The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hertfordshire, by Herbert W Tompkins This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Hertfordshire Author: Herbert W Tompkins Illustrator: Edmund H. New Release Date: April 25, 2006 [EBook #18252] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HERTFORDSHIRE *** Produced by Louise Pryor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Transcriber’s note A few corrections have been made for obvious typographical errors; they have been noted individually, and, together with other notes, listed at the end of the e-text. The Railways of Hertfordshire The Railways of Hertfordshire HERTFORDSHIRE ST. ALBAN'S ABBEY CHURCH ST. ALBAN’S ABBEY CHURCH HERTFORDSHIRE By HERBERT W. TOMPKINS F.R.Hist.S. With Illustrations by EDMUND H. NEW AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS AND TWO MAPS “Hearty, homely, loving Hertfordshire” —Charles Lamb LONDON METHUEN & CO. LTD. 36 Essex St. Strand Second Edition, Revised First Published March 1903 Second Edition, Revised 1922 TO MY WIFE PREFACE In the following pages I have endeavoured to give a brief description of Hertfordshire on the lines of Mr. F. G. Brabant’s book in this series. The general features of the county are briefly described in the Introduction, in sections approximately corresponding to the sections of the volume on Sussex. I have thought it wise, however, to compress the Introduction within the briefest limits, in order that, in the Gazetteer, I might have space for more adequate treatment than would otherwise have been possible. I have visited a large proportion of the towns, villages and hamlets of Hertfordshire, and have, so far as possible, written from personal observation. I desire to thank Mr. John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.G.S., etc., for his kindness in writing the sections on Climate and Botany; Mr. A. E. Gibbs, F.L.S., F.R.H.S., for his permission to make use of several miscellanies from his pen, and Mr. Alfred Bentley of New Barnet for his courtesy in placing some photographs from his collection at the disposal of Mr. New. Verulam, Southend-on-Sea, 1903. CONTENTS Page Introduction 1 I Situation, Extent and Boundaries 1 II Physical Features 2 III Climate 11 IV Flora and Fauna 15 V Population 23 VI Communications 25 VII Industries 28 VIII History 31 IX Antiquities 33 X Celebrated Men 39 Description of Places in Hertfordshire arranged Alphabetically 45 Index to Persons 235 [Pg vii] [Pg viii] [Pg ix] [Pg x] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS The Railways of Hertfordshire Front Cover The Abbey Church, St. Albans (From a Photograph by the Graphotone Co., Enfield) Frontispiece Leafless Beeches in November, Ashridge Woods (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead) To face page 2 On the River Colne (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead) 8 Grand Junction Canal at Tring—The Highest Water Level in England (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead) 10 The Parish Church, Aldbury (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead) 47 Ashridge House (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead) 53 Old Cottage, Baldock (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee) 59 Castle Street, Berkhampstead (From a Photo. by Mr. J. T. Newman, Great Berkhampstead) 72 Bishop’s Stortford (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate) 74 Broxbourne 79 Chorley Wood Common (From a Photo. by the London Stereoscopic & Photo. Co.) 87 Hatfield House (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee) 109 King James’s Drawing-Room, Hatfield House (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee) 111 Hemel Hempstead 115 Hertford 117 Hitchin (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate) 125 Knebworth Park 139 Old Cottages near Mackery End (From a Photograph by the Author) 146 Rickmansworth (From a Photo. by the London Stereoscopic & Photo. Co.) 170 The High Street, Royston (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee) 172 The Fighting Cocks, St. Albans—The Oldest Inn in England (From a Photo. by Messrs. Valentine, Dundee) 178 Bacon’s Monument (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate) 183 Ruins of Bacon’s House (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate) 184 St. Alban’s Shrine (From a Photograph by the Graphotone Co., Enfield) 192 Stevenage Church (From a Photograph by Messrs. Frith, Reigate) 204 Waltham Cross 214 Map of Hertfordshire 233 [Pg xi] [Pg xii] INTRODUCTION I. SITUATION, EXTENT AND BOUNDARIES Hertfordshire, or Herts, is a county in the S.E. of England. On the S. it is bounded by Middlesex; on the S.W. by Buckinghamshire; on the N.W. by Bedfordshire; on the N. by Cambridgeshire; on the E. by Essex. Its extreme measurement from due E. to W., say from Little Hyde Hall to Puttenham, is about 38 miles; from N. to S., from Mobb’s Hole at the top of Ashwell Common to a point just S. of Totteridge Green, about 30 miles; but a longer line, 36 miles in length, may be drawn from Mobb’s Hole to Troy Farm in the S.W. Its boundaries are very irregular; the neighbourhood of Long Marston is almost surrounded by Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, that of Hinxworth by Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, and that of Barnet by Middlesex. Its extreme points are:— N. Lat. 52° 5´ (N.) E. Long. 0° 13´ (E.) W. Long. 0° 45´ (W.) S. Lat. 51° 36´ (N.) Its area is 404,523 acres or 632 square miles. It is one of the smallest counties in England, the still smaller counties being Rutland, Middlesex, Huntingdon, Bedford and Monmouth. Hertfordshire is one of the six home counties. LEAFLESS BEECHES IN NOVEMBER, ASHRIDGE WOODS LEAFLESS BEECHES IN NOVEMBER, ASHRIDGE WOODS II. PHYSICAL FEATURES Hertfordshire, being an inland county, is naturally devoid of many charms to be found in those counties which have a sea-coast. But it has beauties of its own, being particularly varied and undulating. Its scenery is pleasantly diversified by many woods, which however are mostly of but small extent, by swelling cornfields, and by several small and winding streams. There is much rich loam in the many little valley-bottoms traversed by these streams, and other loams of inferior quality are found in abundance on the higher levels of the arable districts. The soil in many parts, owing to the preponderance of chalk, is specially adapted to the cultivation of wheat. Its trees have elicited the admiration of many, particularly its oaks and elms, of which colossal specimens are found here and there throughout the county, and its beeches, of which the beautiful woods on the Chiltern slopes and elsewhere in the W. are largely composed. The hornbeam is almost restricted to Essex and Hertfordshire. The woods of Hertfordshire form indeed its sweetest [Pg 1] [Pg 2] attraction in the eyes of many. The districts of Rickmansworth, Radlett, Wheathampstead and Breachwood Green, among others, are dotted with coppices of ideal loveliness, and larger woods such as Batch Wood near St. Albans and Bricket Wood near Watford are carpeted with flowers in their season, interspersed with glades, and haunted by jays and doves, by ringlets and brimstones. Hazel woods abound, and parties of village children busily “a-nutting” in the autumn are one of the commonest sights of the county. It abounds, too, in quiet park-like spots which are the delight of artists, and contains many villages and hamlets picturesquely situated upon slopes and embowered among trees. A large proportion of the birds known to English observers are found in the county either regularly or as chance visitors, and will be treated more fully in a separate section. The many narrow, winding, flower-scented lanes are one of the chief beauties of Hertfordshire. The eastern part of the county, though, on the whole, less charming to the eye than the rest, contains some fine manor houses and interesting old parish churches. Its most beautiful part is unquestionably the W., near the Buckinghamshire border; its greatest historic interest centres around St. Albans, with its wonderful old abbey church now largely restored; Berkhampstead, Hertford, Hatfield and Hitchin. The county contains rather less than the average of waste or common land; the stretches of heath used for grazing purposes only aggregating 1,200 acres. Among the finest panoramic views may be mentioned:— (1) From the hill near Boxmoor Station. (2) From the village of Wigginton, looking S. (3) From the high-road between Graveley and Baldock. (4) From Windmill Hill, Hitchin, looking W. There were medicinal waters at Barnet, Northaw, Hemel Hempstead and Welwyn, but these are now disused. Many other details touching physiographical characteristics are mentioned as occasion arises in the Alphabetical Gazetteer which follows this Introduction. The Geology of Hertfordshire must be here summarised in few words. The predominant formations are the Cretaceous and the Tertiary. Cretaceous.—Ignoring the Gault, which barely touches the county, this formation consists chiefly of Chalk-marl, Lower, Middle and Upper Chalk. A series of Chalk Downs, an extension of the Chiltern Hills, stretches, roughly speaking, from Tring to Royston, forming by far the most prominent natural feature of Hertfordshire. The oldest rocks are in the N.W. The Chalk Marl is superimposed upon the Gault and Upper Greensand beds, which are confined to the western portion of the county. Its upper layer passes into a sandy limestone, known as Totternhoe stone, which has furnished materials for many churches in the shire. Ashwell, Pirton and Tring may be named as neighbourhoods where this stratum may be traced. The Lower Chalk is devoid of flints, and rests, in somewhat steeply sloping beds, upon the Totternhoe stone. It forms the western slopes of the Dunstable Downs, and of the Chiltern Hills. It is fossiliferous, one of the commonest of its shells being the Terebratula. The Middle Chalk, of resonant hardness, is laminated, and has at its base the Melbourn Rock and at its summit the Chalk Rock. Nodules of flint, greenish in appearance, and (rarely) arranged in layers, occur sparsely in the Middle Chalk, which may be traced in the neighbourhood of Boxmoor, Berkhampstead and Baldock, and also in a few other districts. The Upper Chalk.—Although, as has been stated, the configuration of Hertfordshire is very undulating, we are able to discern a general trend in certain districts. Thus, there is a gradual slope to the S. from the N.W. and central hills, a slope which comprises the larger part of the county. This slope is formed of the Upper Chalk, a formation abounding in layers of black flints. The chalk is whiter than that of the lower beds, and very much softer. Fossil sponges, sea-urchins, etc., are abundant in this formation. Tertiary.—Many of the chalk hills of Hertfordshire are strewn with outlying more recent deposits which prove that the lower Tertiary beds were more extensive in remote ages. The beds of sand and clay, of such frequent occurrence in the S.E. districts, contain fossils so distinct from those of the Upper Chalk that an immense interval must have elapsed before those Tertiary deposits were in turn laid down. [Pg 3] [Pg 4] [Pg 5] [Pg 6] The Eocene Formation.—The Thanet Beds, of light-coloured sands, present in some other parts of the London Basin, notably in Kent, are wanting in Hertfordshire. There are, however, some widespread deposits of loamy sands which may possibly be rearranged material from the Thanet Beds. The lowest Eocene deposits in the county are the Reading Beds. These rest directly upon the Chalk and have an average thickness of, say, 25 feet. They may be traced E. to S.W. from the brickfields near Hertford to Hatfield Park; thence to the kilns on Watford Heath and at Bushey; they may also be traced from Watford to Harefield Park. These beds contain flints, usually found close to the Chalk, and consist chiefly of mottled clays, sands, and pebble-beds. Fossils are but rarely found. From the Woolwich and Reading Beds come those conglomerate masses of flint pebbles commonly called Hertfordshire plum-pudding stone. These have usually a silicious matrix and were often used by the Romans and others for making querns for corn-grinding. It is, perhaps, not impertinent to mention here the opinion of geologists that during the Eocene Period a considerable portion of the land usually spoken of as S.E. England was covered by the ocean. Resting upon the Reading Beds we find that well-known stratum called the London Clay, which is of bluish hue when dug at any considerable depth. It is found in some of the same districts as the Woolwich and Reading Beds, and from Hertford and Watford it extends to N.E. and S.W. respectively until it leaves Hertfordshire. Its direction may be approximately traced by a series of hills, none of which are of any great height. The Drift.—In Hertfordshire, as elsewhere, the strata whose names are so familiar to geologists do not form the existing surface of the ground. For the origin of this we go back to a comparatively recent period, when disintegration was busily working upon the solid rocks, and glaciers were moving southwards, leaving stones and much loose débris in their wake. Rivers, some of which, as in the Harpenden valley, have long ceased to run, separated the flints from the chalk, forming a gravel which is found in quantities at Harpenden, Wheathampstead and St. Albans, and is, indeed, present in all valley-bottoms, even where no river now runs. Gravel, together with clays, sand, and alluvial loams, forms, for the most part, the actual surface of the county. The Rivers of Hertfordshire are many, if we include several so small as hardly to deserve the name. They are the Ash, Beane, Bulbourne, Chess, Colne, Gade, Hiz, Ivel, Lea, Maran, Purwell, Quin, Rhee, Rib, Stort and Ver. 1. The Ash rises near Little Hadham, and, passing the village of Widford, joins the Lea at Stanstead. 2. The Beane, rising in the parish of Cottered, runs to Walkern, where it passes close to the church, and flows from thence past Aston and Watton, and into the Lea at Hertford. 3. The Bulbourne rises in the parish of Tring, passes N.E. of Berkhampstead and S.W. of Hemel Hempstead and unites with the Gade at Two Waters. 4. The Chess enters the county from Buckinghamshire at Sarratt Mill, and flowing past Loudwater joins the Gade at Rickmansworth. The Valley of the Chess is one of the prettiest districts in the shire. [Pg 7] [Pg 8] ON THE RIVER COLNE ON THE RIVER COLNE 5. The Colne rises near Sleap’s Hyde, is crossed by the main road from Barnet to St. Albans at London Colney, and by the main road from Edgware to St. Albans at Colney Street. Thence it passes between Bushey Hall and Bushey Lodge, flows through Watford to Rickmansworth where, uniting with the Gade and Chess, it enters Middlesex near Stocker’s Farm. 6. The Gade rises near Little Gaddesden, skirts Hemel Hempstead Church on the W. side, and passing King’s Langley and Hunton Bridge, flows through Cassiobury Park and joins the Chess and Colne at Rickmansworth. 7. The Hiz, rising at Well Head, S.W. of Hitchin, crosses that town, joins the Purwell at Grove Mill and leaves the county at Cadwell. 8. The Ivel rises near Baldock, flows to Radwell Mill and shortly afterwards enters Bedfordshire. 9. The Lea is the largest river in Hertfordshire. It rises near Leagrave (in Bedfordshire) and flows through the county from N.W. to S.E. Entering Hertfordshire at Hide Mill, it flows past Wheathampstead, Hatfield, Hertford, Ware, and, leaving the county near Waltham Abbey, enters the Thames at Blackwall. Its entire length is about 50 miles. The waterway known as the Lea and Stort Navigation is navigable to Bishop’s Stortford. 10. The Maran, or Mimram, rises in the parish of King’s Walden, skirts Whitwell on the N., running parallel with the village street, and passing through Welwyn and near Tewin enters the Lea at Hertingfordbury. 11. The Purwell, or Pirall, rises in the parish of Ippollits and passing W. of Great Wymondley runs to Purwell Mill, and joins the Hiz at Grove Mill. 12. The Quin rises in the neighbourhood of Wyddial, and passing Quinbury, unites with the Rib at Braughing. 13. The Rhee, rising a little E. of Ashwell, has but a few miles to flow before it enters Cambridgeshire. 14. The Rib rises at Corney Bury, flows E. of Buntingford, thence turning W. it flows under the bridge at the Adam and Eve, runs to Westmill, Standon and Thundridge, finally uniting with the Lea at Hertford. 15. The Stort enters Hertfordshire from Essex at a point near Cannon Wood Mill, and after passing through Bishop’s Stortford forms the extreme E. boundary of the county for some distance before quitting it near Cheshunt. 16. The Ver rises near Flamstead, is crossed by the Dunstable Road, N.W. of Redbourn, then recrossed by it. It then skirts St. Albans on the S. and joins the Colne near Park Street. In addition to the cutting of the Lea and Stort Navigation already mentioned, there are other artificial waterways:— The Aylesbury Canal (a branch of the Grand Junction Canal) crosses the extreme western neck of the county, from S. [Pg 9] [Pg 10] of Puttenham to S. of Gubblecote. GRAND JUNCTION CANAL AT TRING GRAND JUNCTION CANAL AT TRING The highest water level in England The Grand Junction Canal is largely utilised by barges traversing the W. of Hertfordshire. It is conspicuous at Rickmansworth, Boxmoor, and Berkhampstead; it enters Bedfordshire near Marsworth Reservoir. The New River was constructed by Sir Hugh Myddelton, a London goldsmith, in 1609-13, and is largely fed by springs at Chadwell near Hertford. Its course in Hertfordshire is mostly close to and parallel with that of the Lea. The New River caused the financial ruin of its projector; one of its shares is now worth a large fortune. The whole story of this undertaking is very interesting; but as the New River was cut in order to bring water to London that story belongs to a volume on Middlesex. III. CLIMATE The chief elements of climate are temperature and rainfall. A general idea of the mean temperature and rainfall of Hertfordshire, both monthly and annual, may be gained from an inspection of Bartholomew’s Atlas of Meteorology (1899). From that work it appears that the mean annual temperature of the county, if reduced to sea-level (that is, the theoretical mean for its position) would be 50° or a little above it, but that the actual mean varies from 46°-48° on the Chiltern Hills to 48°-50° in the rest and much the greater part of Hertfordshire; also that the mean annual rainfall is between 25 and 30 inches, the latter amount only being approached towards the Chilterns. Thus altitude is seen to have a great effect on both these elements of climate. Hertfordshire is hilly though not mountainous, a great extent of its surface being considerably elevated above sea-level, with a general south-easterly inclination; it has a dry soil; is well watered with numerous rivers of clear water—already enumerated—chiefly derived from springs in the Chalk; is well but not too densely wooded; and its atmosphere is not contaminated by manufacturing towns. It thus maintains the reputation for salubrity which it gained more than three centuries ago, our earliest county historian, Norden, remarking on the “salutarie” nature of the “aire”. Observations taken at the following meteorological stations during the twelve years 1887 to 1898 have been printed annually in the Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, and a brief summary of some of the chief results will here be given. Royston (London Road): lat. 52° 2´ 34´´ N.; long. 0° 1´ 8´´ W.; alt. 301 feet; observer, the late Hale Wortham, F.R.Met.Soc. Berkhampstead (Rosebank): lat. 51° 45´ 40´´ N.; long. 0° 33´ 30´´ W.; alt. 400 feet; observer, Edward Mawley, F.R.Met.Soc. St. Albans (The Grange): lat. 51° 45´ 9´´ N.; long. 0° 20´ 7´´ W.; alt. 380 feet; observer, John Hopkinson, [Pg 11] [Pg 12] Assoc.Inst.C.E. Bennington (Bennington House): lat. 51° 53´ 45´´ N.; long. 0° 20´ 7´´ W.; alt. 407 feet; observer, Rev. Dr. Parker, F.R.Met.Soc. New Barnet (Gas Works): lat. 51° 38´ 5´´ N.; long. 0° 10´ 15´´ W.; alt. 212 feet; observer, T. H. Martin, M.Inst.C.E. 1. Temperature.—The mean temperature of Hertfordshire, as deduced from the above observations, is 48.3°. It has varied from 47.0° in 1887 to 50.2° in 1898. The mean daily range is 15.9°. It was the least (14.2°) in 1888, and the greatest (18.1°) in 1893. The mean temperature of the seasons is as follows: spring 46.6°, summer 60.2°, autumn 49.2°, winter 37.2°. The warmest month is July, with a mean temperature of 61.0°; the coldest is January, with a mean of 36.1°. August is very little colder than July. In these two months only has the temperature never been below freezing- point (32°). In December and January only has it never exceeded 62°. It increases most rapidly during the month of May, and decreases most rapidly during September and October. 2. Humidity.—The relative humidity of the air, that is the amount of moisture it contains short of complete saturation which is represented by 100, is, at 9 a.m., 82. It has varied from 78 in 1893 to 85 in 1888 and 1889. The air is much drier in spring and summer (78 and 75) than it is in autumn and winter (86 and 89). There is the least amount of moisture in the air from April to August (74 to 78), and the greatest from November to January (90). 3. Cloud.—The mean amount of cloud at 9 a.m., from 0 (clear sky) to 10 (completely overcast), is 6.7. It has varied from 6.0 in 1893 to 7.4 in 1888. Spring, summer, and autumn are about equally cloudy (6.5 to 6.6), and winter is considerably more so (7.2). The sky at 9 a.m. is brightest in September (6.0) and most cloudy in November and January (7.5). 4. Sunshine.—At Berkhampstead only have records of bright sunshine been taken for the whole of the twelve years. Throughout the year the sun shines brightly there for nearly four hours a day (3.9). The average duration in spring is 5.0, in summer 5.8, in autumn 3.2, and in winter 1.6. The duration is least in December and greatest in May; the sun shining for rather more than an hour a day in December and nearly six hours and a half in May. An apparent discrepancy between this and the preceding section is due to a bright day often following a cloudy morning and vice versâ. 5. Wind.—The prevailing direction of the wind, as recorded at Berkhampstead, St. Albans and Bennington, is from S.W. (sixty-one days in the year) to W. (sixty-two days), and the next most frequent winds are N. to N.E. and S. (each about thirty-seven days). The least frequent are S.E. (twenty-five days). About forty-four days in the year are recorded as calm. 6. Rainfall.—Twelve years is much too short a period to give a trustworthy mean for such a variable element of climate as rainfall, and five stations are much too few to deduce an average from for Hertfordshire. The average rainfall at a varying number of stations for the sixty years 1840 to 1899 (from one station in the first decade of this period to twenty stations in the last decade) was 26.15 inches. In the driest year (1854) 17.67 inches fell, and in the wettest (1852) 37.57 inches. Spring has 5.40 inches, summer 6.97, autumn 7.87, and winter 5.91. The driest months are February and March, each with a mean of 1.65 inch; April is but very little wetter, having 1.69. The wettest month is October, with 2.96 inches, and the next is November with 2.56. The mean number of days of rain in the year, that is of days on which at least 0.01 inch fell, for the thirty years 1870-99, was 167. Autumn and winter have each about six more wet days than spring and summer. The rainfall is greatly affected by the form of the ground, the southern and western hills attracting the rain, which chiefly comes from the S.W., so greatly that with a mean annual fall of about 26 inches there is a difference of 3½ inches between that of the river-basin of the Colne on the W. and that of the river-basin of the Lea on the E., the former having 28 inches and the latter 24½. The small portion of the river-basin of the Great Ouse which is within our area has rather less rain than the average for the county. IV. FLORA AND FAUNA In his Cybele Britannica, H. C. Watson divided Britain into eighteen botanical provinces of which the Thames and the Ouse occupy the whole of the S.E. of England. The greater part of Hertfordshire is in the Thames province and a small portion in the N. is in that of the Ouse. In Pryor’s Flora of Hertfordshire, published by the Hertfordshire Natural History Society in 1887, which should be referred to for full information on the botany of the county, these botanical provinces are again divided into districts, the Ouse into (1) Cam, (2) Ivel; and the Thames into (3) Thame, (4) Colne, (5) Brent, (6) Lea; both the larger provinces [Pg 13] [Pg 14] [Pg 15] and the smaller districts thus being founded on the natural divisions of a country, drainage areas or catchment basins. In the following brief notes a few of the rarer or more interesting flowering plants of each district are enumerated. 1. The Cam.—This is the most northern district. It is almost entirely on the Chalk and is very bare of trees. The few plants which are restricted to it are very rare. A meadow-rue, Thalictrum Jacquinianum, and the cat’s foot (Antennaria dioica) occur only on Royston and Therfield Heaths; Alisma ranunculoides and Potamogeton coloratus only on Ashwell Common; and of the great burnet (Poterium officinale) the sole record is that of a plant gathered near Ashwell in 1840. 2. The Ivel.—This district is S.W. of that of the Cam, and the Chalk Downs of that district are continued through it. Its rarer plants are Melampyrum arvense, which occurs only in one spot S. of Ashwell; Smyrnium olusatrum, which has been found near Baldock and Pirton; and Silene conica, which was found near Hitchin in 1875. The white helleborine (Cephalanthera pallens), the dwarf orchis (Orchis ustulata), and the musk orchis (Herminium monorchis) occur on the Chalk Downs. 3. The Thame.—A very small tongue-like protrusion of the extreme W. of the county, in which are the Tring Reservoirs. Two of the species confined to the district, Typha angustifolia and Potamogeton Friesii, are water- plants which occur only in these reservoirs or in the canals which they supply. A rare poplar, Populus canescens, grows by the Wilstone reservoir, and the man-orchis (Aceras anthropophora) on terraces cut in the Chalk near Tring. 4. The Colne.—A large district, comprising almost the whole of the western portion of the county. Diplotaxis tenuefolia, Silene nutans, and Hieracium murorum grow only on old walls in St. Albans. Colney Heath is our only habitat for a very rare loosestrife, Lythrum hyssopyfolium, and also for Teesdalia nudicaulis, while there is but one other locality, a different one in each case, for four of its plants, Radiola linoides, Centunculus minimus, Cuscuta epithymum, and Potamogeton acutifolius. The pasque-flower (Anemone pulsatilla) grows abundantly on the Chalk slopes near Aldbury. The rarer orchids of the district are the bog-orchis (Malaxis paludosa), the narrow-leaved helleborine (Cephalanthera ensifolia), and the butterfly orchis (Habenaria bifolia). 5. The Brent.—The smallest district, a protrusion of the county in the S. entirely on the London Clay, and chiefly interesting owing to the presence of Totteridge Green and its ponds. In these ponds grow the great spearwort (Ranunculus lingua) and the sweet-flag (Acorus calamus), the former, however, not being indigenous. The star-fruit (Damasonium stellatum) formerly grew on Totteridge Green, and Chenopodium glaucum at Totteridge, but neither has lately been seen. 6. The Lea.—The largest district, comprising the whole of the E. of the county. The London rocket (Sisymbrium irio) occurs only in the old towns of Hertford and Ware; the true oxlip (Primula elatior) near the head of the River Stort; a very rare broom-rape, Orobanche cærulea, at Hoddesdon, where it is parasitic on the milfoil; and an almost equally rare bedstraw, Galium anglicum, on an old wall of Brocket Park. A rare trefoil, Trifolium glomeratum, is known only at Easneye near Ware; and Hatfield Park is our only locality for the water-soldier (Stratiotes aloides) except where it has evidently been planted. Two species, usually of rare occurrence, Polygonum dumetorum and Apera spica-venta, are frequent in the district. The indigenous flowering plants of Hertfordshire number 893 species, 679 being Dicotyledons and 214 Monocotyledons. If to these be added 199 aliens, etc., the total number of species recorded is brought up to 1,092. The flora is essentially of a southern type, the northern species being few in number. Owing to the dry soil, xerophiles largely prevail over hygrophiles. The Ferns and their allies the horsetails and clubmosses are not well represented, both the soil and the air of the county being too dry for them. Another cause for the present scarcity of ferns is the proximity of Hertfordshire to London, for they have been uprooted and taken there for sale in cart-loads. We have twenty-four species of ferns and fern-allies, but not one really rare. The principal varieties are Scolopendrium vulgare, var. multifidum; Athyrium filixfæmina, var. convexum; and Polypodium vulgare, var. serratum. Equisetum silvaticum is our rarest horsetail; and our only clubmoss is Lycopodium clavatum. The Mosses are much better represented than the ferns, 175 species having been recorded. The bog-mosses are represented by six species—Sphagnum intermedium, cuspidatum, subsecundum, acutifolium, squarrosum, and cymbifolium. Tetraphis pellucida occurs in Sherrard’s Park Wood, and Polytrichum urnigerum in Hitch Wood. Seligeria pusilla has been found in an old chalk-pit in Brocket Park, and S. paucifolia on chalk nodules in the Tunnel [Pg 16] [Pg 17] [Pg 18] [Pg 19] Woods near Watford. Campylopus pyriforme occurs in Berry Grove Wood, Aldenham, and C. flexuosus in Dawley’s Wood, Tewin. O f the Liverworts (Hepaticæ) forty-four species are known to occur; and the Stoneworts (Characeæ) are represented by seven species—two of Chara, two of Tolypella, and three of Nitella. The Algæ have been pretty fully investigated, especially the Diatomaceæ, of the 252 species of Algæ known to occur in the county, 156 belonging to that interesting family of microscopic plants. As an illustration of their minute size it may be mentioned that a single drop of water from the saucer of a flower-pot at Hertford, mounted as a microscopic slide, was found to contain 200,000 separate frustules of Achnanthes subsessilis, and it was estimated that these occupied only one twenty-fifth part of the drop. Both species of Chlamidococcus (the old genus Protococcus), C. pluvialis and C. nivalis occur; and the pretty Volvox globator has frequently been found. O f the Lichens much less is known, only sixty-seven species having been recorded. The most noteworthy are Calicium melanophæum, found on fir-trees in Bricket Wood; Peltigera polydactyla, on moss-covered ground in Oxhey Woods, Watford; Lecanora phlogina, in the Tunnel Woods, Watford; and Pertusaria globulifera, on trees in the same woods and also in Bricket Wood. As woods in the vicinity of Hertford and of Watford only have been searched for lichens, our list ought to be largely increased by investigation in other parts of the county. Of the Fungi our chief knowledge is derived from lists of species collected at Fungus Forays of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society and from records of the Mycetozoa by Mr. James Saunders. The number of species recorded for the county is 735, of which fifty-eight are “myxies”. Of the Hymenomycetes, or mushroom-like fungi, some very noteworthy finds have been made, nearly all at Forays of the county society. They include two species new to Britain, viz., Agaricus (Nolania) nigripes, found in Aldenham Woods, Watford, and Ag. (Hypholoma) violacea-ater, in Gorhambury Park, St. Albans (by the present writer). Hertfordshire has also furnished the second British records for Ag. (Lepiota) gliodermus (Broxbourne Woods), Ag. (Leptonia) euochrous (Ashridge Woods), Ag. (Psathyrella) aratus (Sherrard’s Park, Welwyn), and Paxillus Alexandri (Hatfield Park), this species having first been recorded from Hatfield Park, Essex; and the second and third British record for Agaricus (Clytocybe) Sadleri (Ashridge Park and Cassiobury Park). The very rare Strombilomyces strombilaceus has been found in Grove Park, Watford, and the still rarer Peziza luteo-nitens on the Chalk slopes between Aldbury and Ashridge Park. Lastly it may be mentioned that Mr. Saunders added the “myxie” Physarum citrinum to the British fungus-flora from specimens found by him at Caddington and Welwyn. The Birds of Hertfordshire have been carefully observed, and the appearance of rare visitors has been duly recorded. At a lecture delivered at St. Albans in 1902, Mr. Alan F. Crossman, F.L.S., F.Z.S., stated that 212 species had been known to visit the county, and mentioned, inter alia, that the kingfisher is more numerous in Hertfordshire than formerly, that the heron nested in the county for the first time in 1901, and that the appearance of the bearded titmouse had been noticed on but three occasions. During the last forty years the following birds, among others, have been noticed as occasional visitants: the storm-petrel (Procellaria pelagica), golden oriole (Oriolus galbula), whooper- swan (Cygnus musicus), snow-bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis), greater spotted woodpecker (Picus major), black tern (Hydrochelidon nigra), great northern diver (Colymbus glacialis), herring-gull (Larus argentatus), cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), tufted duck (Fuligula cristata), hoopoe (Upopa epops), crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), sheldrake (Tadorna cornuta), guillemot (Lornvia troile), Pallas’ sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus), rock thrush (Monticola saxatilis), black redstart (Ruticilla titys), Dartford warbler (Silvia undata), grasshopper warbler (Locustella nævia), waxwing (Ampelis garrulus), twite (Linota flavirostris), hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), buzzard (Buteo vulgaris), redshank (Totanus calidris), greenshank (Totanus cunescens) and the little auk (Mergulus alle). The lapwing is thought to be increasing in numbers; the writer frequently observed considerable flocks during his recent rambles in the county. Finches are perhaps as numerous in Hertfordshire as in any other county of equal size; the large flocks of hen chaffinches that haunt the farmyards in winter being quite a notable feature. The goldfinch, it is to be feared, is rapidly becoming scarcer; as are also the jay, the woodcock and other birds much more numerous a few years back. Fieldfares and redwings visit the county in great numbers from the N. during the winter; one morning in the winter of 1886 the writer saw many thousands of fieldfares pass over St. Albans from the direction of Luton. The redwing, being largely insectivorous, is often picked up dead in the fields when the frost is unusually severe and food proportionally difficult to obtain. The presence of many woods and small streams attracts a good proportion of the smaller English migrants; the nightingale and the cuckoo are heard almost throughout the county. Moorhens, coots and dabchicks are abundant; the [Pg 20] [Pg 21] [Pg 22] [Pg 23] reed-sparrow is heard only in a few districts. Titmice, great, blue and long-tailed, are well distributed. V. POPULATION Comparatively little peculiar to the county is known of the early inhabitants of Hertfordshire. They seem from the earliest times to have been scattered over the county in many small groups, rather than to have concentrated at a few centres. Singularly enough, this almost uniform dispersion of population is still largely maintained, for, unlike so many other counties, Hertfordshire has not within its borders a single large town. The larger among them, i.e., Watford, St. Albans, Hitchin, Hertford and Bishop’s Stortford, are not collectively equal in population to even such towns as Bolton, Halifax or Croydon. Another feature to be noted is that, owing to the county’s proximity to London, it is now the home of persons of many nations and tongues, and only in the smaller villages between the railroads are there left any traits of local character or peculiarities of idiom. It is hardly necessary to say that this conglomeration of peoples is common to all the home counties, though mostly so, as I venture to think, in Hertfordshire and Surrey. The Essex peasant is still strongly differentiated from his neighbours. Grose, writing towards the end of the eighteenth century, stated that the population of Hertfordshire was 95,000. They must have been well dispersed, for he tells us that the county contained at that period 949 villages; by the word “village,” however, he seems to mean any separate community, including small hamlets. Some interesting figures are to be found in Tymms’s Compendium of the History of the Home Circuit. He states that in 1821 the county contained 129,714 inhabitants, comprising 26,170 families and living in 23,687 houses. Of these families no fewer than 13,485 were engaged in agriculture. From the same source I quote the following figures relating to the year 1821:— Houses. Inhabitants. Hemel Hempstead 1,012 5,193 Watford 940 4,713 Hitchin 915 4,486 St. Albans 735 4,472 Cheshunt 847 4,376 Hertford 656 4,265 In 1881 the population of the county was 203,069; in 1891 it had increased by about one-eleventh to 220,162; in 1921 it was 333,236. In the days of William I. the whole of the possessions and estates of Hertfordshire belonged to the King and forty-four persons who shared his favour, amongst whom may be mentioned the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of London, Winchester, Chester, Bayeux and Liseux, and the Abbots of Westminster, Ely, St. Albans, Charteris and Ramsey. To go as far back as the Heptarchy, we find the land mostly owned by Mercians, East Saxons and by the Kings of Kent, and thus there gradually sprang up that “Middle English” population which for so long formed a large proportion of the inhabitants of Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Essex. How thoroughly such persons separated into small communities and settled down in every part of the county may be ascertained by the many “buries” found at a little distance from the town or village—Redbourn-bury, Ardeley-bury, Bayford-bury, Langley-bury, Harpenden-bury, etc. VI. COMMUNICATIONS 1. Roads.—Hertfordshire, as one of the home-counties, is crossed by many fine roads from the N.E., E. and N.W., as they gradually converge towards their common goal—London. Among them may be mentioned the Old North Road, from Royston through Buntingford and Ware to Waltham Cross; the Great North Road from Baldock through Stevenage, Welwyn and Hatfield to Barnet; and the Dunstable Road through Market Street, Redbourn and St. Albans, which meets the last-mentioned road at Barnet.[1] We may contrast these roads at the present day with the rough paths infested with robbers existing in the days when the country between Barnet and St. Albans was little better than a continuous, tangled forest; or even with the same roads in the days when Evelyn and Pepys frequently rode along them —and found them exceedingly bad. The cyclist wishing to ride northwards through Hertfordshire has comparatively stiff hills to mount at Elstree, High Barnet, Ridge, near South Mimms, and at St. Albans. He should also beware of the descent into Wheathampstead, of the dip between Bushey and Watford, and of the gritty roadways in the neighbourhood of Baldock. Most of the roads are well kept, particularly since they have been cared for by the County [Pg 24] [Pg 25] [Pg 26] Council, and the traveller’s book at the inn usually contains fewer anathemas touching the state of the highways than in some other counties which might be named. Railways.—Few counties in England are so well served with railroad communications; the London and North Western, Midland, Great Northern and Great Eastern running well across its face. The London and North Western enters the county ½ mile N.W. of Pinner, and has stations on its main route at Bushey, Watford, King’s Langley, Boxmoor, Berkhampstead and Tring. It crosses the Bedfordshire border near Ivinghoe. From Watford it has a branch to Rickmansworth; and to Bricket Wood, Park Street and St. Albans; it has also a station at Marston Gate, on its branch line to Aylesbury. The Midland enters the county during its passage through the Elstree tunnel and runs nearly due N., having stations at Elstree, Radlett, St. Albans and Harpenden. It has also a branch with stations at Hemel Hempstead and Redbourn. The Great Northern main line crosses a small tongue of the county upon which it has stations at Oakleigh Park and New Barnet. It then traverses the Hadley Wood district of Middlesex, entering Hertfordshire again at Warren Gate, and has stations at Hatfield, Welwyn, Knebworth, Stevenage and Hitchin. From Hatfield it has three branches: (1) to Smallford and St. Albans; (2) to Ayot, Wheathampstead and Harpenden; (3) to Cole Green, Hertingfordbury and Hertford. At Hitchin it has a branch to Baldock, Ashwell and Royston. The Great Eastern enters the county at Waltham Cross and skirts the whole of the S.E. quarter, running on Essex soil from near the Rye House almost to Sawbridgeworth. It has stations in Hertfordshire at Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop’s Stortford. It enters Essex again near the last-named station. It has also important branches, (1) from Broxbourne to Rye House, St. Margaret’s, Ware, and Hertford; (2) from St. Margaret’s to Mardock, Widford, Hadham, Standon, Braughing, West Mill and Buntingford. In addition, the Metropolitan Railway has an extension which crosses the S.W. extremity of the county, having stations at Rickmansworth and Chorley Wood. The Great Northern Railway has a branch from Finsbury Park to High Barnet, with a station at Totteridge. VII. INDUSTRIES 1. Agriculture.—Charles Lamb used no mere haphazard expression when he wrote of Hertfordshire as “that fine corn county”. Forty years ago the county contained 339,187 acres under arable cultivation, of which considerably more than half were utilised for corn; and the proportion thus used is still much larger than might be supposed. (In 1897 it amounted to about 125,000 acres.) At the same period there were about 60,000 acres under wheat alone; for this grain, of which a large white variety is much cultivated, the county has long been famous. To this circumstance the village of Wheathampstead is indebted for its name. Barley and oats are also staple crops. The first Swede turnips ever produced in England were grown on a farm near Berkhampstead. Watercress is extensively cultivated, enormous quantities being sent into London from St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhampstead, Welwyn and many other districts. Much manure is brought to the farms from the London stables, and by its aid large second crops of vegetables are frequently obtained. Clover, turnips and tares may be mentioned among other crops prominently cultivated. Fruit is also sent to London, particularly from the district lying between Tring, Watford and St. Albans, but none of the orchards are large. The number of pigs reared in the county is—or was quite recently—rather above the average (per 100 acres under cultivation) for all England; the number of cattle rather below, and of sheep much below, this average. 2. Manufactures are fairly numerous. (a) Straw Plait has for over 200 years been extensively made by hand for the Luton dealers. The wages earned by peasant girls and women in this employment were formerly high; 100 years ago a woman, if dexterous, might earn as much as £1 a week, but the increase in machinery and the competition from foreign plait has almost destroyed this cottage industry in some districts. During the last four decades several large straw hat manufactories have been erected in St. Albans, and the trade enlarged, although the conditions of production are altered. (b) Malting is still extensively carried on at Ware, which has been the centre of the industry for many years; it is said, indeed, to be the largest malting town in England. There are nearly 100 malting houses, many of them being beside the River Lea, navigable from this town for barges W. to Hertford and S. to London. There are extensive Breweries at St. Albans, Watford, Hertford, High Barnet, Baldock, Hitchin, Hatfield, Tring, Berkhampstead, and other places. [Pg 27] [Pg 28] [Pg 29] [Pg 30] (c) Brick Fields are worked at Watford, St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Broxbourne, Bishop’s Stortford, Hitchin and elsewhere. (d) Brushes of many kinds are manufactured at St. Albans and Berkhampstead. (e) Hurdles are made at Barkway, Croxley Green, Breachwood Green, Chorley Wood, Albury, and at one or two other places. (f) Iron Foundries are at Hertford, Ippollitts, Royston, Colne Valley (Watford), Hitchin and Puckeridge. (g) Paper is made at Croxley Mills, King’s Langley, and Nash Mills. (h) Silk is made at the large mill on the River Ver, St. Albans, and at Redbourn. (i) Photographic plates, paper, etc., are made at Watford, Boreham Wood and Barnet. (j) Lavender Water is made at Hitchin, from lavender grown in fields close by. Gravel abounds in many districts, and pits are extensively worked at Rickmansworth, Hertford and at Heath, Wheathampstead, Watford and Harpenden. There are windmills at Cromer, Albury, Goff’s Oak, Anstey, Arkley, Much Hadham, Weston, Tring and Bushey Heath. Water mills are too numerous to specify, there being several on many of the small rivers named in Section II. VIII. HISTORY Hertfordshire was formerly a part of Mercia and of Essex. Its share in what is usually called “History” can hardly be called great; but many interesting details of its story are recorded in the histories of Chauncy, Salmon, Clutterbuck, and Cussans. Among smaller works the following will be found useful: Cobb’s Berkhampstead; Gibbs’ Historical Records of St. Albans; Nicholson’s Abbey of St. Albans; Bishop’s Hitchin and Neighbourhood, and Bygone Hertfordshire by various writers. The story of Hertfordshire may be said to commence with the sack of the great Roman city of Verulamium by the followers of Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni (a.d. 61). Our knowledge of the event is largely drawn from Tacitus, and Dion Cassius, who give revolting details of the torture of the inhabitants by the Britons. The martyrdom of St. Alban (circa a.d. 304) the Synod of Verulam (429), the second destruction of that city by the Saxons towards the end of the sixth century and the siege of Hertford by the Danes in 896, when Alfred the Great grounded their vessels by cutting the river banks, are some of the more prominent episodes of pre-Conquest times. William I., entering the county from the direction of Wallingford, met the Saxon nobles in council at Berkhampstead immediately before his coronation at Westminster. The castles of Hertford and Berkhampstead were captured by the revolted barons. There was a dangerous insurrection of the peasantry in the days of Richard II. Three important battles were fought in Hertfordshire, during the Wars of the Roses: (1) At St. Albans on 23rd (?) May, 1455; (2) on Bernard’s Heath, St. Albans, 17th February, 1461; (3) near Chipping Barnet, 14th April, 1471; these battles are mentioned more fully in the Sections on St. Albans and Barnet. The residence of the Princess Elizabeth at Ashridge Park and her subsequent captivity at Hatfield up to the time of her accession (1558) may be here mentioned, but the more casual visits of monarchs are referred to as occasion requires. The county was not the scene of any considerable engagement during the great Rebellion; but the Parliamentary troops are held responsible for much ecclesiastical sacrilege at St. Albans, Hitchin and elsewhere, and it was from Theobalds that Charles I. set out to meet his army in 1642. In 1647, when a prisoner in the care of Cornet Joyce, he was taken from Leighton Buzzard to Baldock and from thence to Royston. The march of Cromwell from Cambridge to St. Albans towards the end of the war is recorded rather too literally on the interior of several churches. Of importance in history was the Rye House Plot (1683), a carefully laid but abortive scheme to murder Charles II. and James, Duke of York, on their way to London from Newmarket. (See Rye House.) IX. ANTIQUITIES The antiquities of Hertfordshire have been carefully studied and well repay the labour that has been bestowed upon them. A few words under several heads will suffice to show that the subject is a large one. [Pg 31] [Pg 32] [Pg 33]