HERTFORD HUNDRED 



CHESHUNT 



CHESHUNT 



it.) ; Chesthunt {xi 



Walt ham, 

 the land v 

 Cheshunt. 



Cestrehunt (xi, xii, 



Cheshunt is an extensive parish containing about 

 8,479 acres. The urban part lies at the eastern end, 

 east of the New River, which flows through the 

 parish ; the rural and more thinly-populated district 

 is found in the western, higher-lying ground, and 

 consists chiefly of scattered farms and parks, with 

 Cheshunt Common extending to the western border. 

 The surface of the parish is undulating and its 

 physical aspect varies. Large areas are devoted to 

 fruit culture, roses, horticultural nurseries and 

 market gardens. 



The River Lea or one of its streams forms 

 the eastern boundary, which has been the cause 

 of many disputes between the Abbots of Walt- 

 ham and the lords of Cheshunt ; the former 

 maintained that the Small River Lea flowing 

 half a mile west of Waltham was the dividing 

 line, and that all the adjacent meadows belonged 

 to Waltham ; the latter tried to prove that the 

 tself, flowing through the town of 

 /as the county bound.iry, and that 

 :st of it belonged to the manor of 

 Peter of Savoy, when lord of the 

 manor, quitclaimed to Simon the abbot his right 

 to the meadows and marshes in question, but 

 the dispute broke out again, and at the time of 

 the Dissolution was undetermined between 

 Robert, the last abbot, and the lord of Ches- 

 hunt. 1 The quarrel was carried on by the two 

 neighbouring towns, 1 and in the middle of the 

 19th century was still unsettled. 1 The present 

 boundary appears to be a compromise, the 

 southern part being formed by the Small River 

 Lea, the northern part by the River Lea itself. 



Cheshunt Common covers a large area to the 

 extreme west of the parish. An inclosure award 

 made in 1804. and enrolled in 1806 is in the 

 custody of the vestry clerk of the parish of Ches- 

 hunt. By a further local Act an allotment of 

 100 acres of common was made.' 



Under the provisions of the Local Govern- 

 ment Act of 1894 the parish is now governed 

 by an urban district council of twelve members 

 and divided into three wards — that is, the 

 Northern, Central and Southern Wards, known 

 for parochial purposes as Waltham Cross, Cheshunt 

 Street and Woodside Wards. 



The original settlement was probably at St. Mary's 

 Church, now called Churchgate, oft" the Roman road 

 (Ermine Street) on the east side. At an early date, 

 however, a road settlement must have been established 

 along the present high road which replaced the 

 Roman road some time before the Conquest, for by 

 1086 there was already a trading community of ten 

 merchants at Cheshunt, who would naturally be on 

 the line of traffic. 



At Churchgate is Cheshunt College, a large build- 

 ing standing south-east of the church. It was origin- 

 ally founded at Trevecca in 1768 by Selina Countess 

 of Huntingdon as a training college for the ministry 



3 Brown, Chethunt 



of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, and 

 moved to its present site in 1792. In 1905 it was 

 converted into a theological college of the Church of 

 England, and is now known as Bishop's College. 

 Although largely added to during the 19th century, 

 there still exists a small block of the original building, 

 which is of red brickwork, with plain arched window 

 openings. Above the upper floor windows is a 

 moulded brick cornice with dentil course, surmounted 

 by a brick parapet. On one side is an old lead rain- 

 water head on which is a crest of a unicorn, and 



Older Part of Cheshunt College 



above is the date 1 746, which is probably the date of 

 the erection of the building. 



Not far from Bishop's College is a 17th-century 

 brick house, now divided into three tenements. To 

 the north is Dewhurst School, a brick house with 

 brick mullioned windows and a tiled roof, built in 

 1640 by Robert Dewhurst, whose arms and initials 

 and this date are on the east wall. The upper story 

 and the interior of the house have been modernized 

 and a large new school added on the north side. 

 On the east side of the church are many 

 17th-century houses and cottages of half-timber and 

 brick with tiled roofs ; among them is the Green 



56 



