HERTFORD HUNDRED 



on octagonal piers. The small closet previously men- 

 tioned projects into this apartment at its north-east 

 corner. Two of the piers are of clunch, with I 5th- 

 century moulded capitals and small bases ; the other 

 piers and all the vaults and arches are of brick covered 

 with plaster. In the east wall are two groups of 

 windows into the passage. One group consists of two 

 lights, each 2 ft. wide, with sills 2 ft. 6 in. from the 

 floor and wide seats inside, the wall here being 

 3 ft. 2 in. thick; these openings have four-centred 

 arches over them. The adjoining group consists— 

 though now much decayed — of four lights, each about 

 loin, wide, having pointed arches. All these are of 

 brick with splayed jambs and arches 

 and have been plastered. There is a 

 fireplace, now partly bricked-up, in 

 the south wall and a built-up window 

 in the west wall. It is difficult to say 

 to what use this vault was put, as, 

 although it is locally known as the chapel, 

 there are no indications that it was 

 ever used for that purpose, and it prob- 

 ably owes its name to its semi -ecclesias- 

 tical appearance. 



On the ground floor the principal 

 entrance door, which is modern, opens 

 directly into the south end of the old 

 hall. The hall itself measures about 

 37 ft. 6 in. long by 24 ft. 6 in. wide 

 and is open up to the roof. The old 

 minstrels' gallery and screen underneath 

 at the south end have disappeared, but 

 the old opening from the stair-turret 

 on the west side still exists, though the 

 stair and turret belong to the rebuild- 

 ing of 1750. The roof is original and 

 is a simple open one, having curved 

 principals with collars near the apex 

 and resting on carved corbels, some of 

 which, however, have disappeared. Of 

 the four remaining corbels two repre- 

 sent angels holding shields and two 

 human heads. The floor of the hall is 

 paved with large square slabs of black 

 and white marble. The fireplace is of 

 stone, and both it and the panelling 

 round the walls belong to the middle 

 of the 18th century. 



A doorway at the north-west corner 

 of the hall leads to a corridor, off" which 

 are now two rooms which probably p 



originally formed one. Beyond the 

 corridor is a good mid-i8th-century 

 oak staircase, with turned and moulded balusters. 

 There are three balusters to each step, each of the 

 three of different design, and all repeated in suc- 

 cession. The ends of the steps are carved. There is 

 not much of interest in the rooms on the ground and 

 upper floors, though in one is a well-carved i8ch- 

 century chimney-piece. 



In College Road is Water Lane Farm, a mid- 

 1 6th-century house of brick and timber, covered with 

 rough-cast, with a tiled roof. On the north side is a 

 I9th-centmy addition. 



The main part of the village lies along the North 

 Road. The southern part is in Waltham Cross, which 

 was formed into a separate ecclesiastical parish in 185;, 

 with the church of Holy Trinity built in 1832. The 



CHESHUNT 



road, here called the High Street, enters the parish at 

 the county boundary, at which are the ' Spital Houses,' 

 originally built in 1625 but rebuilt in 1908. As 

 may be expected along a main high road, there are 

 throughout the z\ miles of the road which Cheshunt 

 and Waltham Cross cover numerous inns and taverns, 

 one or two of which, such as the Four Swans Inn, 

 near Waltham Cross, may date back to the 17th 

 century, but the greater number are of the 1 8th 

 century and later. 



Waltham Cross stands at the junction of Waltham 

 High Street with Eleanor Cross Road, and, although 

 much restored, is one of the best preserved of the twelve 



Eleanor crosses, of which only three survive. Eleanor, 

 the first wife of Edward I, died at Harby, co. Notts., 

 7 miles west of Lincoln, on 28 November 1290. 

 Apparently the body rested at St. Albans on the night 

 of 12 December and was carried thence to Waltham 

 on the following day, where it rested for the night 

 at Waltham Abbey and arrived in London on 

 14 December. Of the twelve Eleanor crosses Waltham 

 Cross was the only one which was designed by 

 a foreigner, ' Nicholas Dymenge de Reyns,' or 

 'Dymenge de Legeri.' It was begun in 1291 and 

 completed before Christmas 1292. The sculptors 

 engaged upon it were Roger de Crundale, Alexander 

 le Imaginator or Imagemaker and Robert de Corf, 1 

 <■ f.CH. Dorstr, ii, 33;, 11. jB. 



