HERTFORDSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
xlix 
Field Meeting, 11th June, 1887. 
BERKHAMSTED, ASHRIDGE, AND ALDBURY. 
On arrival at Berkhamsted Station at noon, tlie party, under the 
direction of Mr. Littleboy, proceeded to the Castle grounds, and, 
assembling on the top of the mount, listened to a paper by the 
Director on Berkhamsted and its castle. 
Mr. Littleboy first alluded to the different ways of spelling 
Berkhamsted, of which he said there were ninety-nine. The 
earliest record was in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it is written 
Berkhamstede (a spelling we have now reverted to, dropping the 
last e); in Domesday Book it was Berckehamstede; in Latin 
chronicles, Beorcham. Dr. Stukeley maintained that Berkham¬ 
sted stands upon the site of the ancient British town of Duroco- 
brivis, the city of the marshy stream, but this honour had also been 
claimed by Dunstable, Bedbourn, and Hertford. It might be 
interesting to notice the earliest relic of British workmanship to 
be found in the district. On the Common, just above Frithsden, 
might be observed a long bank or dyke, locally known as “ Grymes 
Dyke.” It was probably an ancient British earthwork, encircling 
Berkhamsted and running by the top of a meadow at the back of 
Box wells and across the country to Missenden and Wendover. 
After stating that during the occupation of England by the Homans 
the legions of the empire marched from Yerulam along the valley 
of the Bulborne past Berkhamsted, Mr. Littleboy gave at some 
length the comparatively modern history of the castle, commencing 
with the year 1066, and concluded with an allusion to its present 
state of ruin, in which 
“ Still the deep moat in silence round it steals, 
And the high mound its ancient pride reveals.” 
Leaving the Castle, the party proceeded across Berkhamsted 
Common to Ashridge, having lunch on the way under a group of 
beech-trees. In Ashridge Park the “ Queen’s Beech ” was viewed. 
It is a fine straight-grown tree attaining a height of ninety feet 
before throwing out its first branch. The Bridgewater Column 
was then ascended, and, from the top, the atmosphere being clear, 
a splendid view was obtained, the main features of which have 
been described in the reports of previous visits. After descending 
the hill to the village of Aldbury, tea was partaken of at the 
“ Greyhound,” and Tring Station was reached in time for the 
seven o’clock up train. 
On the chalk slopes below the Column a few orchids and other 
interesting plants were found, but none which have not previously 
been recorded from here, and the only plant obtained of which 
there is no previous record for the locality was Cerastium arvense , 
which was found in a field between Aldbury and Tring Station. 
The day was not a favourable one for entomologists, for, although 
the sun was shining brightly, there was a strong breeze blowing, 
and consequently very few insects were to be seen on the wing, 
even in the more sheltered spots. Beating amongst the bushes and 
