SESSION- 1894-95. Ixv 



causing a considerable delay before the party could start for the 

 drive across the Common to Water End. Usually at this time 

 of the year the gorse on Berkhamsted Common is in full bloom, 

 but it was only here and there that a few blossoms were seen, for 

 the gorse on our commons had this year nearly all been killed by 

 the severe frost of Eebruary, masses of dingy brown taking the 

 place of the usual blaze of golden yellow. 



On arriving at Water End, a village which is prettily situated 

 on the Eiver Gade where the road is carried over it by a handsome 

 stone bridge, the carriages were left, and the party crossed the 

 meadows by the side of the river to Great Gaddesden, noticing on 

 the way the numerous springs issuing from the chalk which supply 

 water to water-cress beds, and thence augment the volume of the 

 river. 



At Great Gaddesden Church the members were met by the Yicar, 

 the Rev. W. T. Tyrwhitt Drake, and under his guidance the chief 

 objects of interest in the church were examined. It is an Early 

 English edifice, probably erected on the site of an earlier church, 

 for at the time of the Conquest, according to Domesday Book, 

 there was a priest at Gaddesden, and there was a vicarage here 

 before the year 1255, when the records of the See of Lincoln 

 commence. Most of the monuments in the church are to members 

 of the Halsey family, which has been settled at Gaddesden for 

 many generations. The Halsey chapel, built about the year 17^0, 

 is on the north side of the chancel. In the year 1877 the wall 

 separating it from the chancel was pulled down and in its place 

 two open arches were erected by Mr. T, F. Halsey, M.P. for the 

 Western Division of Hertfordshire, whose seat, Gaddesden Place, 

 is beautifully situated on the opposite hill. The tower of the 

 church, which was rebuilt not many years ago, has a beacon at 

 the north-east angle. The nave is broad and has a fine oak roof. 

 The capitals of the four arches south of the nave are very hand- 

 somely carved in foliage and flowers. The registers, which were 

 shown by the Vicar, date from the year 1559, and are in a good 

 state of preservation. 



Accompanied by Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake the party then walked 

 over the hill, along the lane which marks the county boundary, 

 to Ncttleden in Buckinghamshire (now transferred to Hertford- 

 shire), and its pretty little church was visited, the chief features 

 of interest in it being pointed out by Mr. Drake, who, on leaving 

 the party, was coixlially thanked for his kind attention. 



Nettleden is picturesquely situated in a dry chalk valley in 

 which probably once ran a stream ; and from it another hill was 

 crossed by a field-path leading by the side of a curiously-constructed 

 hollow way, and by a somewhat steep descent on the other side, 

 the next village, Frithsden, was reached. Here, in a shady spot 

 under the shelter of a wood (Frithsden Copse) on the next hill- 

 side, tea was partaken of, most satisfactorily provided from the 

 village inn. 



A pleasant walk through Frithsden Copse and across the Common 



