SESSION 1891-92. xxi 



Field Meeting, 21st May, 1892. 

 ALDEXHAM, WATFORD. 



About a mile and a half from Watford, the road to Aldenham 

 crosses the lliver Colne at Eushey Mill. The "mill," however, 

 exists only in the name, for it was long ago dismantled, and there 

 is now scarcely sufficient flow of water in the river to drive a 

 mill-stone. At the lowest part of the valley the land is marshy, 

 and occasionally submerged, when pedestrians have to avail them- 

 selves of a raised wooden footpath by the side of the road. At the 

 Aldonluim end of this footpath is Eushey Mill Eridge, and here the 

 members, about thirty in number, assembled for a walk to Alden- 

 ham Church and Delrow under the guidance of Miss Ada Selby. 



The route taken was across the fields and through Berry Grove 

 "Wood. In this wood several ferns and other plants rather rare 

 in our county have been found. Some years ago Miss Selby 

 discovered here a single plant of Cystopteris fragilis, and it is 

 one of the few stations in the county for Lastrea spinulosa, but 

 now even such comparatively common ferns as Athyrium filix- 

 foemina and Lastrea dilatata seem to have been eradicated. The 

 wood is one of the known haunts of the rather scarce Tinea Adela 

 virideUa, which has been taken amongst the beech trees, and 

 a search was made for it, but without success, nor were any other 

 moths seen here. 



The chief object of the meeting, however, was to see Aldenham 

 Church and learn something of its history fi'om the Yicar, the 

 Rev. Kenneth F. Gibbs, who received the members at the lych-gate. 



Aldenham Church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and is an 

 Early English building consisting of a chancel and nave, both with 

 aisles ; a north porch ; and a lofty tower with central spire and 

 beacon-tower at the north-east corner. Its interior has a peculiar 

 one-sided appearance, due to the centre of the chancel not being in 

 a line with the centre of the nave. It was built about the year 

 1250 on the site of an earlier church, was subjected to ruthless 

 vandalism by so-called "restoration" in 1840, but within the last 

 few years has been much improved, and its pristine features re- 

 stored as far as possible, by the present patron of the living, Mr. 

 Henry Hucks Gibbs, of Aldenham House. 



The well-known altar-tombs of " Will. Hutchinson de Delrow in 

 paroch. Aldenhamiae, Armig.," and " Margerife " his wife, in the 

 south-east part of the churchyard, were first inspected. They are 

 surrounded by iron railings, and within the enclosure of four-feet 

 square are four sycamores which have broken into many pieces the 

 stone slabs and twisted about the iron railings, absorbing them into 

 their trunks in several places. Two of the trees are over eight 

 feet in circumference at three feet from the ground. 



In the church the Vicar gave a history of the building, and 

 pointed out the interesting relics it contains. He had been told 

 that the foundations of the church were Saxon, but he had not 

 seen them. He had no doubt of there having been a church there 



