A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



measured about 1 8 in. by i 

 representation of a coach ; 

 ript. 



' and another, i 



in. ; at the top was a 

 d horses, below which 



me is flying, the coach is 

 indecipherable. 



door opens into a passage 

 leading through the house [o the staircase at the 

 back. To the left of the passage, through a modern 

 partition, is the old hall, now used as the dining 

 room, and beyond the hall is the drawing room or 

 parlour ; both these rooms have the original stone 

 fireplaces with moulded jambs and four-centred arches. 

 A modern external doorway with a small porch has 

 been formed on the north-west side of the hall. 

 To the right of the central passage is the kitchen, 

 with a fireplace 8 ft. 6 in. wide. There is an old 

 external door to the kitchen and a cellar under the 

 kitchen. The stair occupies a projecting wing at 

 the back of the building, and is 



Queen Hoo . Tewii 



example of the transition between the old solid 

 newel stair and the later open well stair. The stair- 

 case is about i 5 ft. square internally, the stair being 

 constructed of oak, with winders at the angles. 

 The central newel is z ft. 6 in. square, but instead 

 of being solid is constructed of timber framing, the 

 interior being divided vertically into a series of small 

 cupboards or recesses at different heights of the stair. 

 The first floor had originally three rooms correspond- 

 ing to those below, and the fireplaces are over those 

 on the ground floor ; a modern passage has, however, 

 been formed out of the room over the hall to connect 

 the two end rooms, but the built-up fireplace still 

 "the passage. The bedroom over the 



kitchen has an old stone fireplace, with a four-centred 

 moulded arch very similar to many others in the 

 county, but in this instance all the mouldings follow 

 the arch, the square above being marked by a alight 

 sinking, and instead of the usual ornamented stop 

 there is a single splay. The old fireplaces in the 

 passage and in the bedroom over the drawing room 

 are of the more usual type, having the inner and the 

 outer mouldings and the ornamental stops. They 

 have, however, the peculiarity that instead of the 

 arches being formed by four segments of circles the 

 mouldings are in four straight lines, the usual pro- 

 portions of a four-centred arch being retained. Over 

 the last-named fireplace is an interesting distemper 

 painting very much decayed. The picture is about 

 S ft. 6 in. wide by 3 ft. 3 in. high and appears to 

 represent a scene in some mystery play. On the 

 right is a large figure of a man clothed in a long 

 tunic, above which is a shorter garment like an 

 ephod, and a girdle is tied about his waist. He has 

 a mitre on his head and in his right hand he holds a 

 censer. Opposite to him and kneeling with folded 

 arms is another large figure with flowing beard, wear- 

 ing a long robe over which is a cape and round his 

 neck is a lace collar. Behind him are a number of 

 indistinct figures, some wearing ruffs round their 

 necks. Between the two principal figures, but further 

 in the background, is a standing figure apparently 

 naked except for a cloth round his loins ; his right 

 hand rests on what looks like a large viola. Behind 

 him is a smaller figure with arms extended above his 

 head. There are traces of colour remaining, chiefly 

 greens and reds. 



The capital messuage called TEWIN HOUSE was 

 bought from the lord of the manor of Tewin by 

 Thomas Montford, who died possessed of it in 1632, 

 leaving a son John.' The latter died in 1651,' 

 leaving a widow Joan and three daughters, Anne 

 Layfield, Elizabeth Francklyn and Mary Rainsford.' 

 Tewin House is said to have come to Mary Rains- 

 ford, who sold it to Sir George Butler.* At the 

 death of the latter without issue in 1657 ' the pro- 

 perty passed to his nephew Francis Butler,* who died 

 in 1 690, leaving two daughters, to the elder of whom, 

 Isabella wife of Charles Hutchinson, Tewin House 

 came. Isabella and Charles are said to have sold it 

 to William Gore, at whose death in 1709 it passed 

 to his grandson Henry. 7 Henry Gore conveyed it 

 in 1 715 to Gen. the Hon. Joseph Sabine, 6 who died 

 in 1739 and was succeeded by his eldest son John.' 

 John's son Joseph Sabine is said to have Bold Tewin 

 House to Robert Macky, who sold it to Charles 

 Schreiber. 10 He died possessed of it in 1800, and his 

 son William sold it in 1804 to Peter fifth Ear! 

 Cowper." The earl pulled down the house, and the 

 property became absorbed in the main manor. 



Free fishery in the river of Tewin was included 

 with the property." 



Two and a half hides in 'Theunge' held before 

 and after the Conquest by the Abbot of Westminster 

 are entered under Broadwater Hundred in the 

 Domesday Survey, but seem to have been in this 



10 Clutterbuck, op. cit. ii, 114. 



11 Ibid. 



" Chan. 1 

 41 ; F«t of F.' 

 Cloie, z Ceo. I, pt. ^ 



Inq. p.m. (S« 



