A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



BISHOP'S STORTFORD' 



Stortford (xi-xvi cent.) ; generally Bishop's Stort- 

 ford after xvil cent ; variants are found such as 

 Storforde (xvi cent.), 2 Stanford and Stafford (svii 

 rent.).' 



Bishop's Stortford is a parish of 3,284 acres, of which 

 13 are water. Nearly one half of the area is arable 

 land, permanent grass is rather less than a third, whilst 

 woods and plantations only cover about 160 acre*.* 

 These returns show a considerable change in propor- 

 tion since the Domesday extent of the manor, which 

 must have included most of the parish; the return of 

 meadow was for one plough team only and of woodland 

 for 300 swine. Hoggate's Wood to the north of the 

 town, part of Bloodhound's Wood, High Wood, 

 Great Plantains Wood on the west of the parish and 

 part of Birchanger Wood on the east are now the only 

 woods of any size. An inclosure award was made 

 for the parish in 1826 under an Act of 1820. 5 The 

 principal common fields were Prestley Field (Prestlave, 

 1396; Priestlay, 1656), Hockerill Field, Bishop Field 

 on the cast, Apton or Appleton Field on the west, 

 South Mill Field on the south, Broad Field and 

 Common Down on the north. 



The navigable river Stort flows through the parish 

 from north to south, forming for a little way the 

 north-eastern boundary between Stortford and Bir- 

 changer. The parish is intersected by the road from 

 London to Cambridge which runs north and south, 

 and crossing this from east to west is a road partly 

 coinciding with the Roman Stanc Street, which con- 

 nects Stortford with Great Dunmow on the east and 

 Little Hadham and Braughing on the west, whilst 

 a branch from it to the south runs through Standon 

 to Ermine Street. Many fragments of Roman 

 pottery have been found on the brickfield owned by 

 Mr. J. L. Glasscock on the east side of the main 



ad from Hockerill to Cambridge, and Roman coins 

 : have been found in Castle 



ford was possibly safer than the ford or bridge further 

 north where the Roman road originally crossed the 

 river, and so the old line of road was abandoned, and 

 a loop line brought south across the second ford. 

 This, the present road, passes in a westerly direction 

 through the tuvvn, where it is called successively 

 Hockerill Street, the Causeway, High Street and 

 Windhill, then turns to the north and rejoins Stanc 

 Street to the west of the town. Intersecting this 

 road and running from south to north is the road 

 from London to Cambridge. The line of this 

 road now follows a course to the east of the town, 

 passing through Hockerill. But the earlier route 

 was probably that of the road which, leaving the 

 present London Road to the south of the town just 

 before that road crosses the Stori, B runs right through 

 the town where it is called South Street until its 

 intersection with the 



of the Low. 

 Garden. Of pre 

 palaeolithic implen 

 primigrniui found 



thci 



skelet 



1, the tusk and tooth of dephas 



ar Potters Street, and the 



i of a horse attributed to the neolithic period. 



Anglo-Saxon spear heads have also been 



Northg; 



:d as North Street or 

 iteEndit turns totheeas 

 ■ntually rejoins the oth< 

 bridge. The town is als 

 rnham to the north-west 

 auth-west. 

 four main streets of the 



he other side. At 

 then to the north, 

 line of the road 



zonnccted by road 

 d Much Hadham 



.vii, North Street, 



The town of Stortford is situated in the south of 

 the parish on the River Stort. It must have been a 

 little to the south of the Roman road if that road 

 continued, a; is probable, in a straight line across the 

 Stort. The town evidently grew up round the ford, 

 and it seems likely that the site of the castle was the 

 land the ford, which would 



The 



South Street, Windhill and High Street, form a 

 cross. The names North Street and South Street 

 occur in the 13th century, whilst Cornmarket Street 

 ;ibly represents the present High 

 Street and Water Lane are also men- 

 With so many lines of communication 

 a place of great commercial activity 

 3 we have any records of it. The 

 e had a prescrip- 

 r no grant is on 

 the centre of the 

 the intersection of 

 the two roads. Converging on it were rows (probably 

 of permanent booths) called the Fish Row, 10 the 

 Spicery Row, 11 the Mercery, 12 the Buchcry, 13 Shop 

 Row," Barley Hill and Wheat Hill. 1 " The Fish 

 Row or Market which branched off from High Street 

 lay to the west of the present corn exchange. 18 

 Continuing to the south was Potters Hill or Potters 

 Cross, 17 otherwise Pultry or Poultry Hill and later 



of that 1 



Street. Fyl 



tioncd then/ 1 



Stortford was .- 



as far back as 



Bishops of London seem tt 



live right to a market thei 



record. The market-place 



the Leather Market. 

 stood here ar 

 Tanning and 

 dustries of the 

 :cth cen 



:d Potters Cross 

 possibly the market cross. 18 

 making were important in- 

 ; tanning was carried on in 

 Water Lane. 11 * The names 





positi 



tch loi 



This 



of thirteen token issuers at Stortford durinj 

 second half of the 17th century are known. Nin 



the 



