A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



between the bailiff of Hertford and the lord of the 

 manor of Ware. 19 " Finally the borough asserted its 

 right and the tolls were afterwards farmed with the 

 borough, or occasionally leased apart by tlie ting.*" 

 In 1158 the townsmen of Hertford again broke down 

 the bridge, dug a channel in the ford and blocked 

 up the London road with a ditch. 21 But in spite 

 of all their efforts it was impossible permanently 

 to prevent the traffic from taking the more direct 

 route.* 1 ' 



There are still a great number of inns in Ware 

 surviving from the time when the main road brought 

 many travellers through the town. The 'White Hart,' 

 mentioned in 1 5 1 1 ,-- the ' Saracen's Head ' about the 

 same time, the 'Bull' referred to in 1547 23 are all in 

 the High Street; the 'George' in Am well End is 

 mentioned in 1622.^ The great bed of Ware was 

 kept at the 'Saracen's Head' before its removal to 

 Rye House (see under Rye House). Other early inns 

 are the 'White Horse,* mentioned in 1626," the 

 'Bell' in l6i6, !6 the 'Bear' in 1 49+," the 'Crown' 

 in i6o3 M and 1725. 2 '' In 16S1 a certain Thomas 

 Collup was presented before the justices of the peace 

 as owning an inn called the ' King's Head,' worth 

 £100, which he would not sell, or let, or live in, and 

 allowing the house to drop down for want of repair 

 and the timber to be stolen, whilst he begged his 

 bread from door to door and his wife and daughter 

 were chargeable to the parish. 30 A hostel or inn 

 called the 'Katherine Wheel,' whose site is unknown, 

 belonged in the middle of the 15th century to William 

 Pery" a maltman of Ware," and remained in his 

 family for some generations." 



The parish church of St. Mary is at the west end 

 of High Street, on which the church vard abuts. At 

 the corner close by the church is a smithy. The 

 Priory estate lies between the High Street and the 

 River Lea. The priory was founded as a house 

 of Grey Friars in I 338 by Thomas Lord Wake of 

 Liddell, who granted the friars a messuage and 7 acres 

 of land on which to build an oratory, houses, and 

 other buildings. 3 * After the Dissolution the site was 

 granted to Thomas Birch (see manorial descents). 

 Besides the friary there was an alien house at Ware, 

 founded as a cell to St. Evroul when that monastery 

 was endowed with the church of Ware and land in 

 the parish by Hugh de Grcntmcsnil. He or one of 



1 also gave certain lands for the board of 

 himself and hi) heirs whenever they itayed at the 

 litery, and Joan de Bohun, lady of the manor 



(qv.), 



for her 



ed accommodation by building a house 

 :!f in the close of the priory. 16 On the sup- 

 of alien houses it was granted by Henry V 

 to his new foundation at Sheen. ** There are no 

 remains of the priory, but the old rectory (now called 

 the manor-house) may possibly mark the site of the 

 monastic buildings. 



The girls' school at the School House, Am well 

 End (which used to be known as Amwcll House, and 

 was the residence of the Quaker poet John Scott), 

 represents the old Ware Side School. This was 

 founded before 1633, when Humphrey Spencer left 

 £100 to the feoffees for teaching four of the poorest 

 children of Ware Upland to read and write. It was 

 built on part of the site of Corpus Christi Barn 1T in 

 Dead Lane, which by some unknown donor had been 

 devised to the poor of Ware. The school was rebuilt 

 in 1747. It was an elementary school in 1834, but 

 had become by usage a grammar school tefore 1866. 

 In 1 889 it was amalgamated with the Chuck 

 Memorial School, founded by Mrs. Elizabeth Moore 

 Chuck in memory of her husband in 1857. A 

 grammar school was then established under thirteen 

 governors appointed by the Hertford County Council. 

 This was converted into a girls' school in 1 906, and 

 Amwell House was bought for its accommodation. 



Another early school was Ware Free School, which 

 in i6iz is described as carried on in the Town 

 House. In the 17th century it was called a grammar 

 school. The schoolhouse was a wooden building, 

 and stood in a corner of the churchyard by the old 

 brewery ; the lower room was let as a beer cellar. 

 The noise and fumes which reached the school caused 

 loval before 1872.88 I n 1889 it was amalga- 



Mcmoria 



ibout i860.* 1 

 h, built ant 



ith the Wareside and Chi 

 School. 



The elementary school near the ch 

 in 1 844 M and the one in New Road 

 In the New Road is Christ Chun 

 endowed by Robert Hanbury of Pole 

 nn ecclesiastical district, formed from Ware and Great 

 Amwell, was assigned in 1858." 



Malt-houses occupy the greater rart of the town 

 to the north of High Street as far as Musley Lane. 



fol. 56 i Mund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 



190. 



•» See Hertford ; Akhrev. Rat. Orig. 

 (Rec. Com.), ii, 156 ; Duchy of Lane. 

 Misc. Bkj. xiii, toL 9; Mini. Accti. bdlc. 

 101)4, no. 10. Within recent years the 

 tolls have been acquired by the urban 

 district council (Dawes, R». of SVo, c ). 



" Abbrru. Plat. (Rec. Com.), 148. 



111 There were other bridge! aiso in 

 Ware. The Abbot of Wahham was respon- 

 sible tor the upkeep of two bridges between 

 Ware and Hertford in Lokmead. The 



tions to the sheriff to enforce the repair 

 of the bridges round Hertford and Wire 

 on those chargeable for it (Cat. Clou, 

 154.6-0, 





tUTJ, 1 



a the. 



rt of quart. 



fill into decay (Sen. R- [Herts. Co. 

 Rec], i, 10;, 107, 108, 124, 134, 196, 

 j 68 j ii, 23, 27). 



" P.C.C. Will, Fetipbce 5 ; Ct. of 

 Req. bdle. 103, no. 53 ; Aug. Off. Prot. 

 bdlc. 3 1, no. 29 ; bdle. 94, no. 41. 



« Feet of F. Hertl. Trin. 1 Edw. VI. 



»' MSS. of Gently PW/rfHirt. MSS. 

 Com.), ,14. 



* Recov. R. Trin. 2 Chat. I. 



* Pat. 3 Jm. I, pt. vii. 

 '- P.C.C. Will, Vol 11. 



a Hiit. MSS. Cow. P.tp. xi, App. it, 

 450. See p. 290 of this volume for the 

 accounts of Lady Rutland for a (upper at 

 Ware. 



» Ibid. 



337- 



11 Early Chae. Pioc. bdlr. 153, no. 



» Son of John Pery (see Anct. 

 [P.R.O.], A 5218). 



"Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 5193, I] 

 5=oj, C202, tij,, 978, io 88 j Fee 

 F. Hert;. East. 6 Edw. VI. 



34 Cat. Pat. 1338 40, p. 14. 'LeFreire 

 Crosse ' i> mentioned in the court rolls of 

 [he manor (see Ct. R. portf. 178, no.71). 

 The tenants within the town were hound 

 to make a bridge there. The site of this 



■. 44 (12 Edw. I), 



1.97. 



> this house (not the friary) 



arly record: 

 Priory. 



56 Pat. 3 Hen. V, pt. 

 " This probably had 

 with the grid of Corpus Chri-ti (1 

 the church). 



» V.C.M. Herti. ii, 88. 

 lb Gaudey of Ware was in 



30. 



the 



\o). 



«■]. 



382 



,J See Close, 1 844, pt. cjc, no. 1 j. 

 « Ibid. 1861, P t. xi, nn. 1. 

 " Cussans, op. cit. Bracing Him/, i, 

 1 J 6 ; Close, 1857, pt. civ, no. 9. 

 18 Land. Gas. 7 Sept. 1S5.8, p. 40 Jl. 



