XIX. 



NOTES OX THE RIVER ASH. 



By Hellier Gosselin. 

 Read at Hertford, 27th April, 1882. 



The river Ash, though perhaps the smallest of the tributary 

 streams that fall into the Lea, may nevertheless compare favourably 

 with its larger rivals in the beauty of its charming valley, the 

 lower portion of which, from Little Hadham to the outfall of the 

 river iuto the Lea, contains as picturesque a tract of country as 

 will be found in any part of the county. The valley is not only 

 famous for the beauty of its scenery, but also has an interest both 

 historical and literary, which I will endeavour to bring before you 

 in tracing out its course. 



The northernmost portion of the county, drained by the river 

 Ash, is not bounded by the water-parting of the basins of the 

 Thames and Great Ouse, but is oveidapped by two affluents of the 

 Lea, namely, the Stort and the Quin, whose watersheds meet in 

 Scales Park Wood ; and the surface-drainage does not make its way 

 to the Ash, till some two miles to the southward, near Meesdon 

 Church, and in close proximity to the Essex borders. The total 

 length of country drained by our river may be roughly stated to be 

 about thirteen miles, with an average width of three. Between 

 Meesdon and Brent Pelham a bourne may be traced, skirting round 

 the north and west sides of the hill, on which the latter village 

 stands, to the neighbourhood of White Barns, Avhere it joins 

 another bourne, which brings down the surface-drainage from the 

 east side of Brent Pelham. From this point there is no proper 

 water-course, and in wet seasons the drainage from above runs 

 down the road for a considerable distance towards Furneaux 

 Pelham, until it again forms for itself a channel and passes through 

 the hamlet of Barleycote End, and thence southward. Before 

 tracing the water-course any further, a few remarks on the Pelhams 

 may be of interest. The derivation of the name borne by these 

 villages seems rather obscure. Salmon, in his ' History of Hertford- 

 shire ' (p. 285), observes : '^ Ram signifies a House, but what the Fel 

 or Fele can mean, I am at a Loss to know. Mr. Nordeyi would 

 derive the Name de Scatehris, which he calls Pels or Springs ; but 

 there are no Springs here that are to be reckoned remarkable, nor 

 any Summer Current.'' Our historian then somewhat sarcastically 

 adds: "If he could have made out any thing from Sloughs, he 

 might have found enow hereabouts, especially in Brent Pelham P 

 This village derives its distinguishing name of Brent or Burnt from 

 a fire which consumed the church in the reign of Henry the First. 



Continuing down the valley, the next hamlet the bourne passes 

 through is Clapgate, in the parish of Albury. Shortly after 

 passing through Clapgate, the water-course crosses the road, where 

 another tributary bourne joins it, which may be traced, on the 



