HERTFORD HUNDRED 



and fair, of which a grant had been made to the 

 mayor by James I. 



The soil and fishing of the Beane 'from the east 

 end of Paper Mill Mead to Goodes Pool and in the 

 waters called Black Ditch, Manifold Ditch and the 

 other ditches to the east of Chad well Mead' were 

 granted to the mayor and burgesses by Charles I in 

 i627. 8 ' Of the paper mill Cuss.ins says ' the site of 

 the mill was probably near the old waterworks, for 

 the channel through which the water flows to the 

 River Be.ine is still known as Paper-mill Ditch.' B 

 A paper-mill is mentioned in 1+98, and was probably 

 the earliest set up in England (see Sele Mill in 

 St. Andrew Rural). 65 



The court held at Hertford in the 14th and 15th 

 centuries did the work of a manorial court while 

 choosing burgesses and guarding burgess right. 6 ' There 

 was no distinction between the jurisdictional area of 

 town and manor. The charters of Elizabeth and 

 James gave the borough a weekly court of record, 85 

 with which the older courts were probably fused. 

 This explanation at least fits the contemporary state- 

 ment 'that there are certain courts leet and baron 

 held, and the mayor has used to be instead of the 

 (lord's) bailiff time out of mind' 83 (1621}. After 

 1 6 jo these manorial couris were held for the ' manor 

 and castle ' by the officials of the Earl of Salisbury," 

 in accordance with the theory that a manor must 

 have courts leet and baron. There is record of these 

 courts as late as 1 773." 



The castle of Hertford is situated on the flat, 

 low-lying land on the south bank of the River Lea* 

 It seems to have been one of the castles thrown up 

 after the Conquest to form a ring of defence round 

 London. The earthwork defences consisted of a 

 double ditch on three sides, the space between them 

 widening considerably on the south-west to form an 

 outer ward. The ditches communicated at either 

 end with the main course of the Lea, which sufficiently 

 defended the north-west face. There was also a 

 small artificial mound which still exists at the extreme 

 northern angle of the curtain wall, but there is no 

 evidence that this was ever surrounded by a separate 

 moat. The masonry parts of the castle under the 

 name of the castle of Hertford and the king's houses 

 in it, which would probably include the keep, the 

 curtain wall and the houses in the bailey, were 

 apparently begun by Henry II in 1170. 93 They were 

 under the charge of Henry the Chaplain or Henry 

 the Deacon, William the Parker, Wigar, Azur, and 

 Robert Crassus, the three last of whom were burgesses 

 of Hertford." Large sums of money were paid out 

 by the sheriff on the building operations during the 

 years 1171,* 1172,* II73, ' and 1174. 911 In 1173 

 the work was so far advanced that the castle was fully 

 provisioned against the insurrection of young Henry, 

 the king's eldest son," and in the following year 

 occurs the last payment for building operations for 

 some years, so that the work was evidently then com- 



BOROUGH OF 

 HERTFORD 



pleted. This is confirmed by the fact that the castle 

 was in this year garrisoned by knights and sergeants.™ 

 Lesser sums, probably for repairs, were paid in 1 1 8z l 

 and 1183." A shell keep similar to that at Berk- 

 hampstead evidently crowned the mound already 

 referred to. With the exception of portions on the 

 southern side the ditches are now all filled in and 

 levelled, but their extreme limit outwardly is marked 

 by St. Andrew's parish boundary, and the total area 

 of the castle site is about 7 J acres. 



The existing remains belong entirely to the inner 

 ward, which was in form an irregular pentagon sur- 

 rounded by a curtain. This wall, built of flint rubble, 

 much patched and re-faced with red brick, is still 

 standing on the eastern and southern sides. It varies 

 greatly in thickness from 5 ft. to 6 ft. upwards, and 

 with the exception of the parapet is standing to its 

 full height. It terminates at the southern angle in a 

 small octagonal tower (internally 12ft. in diameter), 

 partially ruined, and evidently built to defend the 

 postern which adjoins it on the east. The postern 

 has a pointed arch quite devoid of ornament and 

 dating from the 1 3 th century. The curtain is probably 

 somewhat earlier in date. In the centre of the western 

 face stands the Tudor gate-house, a rectangular struc- 

 ture of red brick with octagonal projecting turrets at 

 the four corners, that on the south-east being carried 

 up above the roof. This building forms the northern 

 half of the house known as Hertford Castle and hai 

 been much altered in the 18th century, when the 

 southern wing was added on the line of the curtain 

 wall. The windows are all of that date, as is the 

 pseudo-Gothic corbelling and embattled parapet. 

 Traces of the western or outer arch of the gate-house 

 are to be seen behind the modern porch, and above 

 it is a sunk stone panel bearing a coat of arms (said 

 to be that of the Tudors, but now too much decayed 

 to be identified) with supporters, and surmounted by 

 a crown. The inner or eastern arch of the gate-house 

 is now transformed into a window. 



The internal arrangements of the castle are pre- 

 served in an Elizabethan plan at the Public Record 

 Office, prepared by Henry Hawthorne about 1 582 or 

 I59 z » when the courts of law were temporarily moved 

 to Hertford owing to the prevalence of the Plague in 

 London. The plan is unfortunately mutilated and 

 what remains is in two fragments, 3a but the main 

 apartments are shown grouped round a central court- 

 yard with the great hall on the eastern side. With 

 the exception of the fireplace backs and chimneys the 

 walls are shown so thin as to imply s timber-framed 

 building carried on dwarf walls, traces of which 

 have from time to time come to light under the 

 present lawn and garden. The hall was an aisled 

 building of three bays with screens and two porches 

 at the northern end and a square oriel and a fireplace 

 at the southern. On the plan it bears a close resem- 

 blance to the great hall at Ashby Castle (Leicester- 

 shire). The offices at the northern end are by no 



W Tute 



ofthe.,____ 

 » Op. eft j> 



» Ct. R. (G CU . .: 



no. 37 J Hertf. Corp. Papf 

 89 Pat. 31 Elis. pt. xi, n. 

 w Hertf. Corp. Papers, v. 



"Had. MS. 670S- " 



Ser.), portf. 2z 7 , no, 8. 



. 62. This gran 



91 Hertf. Corp. Paper 



no. 388. 



is eicclleiitl) - 



Ibid. 52, S3- 

 .), portf. 



Ct. 



M Pipe H, 1 7 Htn. It (Pipe R. Sec), 



"They paid aid in nfig {Pipe R. 

 14 Hen, II [Pipe R. Sac], 40). 



503 



M Ibid. 17 Hen. I/, 11S. 

 96 Ibid. 18 Hen. II, 40. 

 "Ibii 19 Hen. II, ij. 

 ss Ibid. to Hen. II, 67. 

 89 Ibid. 10 Hen. II, 13. 

 100 Ibid. 20 Hen. II, 67, 73. 

 ' ""' z% Hen. II, c,l. 



8 Ibid 



**S. P. Dor 



9 Bat. II, i 



Edw. VI, 



