A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



their youth by affording them additional comforts in 

 their old age beyond the parish allowance.' The trust 

 fund now consists of ^[218 8/. consols, producing 

 j^5 9/. yearly, which is administered for the benefit 



of the aged poor under the provisions of a scheme of 

 the Charity Commissioners of 1 3 August 1 897. 

 The several sums of stock are held by the official 



trustees. 



GREAT HORMEAD 



Hormede (xi cent.). 



The parish of Great Hormead is a sparsely wooded 

 district consisting for the most part of fields and 

 meadows. It has an area of 1,968 acres, the pro- 

 portion of arable land being about two-thirds.^ 

 The parish has an elevation of from 300 ft. to 400 ft. 

 The soil is mixed, the subsoil mainly clay and the 

 chief crops are barley, wheat and beans. 



church runs south-westward as Worsted Lane and 

 crosses the Cambridge Road, on the other side of 

 which it is known as Stonecross Lane. A little to 

 the north-west of the church is the manor-house, 

 Great Hormead Bury, formerly the residence of the 

 Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Romer, P.C, G.C.B., F.R.S., 

 now of Mr. William H. Evans. It appears to have 

 been a half-timbered house, possibly of the 17th 





Cottage East op Vicarage, Great Hormead 



The River Quin flows through the parish at the 

 western end, and parallel with the river and at a 

 small distance from it is the main road from London 

 to Cambridge. Grouped along either side of this 

 road are the houses which form the hamlet of Hare 

 Street. The village of Great Hormead itself is in a 

 more isolated position. It lies some distance east of 

 the main road, from which it is separated by the 

 river. The greater part of the village clusters about 

 a winding road leading north-east to Brent Pelham 

 and west to Hare Street, whence after cutting the 

 main road it leads due west to Buntingford. The 

 church stands on a wooded hill-crest just off the road 

 from Little Hormead and about a quarter of a mile 

 south-west of the village. It is connected with the 

 village by Horseshoe Lane, which after passing the 

 ' Statiatics horn Bd. of Agric (1905). 



century, modernized early in the 19th century by 

 Colonel Stables, who was killed at Waterloo. A 

 1 7th-century door still remains. On the north side 

 of the road running through the village, adjoining 

 the vicarage on the east, is a timber-framed cottage 

 of late 1 6th-century date. Part of the timbers at the 

 west end of the upper story are exposed, with plaster 

 between, but the building generally is covered with 

 plaster. The upper story on the south front over- 

 hangs ; the roof is tiled. Near the centre of the 

 roof is a brick chimney stack with detached octagonal 

 shafts with moulded capitals and bases. At the east 

 end is a stack with two similar shafts, partly rebuilt. 

 The entrance door on the south front has narrow 

 panels and inside are some old doors and a little 

 panelling. About 100 yards further east is a late 

 1 6th-century timber-framed house, now divided into 



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