The prison in the castle was in existence early in 

 the 13th century and probably before-. In 123+ 

 there is mention of a prisoner detained for murder 

 ' in the king's prison at Stortford.' 90 Why it should 

 be called the king's prison is not clear, for the see was 

 not vacant at that date. The custody of the gaol was 

 held by an officer of the bishop, 91 who, as mentioned 

 above, was sometimes the same as the farmer of the 

 manor or the farmer of the market. The gaol was 

 used for all criminals within the liberty of the bishop 

 in Hertfordshire, 92 but the greater number of prisoners 

 were convicted clerks. The treatment was probably 

 rigorous. A certain heretic named Ranulf, an 

 apostate Franciscan, who disturbed London by his 

 attacks on the Catholic faith in 1336, was imprisoned 

 there by the bishop until the best method of pro- 

 ceeding against him should have been decided, but 

 his death Is recorded very shortly afterwards. 93 In 



fifty prisoners i 



ed. 



September 1344 there l 

 gaol, and seven more w< 

 and of these twenty-nine 

 the year 1 345 there were 

 twenty-five prisoners, and nine 

 of these died. In 1347—8 

 there were fifty prisoners, the 

 cost of keeping them being 

 reckoned at \d. a day each. 94 

 The accounts of the gaolers 

 include such items as lights 

 for visiting the prisoners at 

 night, shackles, fetters, iron 

 for staples, stocks, and so on. 96 

 In spite of all precautions, 

 however, the prison does not 

 seem to have been very secure, 

 judging by the numerous 

 notices of the escape of 

 prisoners from it. 96 During 

 the episcopate of Robert Bray- 

 brook (ob. 1404) batches of 



prisoners escaped in succeeding 



years. 97 In each case the 



bishop received pardon from 



the king for the escape, but 



William Gray,bishop in 1429, 



seems to have been actually 



charged with a fine of .£426 



I 3j. 4^. for the escape of jive clerks, who had carried 



off their gaoler with them. On information received 



by the king that these prisoners had been recaptured at 



great labour and expense while the bishop was abroad 



an an embassy a respite of the fine for ten years was 



illowed to him. 98 In 1539 the number of prisoners 



was eleven. 99 The prison was not in the keep of the 



BRAUGHING HUNDRED bishop's stortford 



castle, but stood with some of the other buildings on 

 a site now occupied by the house called Castle Cottage, 

 and was separated from the keep by the moat. 100 



By 1549 the castle was in ruins, only a few pieces 

 of the walls remaining. 1 The prison survived 

 and is mentioned by Norden, writing in 1598, as 

 'a dungeon deep and strong.' 8 The Jesuit lay 

 brother Thomas Pound was imprisoned there by 

 Bishop Aylmer in 1580 to prevent his infecting 

 other; by his conversation, 3 and in a letter to Sir 

 Christopher H .it ton gives a dismal description of it. 4 

 It was probably used until the time of the Common- 

 wealth, after which prisoners were sent to the county 

 gaol.* Chaunry says that the buildings were sold 

 about 1649, and soon afterwards pulled down. An 

 inn called Chciry Tree Inn was built on the site 

 near the old gatehouse of the castle. This has been 

 incorporated in the present Castle Cottage, formerly 

 the residence of Mr. Edward Taylor. 6 The ground 

 on which the castle stands was lately the joint property 

 of several members of the Taylor family. 7 In 1907 



HBUHBHtt 



Castle Cottage, Bishop's Stortford 



it was acquired with the castle by the urban district 

 council for public gardens. 



The remains of the castle are close by the town, 

 but separated from it by the River Start. The land 

 round it is very marshy, so that it is often spoken of 

 as standing on an island. The entrance was probably 

 on the south from the causeway across the marsh. 



90 Cat. Close, 1231-4, p. 4.03. 



B1 John Ae Solio is called constable of the 

 attic in 1305 {Hist, MSS. Ccm. Ref. it, 

 Spy. i, 39*). 



* See Assize R. 325 (15 Edw. I), 

 n.zsd. 



nCkro*. of Rti%ns of Edw. I and 

 Uw. II (Rolls Ser.), i, 365. 



<" Mios. Accts. Wis. 1 140, no. 1, 3. 

 1 j-carly rent of 3 quarters of wheat from 

 wo plots of land called Redynge and 



isllOp in I387 for th'' mainlenanrp nf 



ie prisoner! {Cat. Pat 



One pair of stocks • 



; 1429- 



x See Assize R. 

 m. 26, for an bsl 

 tween the Bishop 1 

 neighbouring lord), 



,0 (39 Hen. HI), 

 e of collusion be- 

 William de Say (a 



le of whose clerks 

 1 in the castle. 



1385-9, p. 374). ,.„. , , . 



1140, no. 1, 3. Nai.Biog.). 



399-1401, p. 

 »ere all clerks, 

 ave been L0IU1 

 opponet 



. - . PP- 4!. US 

 01. These prisoner 

 Some of them 

 s, for Braybrook 

 : of heresy (see 





98 Cal. Pat. 1422-9, p. 540 

 36, p. 35. 



» L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv (2), 242. 



m East Herts. Arch. Soc. JV<w,. i (1), 45. 



1 Leland, hin. quoted by J. L. Glass- 

 cock in East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans i 

 (l),45. 'Descr. of Herts. 23. 



3 Strype, Life of Aylmer, 46-7. 



* See Herts, and Essex Observer, 3 June 

 1905. Paper by Major F. J. A. Skeet 



6 Salmon, Hist, of Herts. 269. 



6 Information from Mr. J. L. Claw- 



Hist, of Herts. Braughing 



Hi 



299 



