A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



the Earl of Essex." In the dedication the writer compliments the earl on the improvements 

 he had effected at Cassiobury : ' To your eternal praise be it spoken there is many a fine tree 

 which you have nursed from seeds sown by your own hands, and many thousands more which 

 you have commanded me to raise. . . . The large plantation you have made will abundantly 

 testify your ability and promptitude in promoting the planting and improving of Forest Trees.' 

 Throughout Moses Cook's book there are various particular references to the woods at 

 Cassiobury that must have been planted more than a century before his time. Thus, when 

 writing of the cherry tree (chap, xvii), he says that the fine and stately trees of the wild cherry 

 are of such a size as to warrant its inclusion among forest trees, and mentions one that had 

 attained to the exact height of 85 ft. 5 in. 



' Where they like the ground they make a glorious show in the spring, their white blossoms 

 showing at a distance as though they were clothed with fine white linen ; their blossoms are a 

 great relief to the industrious bees at that season.' 



In the interesting account given by Evelyn under date of 18 April 1680 of this house 

 and grounds and park occur the following remarks : ' No man has been more industrious than 

 this noble lord in planting about his seate, adorn'd with walks, ponds and other rural elegancies. 

 . . . The land about is exceedingly addicted to wood, but the coldnesse of the place hinders 

 the growth. Black cherry trees prosper even to considerable timber, some being eighty foote 

 long ; they make also very handsome avenues. There is a pretty oval at the end of a faire 

 walke, set about with treble rows of Spanish chestnut trees.' ^' 



In the noble large folio volume on Cassiobury Park, issued by John Britton, F.S.A., in 

 1837, beech is said to predominate amongst the timber, though there was an abundance of fine 

 oak, elm and fir. Particular mention is made of the plantation of firs, north-east of the house, 

 which is said to resemble ' an old Norway forest.' A coloured plate gives representations of a 

 silver and a spruce fir, which had attained to the respective heights of 114 ft. and 120 ft. 



Gorhambury Park (Earl of Verulam), 2 miles west of St. Albans, includes about 500 acres, 

 in which there are at present no deer. The park is well wooded with oak and beech. The exact 

 date of the laying out of the park is not known. A plan of the manor of Gorhambury, as 

 surveyed in 1634, shows that the whole estate was then divided into fields.^' A little to the 

 south of the house is the fine old tree, having a girth of 21 ft., known as the Royal or Queen 

 Elizabeth Oak, traditionally associated with the several visits of Queen Elizabeth to Verulam 

 House. 



Grove Park (Earl of Clarendon) lies to the north of Watford, and immediately adjoins the 

 park of Cassiobury. It has an area of about 230 acres, and is stocked with about 75 fallow 

 deer. This beautiful park is exceptionally well timbered with a great variety of forest trees 

 and different kinds of conifers. 



Hatfield Deer Park (the Marquess of Salisbury) has an area of 530 acres, and is stocked with 

 about 200 fallow deer. The park, as a whole, extends in round figures to 1,500 acres. On this 

 estate there is fresh planting every year; the average for the last ten years is 15 acres per 

 annum. The plantations are mixed, but consist chiefly of oak and ash.^ When Robert Cecil, 

 first Earl of Salisbury, obtained Hatfield from James I in 1607 in exchange for Theobalds, he 

 stocked two parks, one with red and the other with fallow deer.^' These two parks were united 

 by the seventh Earl and first Marquess of Sahsbury, who died in 1823. The present park is 

 7 miles in circumference and the largest in the county ; it is beautifully undulating, well timbered, 

 and includes various game coverts. The ancient oak tree under which Queen Elizabeth is said 

 to have been reading when the news of her accession was brought to her is still standing. 



Knebworth Park (Earl of Lytton) has now an area of 155J acres. It was much larger in 

 the early part of last century, three different parts being fenced off containing respectively 30, 



" M. Cook, Tie manner of Raising, Ordering and Improving Forest Trees, Uc. Printed for Peter 

 Parker at the Leg and Star . . . Cornhill, 1676. This treatise of upwards of 200 pages is a remarkably 

 good work on arboriculture for the time it was written, and might with advantage be studied at the present 

 day. For instance, in his chapter On Raising and Ordering the Hornbeam, now so rarely planted, he 

 strongly recommends it for parks, ' for a deer will starve before he will so much as taste the bark of the horn- 

 beam.' In the third edition printed in 1724 the author is termed ' Gardiner to the Earl of Essex at 

 Cassiobury.' 



2' Evelyn, Memoirs, 517. Bird's-eye view of Cassiobury, engraved by Kip, after a drawing by L. Knyff, 

 displays the house vrith park and gardens, as they appeared about the date of Evelyn's visit, laid out in 

 regular avenues, ovals and circles. 



*^ Cussans, Hist, of Herts. Cashio Hund. 252. 



^ From information kindly supplied by the Hatfield Estate Office. 



*^ Chauncy, Hist, jintiq. of Herts. (1700), 308. As to royal sport at Hatfield and Theobalds see F.C.H. 

 Herts, i, 346-8. 



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