A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



Hoping Green was certified as a place of worship for scntcd by £55* J/, cort-ols with the official trateo, 



Protestant Dissenters in 1810* producing £1 J 191. yearly, which, in pursuance ofa 



In [730 Maurice Hunt, by will, decree of the Court of Chancery, is distributable in 



CHARITIES bequeathed £600 in trust for the use November among the poor. In 1911 twenty-four per- 



of the poor. The legacy is now tepre- sons received gifts of money varying from 101. to to,. 



BROXBOURNE WITH HODDESDON 



xhcsVo: 



The < 

 reaof I 





(xi cent.) ; Brokesbui 

 ish of Broxboume, 



which has 

 of arable Ian 



t acres, c 

 65 8 acres of permanent grass and 686 acres of wood. 5 

 The ground slopes downward from the west of the 

 parish, which lies at more than 300 ft. above the 

 ordnance datum, to the east, where the elevation is 

 less than 1 00 ft., on the banks of the River Lea, 

 which forms the boundary between Broxboume 



in-g, the 



ivl.bou. 



The 

 it of 



Spital Brook, which runs into the Lea o 

 the parish, forms the boundary between the civil 

 parishes of Broxboume and HodJesdon for a little 

 way before the junction. The main road from 

 London to Ware and the north passes through the 

 eastern end of the parish and forms the main street of 

 the village of Broxboume. In this street are a few 

 old houses, notably The Gables at the south end of 

 the village, which is a two-storied house dating from 

 the early part of the 17th century. It is a timber- 

 framed house now covered with plaster, with a modern 

 front. The chimney-stack and one fireplace arc pro- 

 bably original. The Bull Inn, in the middle of the 

 village on the west side of High Street, is also a 1 7th- 

 century timber and plaster house. Opposite the 

 Bull Inn are the Monson Almshouses erected in 

 1728. They are contained in a plain two-storied 

 building of brick, with sash-windows, and a crowning 

 cornice of moulded brick. Over the entrance door- 

 way is the following inscription : — 



' This Building is Erected at the Sole | charge of 

 Dame Laetitia Monson | Relict of Sr William 

 Monson Bart | and was Daughter of John Lord 

 l'oulctt I of Hinton St George in the County of 

 Somerset!, which Gift is for the Relief | and Benefit! 

 of poore Widows of the | Parish of Broxborne in 

 Hartlbrdshirc | in the year of our Lord 1728.' 



Above on a lozenge arc the arms of Monson im- 

 pd.ng Pclctt. 



The Cedar j in the High Street, although an 

 1 Sth-century house, contains an early 17th-century 

 staircase. From the main street Pound Lane and 

 Mill Lane run eastward, the latter passing the church 

 of St. Augustine and the vicarage, and leading to the 

 Broxboume mill, which is picturesquely situated on 

 the old stream of the River Lea. To the west two 

 lanes turn off. The lower leads to Baas manor-house, 

 an early 1 7th-century brick and plastered timber build- 

 ing now divided into two tenements. Cold Hall and 

 Cold Hall Green, and the higher to Broxborne Bury, 

 the seat of the lord of the manor. Broxborne Bury 

 is a 16th-century house of red brick and stone with 

 roofs partly tiled, slated and leaded. It was probably 

 built by John Cock, who received a grant of the 



manor in 15+4. In the following century an addi- 

 tion was made to the west side of the house, and in 

 the 19th century it was much altered and largely 

 rebuilt. Some of the chimney-stacks appear to be 

 original, and there is a fireplace on the first floor, 

 which is also of the 1 6th century. The windows 

 are of the 18th century or modern. 



The western half of the parish is largely covered 

 by beautiful woods, chiefly of oak, beech and horn- 

 beam. 



The Great Eastern railway runs through the parish 

 parallel to the main street and between it and the 

 river. The station is situated at the end of Pound 

 Lane and Station Road. It is doubtless due to the 

 railway that the new quarter of the town to the 

 north of the church, consisting mainly of villa resi- 

 dences and practically continuous with the southern 

 extension of Hoddesdon, has grown up within the 

 last fifty years. 



The subsoil of the parish is London Clay, with the 

 exception of a narrow strip of Alluvium on the banks 

 of the Lea. 'I he chalk is not far below the clay on 

 the lower lands. There is a disused gravel-pit east 

 of Broxborne Bury Park. 



The inclosure award was made in 1843 and 1850, 

 and is in the custody of the clerk of the peace. 1 



The civil parish of Hoddesdon, formed from those 



ofBrc 





1,575 atres > 

 The combined 

 ibleland, 912$ acres 



half of the parish is 

 ce datum, with the 



(bourne and Great Amwell, has 

 acres, which on I January 1 895 w 

 the parishes of Hoddesdon Urban 

 and Hoddesdon Rural, 1,110 acres.' 

 parishes contain 563 \ acres of ai 

 of permanent grass, and 724 aci 

 The elevation of the westerr 

 over 200 ft. above the ordnai 

 exception of a small area by the Spital Brook, where 

 it falls to 1 70 ft. In the east the ground slopes down- 

 ward towards the Lea, which forms the eastern boun- 

 dary of the parish. The town of Hoddesdon continues 

 up the main road from Broxboume, and is hardly 

 separated from that village. About the middle of the 

 town the road divides into Amwell Street and Burford 

 Street, both running north to Ware, the Clock House 

 being situated at the junction in the open space in 

 front of the Maidenhead Inn. Amwell Street, on 

 the west side of which there are some 17th-century 

 cottages, passes the church of St. Paul and the vicarage, 

 and meets the road from Hertford a little further 

 north. Burford Street, which is part of the Stan- 

 stead Road, has two roads branching off to the east, 

 Rye Road leading to the suburb of Rye Park, and 

 Essex Road, the more southerly of the two, which 

 crosses the New River, passes Geddings and goes on 

 to the Lea. South of the town hall two roads run 



kk, Aw*/ h Jhr„. 4 S 7 , 



til formed in 1S44 

 I. ofAjrit. (,,05). 



4,1° 



