iron was at first beyond his power, and he employed the mixture of copper and tin which we term bronze. Of this age specimens of winged celts and palstaves (a narrow hatchet, with a tang or socket for a haft) have been found in various parts of the county, as well as socketed celts, daggers, swords, spear-heads, and the like. The most important discovery of this nature was made in 1876 during drainage operations at Cumberlow Green, near Baldock, when some forty bronze implements were found in a well-like hole. Gold ornaments, probably referable to the same epoch, have been found at Little Amwell and at Mardox, near Ware.

We now come to the early Iron Age, when man had succeeded in mastering this metal. Of this a very brief notice must suffice. Primitive coins, without inscription, of the type issued by Philip II of Macedon, and hence known as Philippi, were probably coined in the county in early British times; but after the Roman invasion a number of British coins were struck at Verulamium, among the most interesting of which are those of Tarciovanus, who reigned in that city from (probably) about 30 B.C. to about 5 A.D. A large number of his coins have been found at Verulam, as well as those of other British sovereigns. Tarciovanus, it may be added, was the father of Cunovelinus (Shakespeare’s Cymbeline), whose capital was Camulodunum, the modern Colchester.

Earthworks of great but unknown antiquity are by no means uncommon in Hertfordshire; one of the most important being Grimes-ditch, or Grimm’s Dyke, traces of which remain on Berkhampstead common, as well as on the opposite side of the Bulbourne valley, while a deep ditch runs in a bold sweep from near Great Berkhampstead through Northchurch and Wiggington to the north of Cholesbury camp, and thence into Buckinghamshire. Beech Bottom forms another great dyke lying between the site of Verulam and Sandridge, and is probably pre-Roman, and possibly connected with the encampment east of Wheathampstead known as the Moats or the Slad. The latter forms part of a great system of earthworks of which the opposite side is marked by the Devil’s Dyke at Marford. The great earthworks running outside of and parallel to parts of the Roman wall at Verulam are likewise older than the latter. Berkhampstead Castle may stand on the site of an earlier camp, as British and Roman coins have been found there; but the mound or keep, as at Bishop’s Stortford, Pirton, and Hertford Castles, is probably Saxon. On the other hand, the well-preserved camp near Redbourn, known as the Aubreys, Auberys, or Aubury, is certainly pre-Roman; and the same is probably the case with some of the numerous other earthworks dotted over the county, such as Arbury Banks, Ashwell. A few barrows or tombs of pre-Roman age have been opened and examined in various parts of the county, as at Therfield, Royston, and Easneye near Ware.

In evidence of the Roman occupation of Britain Hertfordshire is unusually rich, although limitations of space prevent anything like justice being done to this part of the subject. The county is, in the first place, traversed from south to north by three main Roman roads, the Watling Street, running through St Albans and Markyate, the Ermine Street, passing through Hertford, and the Icknield Way, traversing Hatfield and Baldock; as well as by the Roman Way, connecting the latter town with Hertford. Of these we shall speak presently. The crowning Roman glory of Hertfordshire is, however, the city of Verulamium, or Verulam, situated on the hill on the opposite side of the Ver to St Albans. Much of the foundations of this city lie buried within the area partially enclosed by the remains of the massive walls; and the ploughman within that ring is constantly turning up coins, fragments of pottery and glass, and other articles.

In one place are buried the apparently complete foundations of an amphitheatre, which was opened out many years ago, but again covered up after examination. Of the walls considerable portions, in a more or less damaged condition, still remain to bear eloquent testimony to the lasting character of Roman masonry; and much more would have persisted had they not been used as a convenient source of materials for the construction of St Albans’ Abbey and other ancient buildings. The basement of a Roman villa, in a fine state of preservation, was opened out at Sarratt Bottom in 1908, and plans of the structure prepared, after which the excavations were filled in. Other Roman remains are known to exist in the district.

Ravensburgh Castle, Hexton, is a well-known Roman camp, built on an earlier foundation; and remains of Roman camps exist at Braughing and several other places in the county, although in many cases the precise age of such ancient stations does not appear to be definitely ascertained.

Isolated Roman remains of various kinds occur in many parts of Hertfordshire. From the writer’s own neighbourhood the British Museum possesses a Roman altar found many years ago at Harpenden, as well as a Romano-British stone coffin, containing a glass vessel and pottery, found near Pickford Mill in the Lea valley, east of Harpenden, in 1827. The remains of another Roman interment, including fine specimens of amphorae, or large two-handled pottery vessels, were found about the year 1865 near Harpenden station on the Great Northern railway, and Barkway has yielded a fine bronze statuette of Mars.

Reference may here be made to the ancient millstones, for hand use, made of Hertfordshire pudding-stone, and known as querns, of which the writer gave two fine specimens from Harpenden to the British Museum. Both stones have one flat and one convex surface, but the convexity is much greater in the upper stone, which is almost conical, and is completely perforated at the centre. When in use, a stick, to serve as the axis of rotation, was inserted in this hole and received in a socket in the nether stone. The labour involved in making these pudding-stone querns must have been enormous.

With the Saxon period we reach the age of church building; but apart from such portions of certain churches as are of that age, Hertfordshire is exceedingly poor in evidence of the Saxon dominion. A glass Anglo-Saxon basin, together with a bronze Frankish pot of late sixth or early seventh century work, was, however, discovered at Wheathampstead in 1886. Anglo-Saxon relics are believed also to have been unearthed at Redbourn at a very early period, when they were attributed to St Amphibalus; and a Saxon burial-place appears to have been found near Sandridge in modern times, although unfortunately ploughed over. Apart from the above, there are only a few isolated “finds,” such as of the coins known as minimi, and of a gold ornament discovered at Park Street in 1744.

16. Architecture. (_a_) Ecclesiastical--Abbeys and Churches.

The architecture of Hertfordshire buildings may be most conveniently discussed under three separate sections, namely:--(_a_) ecclesiastical, or buildings related to the church; (_b_) military, or castles; and (_c_) domestic, or dwelling houses and cottages.

As in England generally, the architecture of the older buildings of all three classes has been affected to a greater or less degree by the nature of the building materials most easily accessible. Throughout the northern chalk area of the county the Totternhoe stone of Bedfordshire and the northern flanks of Hertfordshire was largely employed in church building, both for inside and outside work, to the latter of which it is but ill suited. Flint--in the better class of work “faced” or “dressed” by fracture so as to present a flattened outer face--was also very extensively used. The Norman builders of the tower of St Albans found, however, a quarry ready to their hands in the adjacent walls of Verulam, and we accordingly find this part of the structure made almost entirely of the characteristic Roman bricks or tiles. Contemporaneous brick was also locally used to a very considerable extent even in the chalk districts; and in the north-western part of the county there are numerous beautiful examples of Tudor brick chimneys, as at Water End. Timber in the old days was, however, much cheaper than bricks, and we consequently find many of the older buildings--especially cottages--constructed of a framework of wood, arranged in the fashion of a net, with the large “meshes” filled in with brick. This type of work is locally known as brick and studding and to the architect as half-timbered work. Other buildings were largely constructed of a wooden framework overlain with lath-and-plaster work.

Many of the churches built of flint or Totternhoe stone have their angles or quoins made of harder material; in many instances of stone apparently from Northamptonshire, but in other cases of Roman brick; similar materials being also used in the arches of some of the churches.

A large number of Hertfordshire churches have relatively low battlemented towers, frequently with a short spire or steeple in the centre as at Tewin, or a turret in one corner. Kensworth is an example of such a battlemented tower without either spire or turret; St Mary’s, Hitchin, Tring, Northchurch, Barnet, Bushey, King’s Walden, Cheshunt, and Watford are examples of towers with a turret in one angle, while at Ashwell there are turrets in all four corners. Some of the smaller churches, like St Michael’s, St Albans, originally had no aisles. Clothall church is peculiar in that the roof of the tower forms a four-sided cone; while the roof of the church at Sarratt is equally unique in being saddle-backed, that is to say, having a ridge running at right angles to that of the roof of the nave and chancel.

Apparently there is no wholly Saxon church in the county, although several of the older ones were constructed on the site of Saxon buildings, many of which were probably of wood, and thus either perished through decay or were burnt during the Danish raids. On the other hand, there are remains of Saxon work in St Albans’ Abbey, and there are several Hertfordshire churches which are referred with a greater or less degree of certainty to the period before the Norman conquest; the original part of St Michael’s, in St Albans, and of St Stephen’s, to the south-west of that town, may be cited as examples, both dating from the middle of the tenth century. The church of Sandridge--on the road from St Albans to Wheathampstead--may likewise date from the same epoch.

Of Norman churches there are numerous examples, among which may be cited as a fine specimen St Mary’s, Hemel Hempstead, whose tall octagonal tower and spire are visible from a long distance. The Norman arches of the nave are of great solidity, while the western doorway, dating from about 1140, is a magnificent example of the work of the period. Sarratt church is also largely Norman, as was also the old church of St Nicholas, Harpenden, unfortunately pulled down (with the exception of the much later tower) nearly half a century ago. A considerable portion of St Albans’ Abbey (now cathedral), the pride of the whole county, is also Norman; the tower of Roman brick being, apart from modern additions, wholly of that period. The old Saxon Church of King Offa, which stood on or near the site of the present building, appears to have been completely swept away by Abbot Paul of Caen (1077–1093), the founder of the present abbey, which although completed by him, was not consecrated till 1115. “It is to be inferred,” according to the _Victoria History of Hertfordshire_, “that a clean sweep was made of the old buildings, and no evidence as to their site has been preserved. The Norman Abbot’s contempt for his Saxon predecessors ... led him to destroy their tombs, and he doubtless laid out his new building without attempting in any way to accommodate them to those previously existing on the site. But he preserved and used up in his new church some of the stonework of the old building, giving a very prominent place to the turned shafts which still remain in the transept, and are the most notable relics of the Saxon building.” In the present nave, which is the second longest in England, the first six pillars on the north side belong to the original structure of Abbot Paul; after which we come to Early English (Pointed) work; this being continued to the west end of the building and back to the fifth pillar on the south side, whence Decorated work extends to St Cuthbert’s screen. The Norman work (1077–1093) of one side thus faces Decorated work (1308–1326) on the other, but this is due to accident rather than design, the Norman pillars having given way early in the church’s history. It has recently been suggested that the Abbey stands on the site of the old Roman amphitheatre, and that St Peter’s Street, St Albans, marks the position of the Roman _cursus_, or race-course.

Of the Decorated style, in vogue during the reigns of the three Edwards, in other words, throughout the fourteenth century, in addition to the beautiful work in St Albans’ Abbey, we have examples in Abbot’s Langley, Clothall, and Hitchin churches. Abbot’s Langley has also some fine Norman work in the nave. Many of the churches of the Perpendicular period, like St Mary’s, Hitchin, have large and beautiful porches. Most of the windows in Abbot’s Langley church are Perpendicular, although some on the south side are Decorated; and Tring and Offley churches are wholly of the Perpendicular style.

Previous to the Reformation, Hertfordshire, like other counties, possessed numerous religious houses, such as priories, monasteries, nunneries, and hospitals; all of which, commencing with the smaller ones, were suppressed by Henry VIII, whose chief agent in the work was Thomas Cromwell. In many instances the sole evidence of the existence of such establishments is the survival of the word “Abbey” or “Priory” as the name of a private mansion, but sometimes their gateways, towers, or merely ruins, still remain.

The neighbourhood of St Albans is especially rich in relics of this nature. To the south, on the banks of the Ver, are the famous ruined walls of Sopwell Nunnery, a building known to have been in existence so early as 1119; but of the monastery there remains only the fine gate-house (long misused as a gaol), together with traces of the cloister arches on the south wall of the abbey. From documentary evidence, however, aided by excavations in the abbey orchard, it has been found possible to make a ground-plan of the whole establishment. The last traces of the hospital of St Mary-de-Pré vanished only during the last century; the name surviving in a private house by the Ver, which is known as the Pré.

Hitchin formerly possessed a large priory, as is indicated by the designation of the home of the Delmé-Radcliffes; as well as by the existence in the town itself of certain almshouses known as the “Biggin.” The latter were purchased by a private gentleman in 1545, being at that time part of the disestablished “Priory of Bygyng in the town of Hychen.” The Biggin, which was once inhabited by Gilbertine nuns, has a beautiful wooden corridor. “The Priory” as the title of a house in the main street of Redbourn, and “The Cell” as that of a mansion further down the road, at Markyate, are but two among many other traces of monastic institutions in the county.

Of King’s Langley Priory, which is known to have been in existence in 1400, a considerable portion still exists. Ashridge House now occupies the site of a large monastery and college, of which there are many remains. A brief reference may here be made to St Albans’ clock-tower, which was erected between 1403 and 1412, and from which the curfew was rung till so late as 1861, while a bell was also rung early in the morning to awaken work-people.

17. Architecture. (_b_) Military--Castles.

Like most other counties in the south of England, Hertfordshire possesses the remains of several Norman castles, most of which appear to date back no further than the Conquest, while others, like Berkhampstead (where, as we have seen in a previous section, Mercian kings held their courts), have been supposed to be constructed on the site of earlier buildings of a similar nature.

The total number of castles built by the Normans to overawe their new English subjects is stated to have been about 1100. These, as may naturally be surmised, varied considerably in size, some being royal castles, constructed for the defence of the country generally and ruled by a constable or guardian, while others belonged to individual Norman noblemen for the defence of their own estates, and were for the most part the terror of the surrounding districts.

A Norman castle of the highest type occupied a large area, the lofty and massive outer wall enclosing a space of several acres, and being surmounted with towers and protected by bastions, while it was also surrounded by a moat or ditch. Within the enclosure thus formed were three main divisions, the first of which was the outer bailey, or courtyard, entered by a towered gateway furnished with a portcullis (that is to say, a gate which could be dropped down from, and drawn up into, the tower by means of a system of chains and pulleys) and a drawbridge. The stables and other buildings were contained in this court. Next came the inner bailey, or quadrangle, likewise entered through a towered and fortified gateway, and containing the chapel, the barracks, and the keep. Lastly, we have the keep or donjon itself, which always contained a well, and constituted the final portion which was defended during a protracted siege when the garrison was hard pressed. In choosing the site for such a military castle, either a more or less isolated and steep hill or rock might be selected, or a situation in marshy low-lands, where access might be rendered difficult or impossible by damming back the waters.

The Norman castle at Berkhampstead, which stood close to the present railway due east of the station, and portions of the ruins of which may be seen from the train, was built by Robert Earl of Morton, brother of William the Conqueror. According to a recent writer, the earthworks of this castle represent the original fortress founded by the Conqueror, and the appellation of a “burh” to the structure is consequently erroneous. A Saxon “burh” or “burg” was a fortified town, whereas the moated mound of Berkhampstead, like those at Hertford, Bishop’s Stortford, Anstey, Bennington, and Pirton, are essentially Norman castles of the type known as “mottes,” or, from their shape, as “mount and bailey castles.” It is a common idea that Berkhampstead was originally a stone castle, but the earthworks now remaining really represent the fortress itself. In the reign of Henry II the custody of Berkhampstead Castle was entrusted to Thomas à Becket, who replaced the old wooden defences (such as stockades, palisades, and towers) originally crowning the banks, by walls of flint rubble, remains of which still partly surround the enclosure.

Hertford Castle, the site of which forms the residence of His Majesty’s judges during the assizes, was built by Edward the Elder about the year 905; and after the conquest William I placed both castle and town in the custody of Peter de Valoignes. Other ancient castles and baileys in the county include the following, viz:--

Anstey Castle, situated about a mile from the eastern border of Hertfordshire, on the watershed between the Stort and the Quin. Bennington Castle, built on high ground about a mile from the river Beane and some two miles from Walkern Bury; the ruins include the remains of a small, square keep, as well as of a bailey. Waytemore Castle, Bishop’s Stortford, belonging to the Bishop of London, is an excellent example of the type of fortress which owes the main part of its strength to being situated in a practically impassable morass; that is to say, when the latter was kept well flooded. The flint rubble walls of the keep are fully a dozen feet in thickness.

Smaller baileys existed at High Down, near Pirton; at Periwinkle Hill, on nearly level ground, midway between Reed and Barkway; and also at Walkern, on the Beane, about a mile and a half distant from the village. In the last of these it is noteworthy that the church is situated close to the castle, although, unlike the one at Anstey, it does not appear to have been included in an outer ward.

The class of defensive works known as homestead moats--that is to say, simple enclosures formed into islands by means of moats containing water--do not, perhaps, strictly speaking, come under the title of either architectural or military structures. Still this seems the most convenient place in which to mention them. The northern and eastern districts of Hertfordshire are remarkable for the enormous number of these homestead moats; these districts being equalled in this respect only by Essex and Suffolk. On the western side of the county they are comparatively uncommon.

“These enclosures,” observes a writer in the _Victoria History_ of the county, “vary greatly in size, shape, and position, and it is obvious that they do not all belong to one period, for in all ages to surround a piece of land with a ditch has been one of the most elementary forms of defence. There are, however, as with the larger earthworks, certain typical forms.... It should be noted that the typical feature of a homestead moat is that the earth, dug to form the deep surrounding ditch, was thrown on to the inclosure and spread, thus raising the island slightly above the surrounding level. The construction of moats, except for ornamental purposes, having ceased when the state of the country no longer necessitated such protective measures against men or wild beasts, they often fell into decay, or were partially filled up, and their vestiges converted into ponds, while many may have been obliterated as interfering with agriculture, but there still remain a large number.”

To reproduce the list of these would occupy far too much space; and it must suffice to mention that examples of homestead moats may be seen in the parishes of Ashwell, Braughing, Pirton, and Sawbridgeworth.

A step in advance of the homestead moat was formed by earthworks made on the same plan as the latter, but provided with a rampart and a “fosse,” or ditch, and in some cases also with outer defences. Of this type of earthwork three examples are definitely known to occur in the county, namely one at Bygrave, a second at Whomerley Wood to the south-east of Stevenage, and a third at Well Wood, Watton.

Yet another kind of defensive earthwork is to be found in the shape of walls, ramparts, or ditches surrounding the sites of ancient villages. Of this we have a local example in Kingsbury Castle, an old fortified village lying to the south-west of the city of St Albans, and covering an area of about 27½ acres. The village stood upon a hill, of which the summit has been planed off and the material employed to form steep banks or ramparts, one of which was partially thrown down to form the present Verulam Road, while another portion persists in the shape of a steep fall in the gardens or yards at the back of the houses on the north side of Fishpool Street. The main structure of the castle was demolished during the tenth century, and the remnant about the year 1152. It may be added that the clay-pits on the north side of Kingsbury Castle are the reputed source of the material of the Roman bricks of which Verulam is built.

The gigantic earthworks of the type of Beech Bottom and Grimm’s Dyke have been mentioned in an earlier section.

18. Architecture. (_c_) Domestic--Famous Seats, Manor Houses, Cottages.

With the advent of less troublous times at the close of the Wars of the Roses a marked change is noticeable in the plan and architecture of the residences of the great noblemen and country gentlemen. The need for castles or fortified houses ceased to exist; and attention was consequently directed to comfort rather than strength in the construction of country mansions. Fortunately a number of these fine old Tudor residences have survived in different parts of the country; but many have been replaced by other later structures built on the old foundations.

These Tudor mansions usually took the form of a large house built round a quadrangle, the hall occupying the middle portion of the building, with flanking wings on both sides. The building material depended upon the locality and on the taste and means of the owner; but in this county brick was extensively employed by the Tudor, and still more so by the Stuart builders.

In lordly country seats, as well as in mansions of a less pretentious type, dating from the Tudor period downward, Hertfordshire, owing doubtless to its well-wooded and picturesque scenery, its good soil, bracing climate, and proximity to the metropolis, is especially rich, and in this respect presents a marked contrast to the neighbouring county of Essex. The majority of these houses, however, have been either completely rebuilt or more or less extensively altered at later epochs.

Among the few of these noble residences that can be mentioned here, Hatfield House, which was built between the years 1605 and 1611 by the first Earl of Salisbury, presents a magnificent specimen of early Jacobean architecture in brick and stone, mellowed by time to exquisitely soft tints. The original palace, where Edward VI lived, and where Elizabeth was kept in captivity, now forms the stables. The mention of the virgin queen naturally leads on to Ashridge, near Berkhampstead, formerly the seat of the Dukes of Bridgewater, where Elizabeth also spent a considerable time in her early days. Although the present building, which stands partly in Hertfordshire and partly in Buckinghamshire, is mostly modern Gothic, the fine vaulted cellar is a remnant of the old monastery and college which formerly occupied the site. Knebworth, near Stevenage, the home of the Earls of Lytton, although now a comparatively modern Gothic building, was originally a Tudor mansion, dating from the reign of Henry VII, the present house occupying the position of one of the four wings of the original building. Tittenhanger, between St Albans and Colney, occupies the site of a royal residence dating from the fourteenth and early part of the fifteenth century; the present mansion, notable for its grand oak staircase, is stated to have been built in 1654, although the style of the brickwork suggests the early part of the eighteenth century. Little Hadham Hall, at the village of that name, is a splendid example of Elizabethan architecture in red brick.

A very interesting mansion is Salisbury House, Shenley, built some time before 1669; much of the original brick building still remaining as an excellent example of Stuart architecture. The house is surrounded by a broad moat, and is approached by a bridge. Mackery End, near Wheathampstead, contains some fine examples of sixteenth century architecture; and Rothamsted, near Harpenden, is in the main a seventeenth century brick mansion, dating from between 1630 and 1650, although it has older portions, and the hall belonged to a house constructed of timber on a flint base.

Of fine old houses now forming farm-homesteads there are many examples on the western side of the county. Among these is Turner’s Hall, to the north-west of Harpenden, now considerably modernised.

(_Elizabethan Manor-House_)]

Another very interesting building of this type is Water End Farm, in the parish of Sandridge, situated on the banks of the Lea about two miles from Wheathampstead, and stated to have been built about 1610. It is constructed of brick and has the straight-gabled, mullioned style characteristic of the later part of the reign of Elizabeth and the commencement of that of James I. Like many other houses of Elizabethan times it is constructed in the form of the letter E, and its three stacks of brick chimneys, with octagonal shafts and moulded brick caps and bases, are especially characteristic of the style of this period.

Of later date are the Marlborough Buildings, or Almshouses, St Albans, erected by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough in 1736, and affording a fine example of the brick architecture of that period in an excellent state of preservation. Here also may be mentioned the Blue-Coat School at Hertford, and the Boys’ Grammar School at Hitchin.

Forty years ago the county abounded in picturesque brick-and-timber cottages, roofed with either tiles or thatch; but these are disappearing yearly under the hand of the speculative builder, to be replaced by hideous box-like buildings of brick and slate. Some, however, still survive, either in the towns or the smaller hamlets, such as picturesque Amswell, near Wheathampstead, which may be cited as an ideal example of one of the smaller Hertfordshire villages.

As has been well remarked in another volume of the present series, the great difference between these ancient cottages and houses and the great majority of their modern successors is that while the former harmonise with their surroundings, reflect not a little of the spirit of the builder, and improve, like good wine, with age, the latter are altogether out of keeping, and are likely to become, if possible, still more offensive and objectionable with the advance of time.

While most of the old Hertfordshire cottages were of brick and timber, others were built of flint with brick facings, or more rarely of rounded pebbles from the Woolwich and Reading beds, or with brick courses and window-mullions; some were of feather-edge boarding, and others again of rubble and plaster.

In Hemel Hempstead High Street is a building, now converted into cottages, which contains above the fireplaces on the ground and first floors the Tudor rose and fleur-de-lys in plaster-work; while the back of a neighbouring building probably dates from the time of Henry VIII. Excellent examples of the old brick-and-timber cottages are to be seen in the village of Northchurch, and also at Aldbury, east of Tring, where the old parish stocks are likewise preserved. Most of these Aldbury cottages are tiled, although a few are covered with thatch, a style of roofing much less common in that district than in many parts of the county. Watford has still a number of old cottages, notably in Farthing Lane and Chequer’s Yard, and in St Albans, especially in the market-place and French Row, there are several dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There is also a very remarkable old hexagonal wooden house near the ford across the Ver at St Michael’s silk-mills, said to be one of the oldest licensed houses in England.

(_Ancient Inn near the Ford across the Ver_)]

Did space permit, reference might be made to old houses in Hertford, Berkhampstead, and other towns and villages, but the facts mentioned are sufficient to indicate the interest of the county to antiquarians in the matter of ancient buildings, and before concluding this section we must not omit to mention what is certainly not the least interesting of all Hertfordshire antiquities--the Cross at Waltham which Edward erected to his beloved Queen Eleanor; the last before arriving in London of the fifteen commemorating the resting-place of her body on its journey from Grantham to Westminster Abbey in 1290.

19. Communications--Past and Present. Roads, Railways, Canals.

Lying as it does on the direct route from the metropolis to the north and north-west of England, and containing in its western portion the formerly important city of Verulam, Hertfordshire, as might be expected, is traversed by several trunk roads leading in those directions, two of which date from Roman times. What these lines of communication were in pre-Roman days we have no means of knowing, although it is probable that they were little more than rude tracks through the great forest, or “weald,” which in those days extended some forty miles to the north of London, and afforded shelter to the great wild ox, red deer, wild boars, bears, and wolves. Road-making was a special attribute of the ancient Romans; and after they had constructed highways from their early stations in Kent, they probably set to work on those in the counties to the northward of London. So well made and so straight were these ancient Roman roads that many of them (with in some cases a certain amount of local deviation) have remained the main highways of the country down to the present day. Immediately before the introduction of railways, when the coaching traffic was brought to its highest pitch of development, these main trunk roads--thanks to the invention of Macadam--were maintained in superb condition, though with the extension of the railway system some of them were allowed to deteriorate.

There are three great Roman roads traversing Hertfordshire--Watling Street, the Icknield Way, and Ermine Street. Watling Street starts from Dover, and after passing through London, enters the county to the south of Elstree, whence it is continued through Colney Street, Park Street and St Stephens to St Albans, and thence on through Redbourn and Markyate Street, and so to Dunstable whence it eventually reached Chester and Holyhead. Although frequently miscalled the North Road, the modern representative of Watling Street is known as the Chester and Holyhead road. Originally the Roman road in the neighbourhood of St Albans ran altogether to the west of the Ver, from Gorham Block to the Pondyards; this section of the modern road, which crosses the river to enter the city, having been constructed during the years 1826–1834.

The Icknield Way (taking its name apparently from the British tribe of the Iceni) may be the oldest of the three great tracks, and originally of pre-Roman age, as, like the Pilgrims’ Way in Kent, it mainly follows the line of the chalk downs. It may be called a cross-country road from the west of England, cutting the Watling Street at Dunstable, and thence extending in a north-easterly direction across Hertfordshire through Little Offley, Ickleford, and Baldock, and thence by way of Royston, where it crosses the Ermine Street, to Newmarket and Yarmouth.

The Ermine Street, the third great Roman road, takes, on the other hand, a northern direction, passing through Cheshunt, Wormley, Broxbourne, and Wadesmill, and so by way of Buntingford to Royston. There is however some difference of opinion about its course.

Of modern roads, the Chester and Holyhead road has been already mentioned as following in the main the line of the Old Watling Street. Of equal importance is the Great North Road to York, passing through Barnet, Hatfield, Welwyn, Codicote, Stevenage, and Hitchin. Of other highways it must suffice to mention that the Bedford road branches off from the Chester and Holyhead at St Albans to run through Harpenden, and so on to Luton, in Bedfordshire; while the main road from London to Cambridge and Norwich takes the line of the Lea valley on the eastern side of the county, which it leaves a short distance to the northward of Bishop’s Stortford.

In coaching days St Albans was a far more bustling and busy town than it is at the present day; a very large number of coaches passing daily through the city each way, the majority running on the Holyhead and Chester road, but a certain number taking the Bedford line. The two chief coaching and posting inns were the Peahen and the White Hart, both of which are still in existence.

The speed and smartness with which the mail-coaches were run in the days immediately preceding their abolition was little short of marvellous.

The first half of the nineteenth century saw the introduction of railways, which gradually but surely killed the old coaching traffic. One of the first lines to be opened was the London and North-Western--in 1838--which traverses the south-western side of the county, passing through Watford, Boxmoor, Berkhampstead, and the outskirts of Tring. In 1853 a branch line was opened from Watford to St Albans, and another to Rickmansworth in 1862. With a short break between Boxmoor and Hemel Hempstead, the North-Western system is connected with the Midland by means of a branch line from the last-named town to Harpenden. The main line of the Midland, which traverses the western half of the county by way of Elstree, St Albans, and Harpenden, was opened in 1868. Both St Albans and Harpenden have branches of the Great Northern Railway to Hatfield, which is on the main line; the latter continuing through Welwyn, Stevenage, and Hitchin. By means of a branch line of the Great Northern from Hatfield to Hertford, we reach the Great Eastern, the fourth great railway in the county, the main line of which runs through Broxbourne, Sawbridgeworth, and Bishop’s Stortford, but connected also with Ware and Hertford, and having a branch from St Margaret’s to Buntingford.

With such a multiplicity of lines, it might well be imagined that railway communication between nearly all parts of the county would be well-nigh perfect. As a matter of fact, this is by no means the case; and the journey by rail from the western to the eastern side, owing to changes and delays, is so slow and tedious, that it is frequently found convenient to hold important Hertfordshire meetings, like those of the County Council, in London.

As regards water-communication, the western side of the county is served by the Grand Junction Canal, which, after leaving Leighton Buzzard, enters the county near Tring, and thence runs by way of Berkhampstead, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Runton Bridge, Watford and Rickmansworth in a south-easterly and southerly direction to London. A considerable amount of barge-traffic is still carried on this canal, although nothing approaching that in pre-railway times. In those days the whole of the coal-supply for north-western Herts came by canal to Boxmoor, whence it had to be carted for long distances--some 14 miles to Harpenden, for instance. As there are at least two very steep hills--which become impossible for heavily laden teams when the roads are slippery--between Boxmoor and Harpenden, the inhabitants of the latter picturesque village were apt to run short of firing at Christmas.

On the other side of the county the Lea is navigable for barges as far up as Ware and Hertford; and here too a considerable amount of heavy traffic is still carried on by water.