﻿]<9 



HERTFOKDSHIBE. 



HERTFORDSHIRE. 



are here an Endowed school for boys, which is supported by the Mer- 

 chant TayloiV Company, and a girls schooL Roman coins have been 

 found in the vicinity. 



Braughin, 9 miles N.N.E. from Hertford, population 1246, on the 

 site of the Roman station Ad Fines, is built on both sides of the 

 small river Quin, near its junction with the Rib. The parish church, 

 an ancient edifice, has a tower surmounted with a spire. The Inde- 

 pendents have a place of worship. There are here au Endowed school 

 for boys, and a National school for girls. 



Hadham, Much or Great, 7 miles N.E. from Hertford, population 

 878, had anciently a palace, the site of which is now occupied by the 

 Hadham Palace Lunatic Asylum. There are here National and 

 Infant schools. 



Hoddadon, in Hertford hundred, 4 miles S.E. from Hertford, popu- 

 lation of the hamlet 1854, consists chiefly of two long streets, which 

 are well lighted : Eome of the inns are of old date, such as the Bull, 

 mentioned by Matthew Prior, and the Thatched House, frequented 

 by Izaak Walton, when angling in the Lea. Hoddesdon is still much 

 resorted to by London anglers. The chapel erected in 1734, and 

 repaired in 1827, is a neat and commodious structure. The Inde- 

 pendents and Quakers have plxices of worship, and there are National, 

 British, and Infant schools. 



Rtdbourn, a email but ancient town on the right bank of the 

 Verlam, 16 miles W. by N. from Hertford, population 2085, has 

 three fairs in the year. Some corn-mills are in the vicinity ; glove- 

 making and the straw-plat manufacture employ some of the inha- 

 bitants. Near Hedboum is an ancient encampment called Aubury. 



Sawbridgeworth, on the right bank of the river Stort, is 8 miles E. 

 by N. from Hertford : population, 2571. Besides the parish church 

 there are chapels for Independents and Baptists. There are a National 

 and a Free school. Some corn-mills are in the vicinity. Malting is 

 carried on. Fairs are held on April 23rd and October 20th. 



Slevenagr, 11 miles N.W. by N. from Hertford, population 2113, 

 was fonncrly a market-town. The inrish church contains a fine 

 painted window at the east end. The Free Grammar school was 

 founded in 1558 : its endowment yields 672. a year, with a house and 

 garden free; there were 33 scholara in 1853. There are National 

 schools for boys and girls. 



WheathampaUad, a small tmctent town 10 miles W. by N. from 

 Hertford, population 1908. The parish church is an old cniciform 

 building, with a tower ajiringing from the intersection. There are 

 chapels for Independents and Methodists, and National and Infant 

 acbooU. Paper-making, malting, and brewing are carried on. 



The following are some of the more important villages in the 

 county, with their parish populations in 1851, and a few other 

 particulars : — 



Bariway, 16 miles N. by E. from Hertford, population 1288, has a 

 handsome church, containing in the windows some fragments of 

 stained gloss which formed part of a series representing the history of 

 the creation. Broiboum, 5 miles S.S.E. from Hertford, population 

 717, situated between the Lea and the New River, is a station on the 

 Eastern Counties railway. The parish church, a commodious and 

 handsome edifice in the perpendicular style, contains some fine monu- 

 ments and a curious font. ChaliurU, 8 miles 8. by £. from Hertford : 

 population, 5579. The name appears in Domesday Book as Cestre- 

 hunt, and it is probable there was a Roman station here. There are 

 here Free, National, Infant, and Industrial schools, and a Vicarage 

 schooL Cheshunt Park was formerly the residence of Cardinal 

 Wolaey, of James I., and of Richard Cromwell. Cheshunt College is 

 an institution founded by the Countess of Huntingdon for training 

 candidates for the ministry. The students reside in the college 

 buildings, and pursue a coarse of theological and classical studies 

 during several years. The number of students in 1853 was 23. In 

 this parish is Waltham Cross, situated near the Essex border. The 

 beautiful cross erected here by Edward I. to mark one of the resting- 

 places of the corpse of Queen Eleanor on its way to Westminstt^r for 

 interment, was restored a few years back by Mr. W. B. Clarke. 

 I/aileyburtj, in the parish of Great Amwell, situated about 3 miles S.E. 

 from Hertford, is the site of the East India College, which contained 

 85 inmates in 1861. The college, which was founded in 1806, con- 

 tains residences for the principal and for several professors, and 

 accommodation for 1 00 students, who are trained for the civil service 

 of the'EJwt India Company ; about 30 are sent out to India every year. 

 Tlie number of students in June 1853 was 91. Ucrlinrjfordbm-y, 2 

 miles W. by S. from Hertford, population 752, on the right side of 

 the small river Maran, a feeder of the Lea. In the church is a vault 

 belonging to the family of Earl Cowper, the design and workmanship 

 of which are much admired. Earl Cowper's seat, Panshanger, is about 

 • mile north-west from the village ; in the park is a celebrated large 

 oak-tree, which is about 17 feet in girth at a height of 5 feet from the 

 gTDunil : in the house are some tine paintings. Abbo(» LanijUy, 20 

 miles W.S.W. from Hertford, population 2384, was the birthplace of 

 Pope Nicholas Breakspeare, the only Englishman who has ever occu- 

 piwl the Papal chair. There is here a National school. There are 

 paper-mills and corn-mills in the vicinity. King't Langley, 21 miles 

 W.S.W. from Hertford : population, 1599. The church, which is 

 {>artly in the Nonuan style, is situated on elevated ground near the 

 small river U«de, and consists of a chancel and nave, with a tower at 



the west end. There is here a type-foundry. Brewing is carried on, 

 and the straw-plat manufacture employs some of the inhabitants. 

 Standon, 8 miles N.N.E. from Hertford, population 2462, including 

 106 inmates of St. Edmund's College, has an ancient church ; National 

 schools for boys and girls ; and the Roman Catholic College of St. 

 Edmund, the buildings of which are of considerable extent. Paper- 

 making and rope- and twine-making employ some of the inhabitants. 

 Watlon, 5 miles N. by W. ft-om Hertford, population 976, has a church. 

 National and Infant schools, and a savings bank. Au extensive water- 

 mill and a malting establishment are in the village. 



I>ivisiom for i'ccletiaitical and Legal Purposes. — Hertfoi'dshire is 

 comprehended iu the diocese of Rochester and archdeaconry of St. 

 Albans. County courts are held in Barnet, Bishop Stortford, Hert- 

 ford, Hitchin, Waltham, and Watford. The county is divided by 

 the Poor-Law Commissioners into 13 Unions : — St. Albans, Barnet, 

 Berkhampstead, Bishop's Stortford, Buntingford, Hatfield, Hemel 

 Hempstead, Hertford, Hitchin, Royston, Ware, Watford, and Welwyn. 

 These Unions, which extend somewhat beyond the county, contain 

 174 parishes and townships, with an area of 453,345 acres, and a 

 population in 1851 of 186,176. Hertfordshire is included in the Home 

 circuit. The assizes and quarter-sessions are held at Hertford, except 

 for the hundred of Cashio, the quarter-sessions for which are held at 

 St. Albans. The county returns three members to the Imperial 

 Parliament. Two members are returned for the borough of Hert- 

 ford. St. Albans returned two members, but was disfi-anchised iu 

 1852 for corruption and bribery in the election of representatives to 

 Parliament. 



/lialory and Antiquities. — At the time of Caesar's invasion Hertford- 

 shire seems to have belonged to the Catyeuchlani, or Catuaellani, of 

 whom we have elsewhere supposed Cai>sivellaunus, the antagonist of 

 Cicsar (b.c. 54) to have been the chief [Britannia.] In the revolt 

 under Boadicea (a.d. 61), Verolamium was taken and the inhabitants 

 massacred. The mai'tyrdom of Alban occurred during the persecution 

 in the reign of Diocletiau. 



Several of the ancient British roads or trackways crossed this 

 county : WatUng-street crossed it in a north-west direction, not 

 varying much from that of the present road from London by Edgware 

 and St. Albans to Dunstable ; Ermine-street nearly coincided with 

 the present road from London by Enfield, Ware, and Buntingford to 

 Royston; Ickuield-street ran along the downs from Dunstable towards 

 Royston. The Verolamium of the Romans has been mentioned as 

 having been probably a British town : it has been conjectured that 

 there were British towns or posts at Royston, at Braughing, at Ravens- 

 burg, and perhaps at other places. The Romans included Hertfordshire 

 in the province of Flavia Cscsariensis. They fortified the town Vero- 

 lamium, near St. Albans [Albans, St.], on which they conferred the 

 rank of a municipium ; and made military roads along Watliug and 

 Ermine streets, and in other directions.* A Roman post or town. Ad 

 Fines, on the Ermine-street, was most probably at Braughing, where 

 are the remains of a vallum of a regular shape, and where a tesselated 

 pavement, many silver coins, and other Roman antiquities have been 

 found. At Wilbury Hill, three miles west of Baldock, are remains 

 of an ancient camp on the Icknield-way, inclosing about seven acres. 

 Between Caldecote and Hiniworth, five miles north of Baldock, various 

 Roman antiquities have been dug up. Roman antiquities have been 

 found at Ashwell ; in Rockley Wood, near Royston ; at Westmill, 

 near Braughing, and at Bishop's Stortford, Cheshunt, and Heme! 

 Hempstead, ^\^^en the Saxons subjugated Britain, Hertfordshire 

 appears to have been included in the two kingdoms of Essex and 

 Mercia. 



In the invasions of the Northmen which troubled the close of the 

 reign of Alfred (a.d. 896), they brought their vessels up the Lea to 

 the neighbourhood probably of Hertford or Ware ; but Alfred, who 

 pursued them, diverted the waters of the Lea into another channel, 

 and obliged the Northmen to abandon their vessels and march across 

 the island to the Severn. 



When William the Conqueror, after the battle of Hastings (1066), 

 advanced into the interior of the kingdom, his march was impeded 

 near Berkhampstead by Frederick, abbot of St. Albans, who obliged 

 the Conqueror to come to terms, by swearing, in a grand assembly of 

 the clergy and nobles at Berkhampstead, to govern according to the 

 ancient laws of the realm, and especially those of St. Edward the 

 Confessor. Hertford Castle was defended for King John by Walter 

 de Oodarvil, a retainer of Fulke de Brent, against the revolted barons 

 and the Dauphin Louis of France. In the reign of Edward II. the 

 barons, who were confederated against Gaveston the king's favourite, 

 assembled their troops at Wheathampstead, a few miles from St. 

 Albans, 1312. After the geueral rising of the peasantry under Wat 

 Tyler and Jack Straw many of the ringleaders were tried and exe- 

 cuted at St. Albans, the king being there at the time with a guard of 

 lOuO men. 



In the war of the Roses this county was repeatedly the scene of 

 contest In 1455 Richard, duke of York, and the earls of Salisbury 

 and Warwick, at the head of 3000 men, advanced towards London in 

 order to seize and bring to trial the Duke of Somerset, who had been 

 impeached of treason by the House of Commons, but released by the 

 influence of the queen, Margaret of Anjou. They stormed the town 

 of St. Albana, which was occupied by the king, who had advanced 



