cruciform church of mixed styles: the nave is Dec., the transepts E.E.,
the S. porch Perp. The tower rests upon four Norman arches; the font
also is Norman. The church was restored in 1871; many features of
architectural interest being wisely retained. The recumbent effigy in
the recess in S. transept is thought to be that of Richard de Anestie,
who founded the church in the fourteenth century. We learn from
_Domesday Book_ that at the time of the Great Survey there was "pannage"
(_i.e._ acorn woods) at _Anestie_ sufficient to feed fifty hogs, and
that the manor was worth fourteen pounds a year. There was once a castle
here, built soon after the Conquest, the site of which is supposed to be
marked by the remains of a moat still to be traced in the grounds of
_Anstey Hall_. The churchyard is entered by a covered lich-gate.
_Appleby Street_ is a hamlet 3 miles N.W. from Cheshunt Station, S.E.R.,
and about 2 miles N.W. from the village.
APSLEY END (about 1½ mile S. from Hemel Hempstead Station, M.R., and 1¼
mile S.E. from Boxmoor Station, L.&N.W.R.) is an ecclesiastical parish
near the river Gade. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was built in E.
Dec. style in 1871, and is well furnished and decorated. One of the
prettiest prospects in the neighbourhood is that from Abbot's Hill, a
fine private residence, flanked by woods. The Gade and Bulbourne Rivers
unite, a little N.W. from the village, at a place called _Two Waters_
(_q.v._).
_Archer's Green_ is on the river Maran, about ½ a mile S.E. from Tewin
Church and 1¾ mile N.W. from Cole Green Station, G.N.R. It adjoins
_Panshanger Park_ (_q.v._).
ARDELEY, otherwise Yardley (6 miles S.W. from Buntingford Station,
G.E.R.), is a village and parish in a purely agricultural district. It
is famous through its connection with the Chauncy family, who resided at
Ardeley Bury for many generations; one of them, Sir Henry Chauncy, was
the author of a well-known history of Hertfordshire. The family monument
is outside of the church of St. Lawrence, some existing portions of
which date from the thirteenth century. The roofs of nave and aisles are
noticeable for the angels which they bear, of Tudor character; visitors
should observe, too, the early window in the restored chancel. _Ardeley
Bury_, in the days of Sir Henry Chauncy, was an Elizabethan manor-house
dating from about the year 1580, surrounded by a moat; it was almost
entirely rebuilt of brick in 1815-20, when it became a castellated,
imposing mansion. The manor of _Erdeley_ was owned by a succession of
Saxon kings until Athelstan bestowed it upon the church of St. Paul,
London, as recorded in Dugdale's _Monasticon Anglicanum_; it was of the
Dean and Chapter that the Chauncys rented their estate. The river Beane
rises near here. A stroll around Ardeley and Ardeley Bury leads the
visitor into some of the quietest spots to be found in the county. The
windmill on the hill above Cromer, near by, is useful as a landmark
when threading the many winding lanes in the neighbourhood.
ARKLEY (1 mile W. from High Barnet) consists chiefly of a few small
houses at a spot once called Barnet Common. The view is extensive in
every direction, the village (strictly speaking the chapelry) lying on
high ground. The chapel of St. Peter was erected in 1840, the style
being a variety of Low Gothic; a chancel (E.E.) was added in 1898, and
has a good groined roof.
ASH, river; see Introduction, Section VI.
_Ashbrook_ consists of a few cottages and a beer-shop, 1 mile N.E. from
St. Ippollit's village, and midway between Hitchin and Stevenage
Stations, G.N.R.
[Illustration: ASHRIDGE HOUSE]
ASHRIDGE is in a beautifully undulating district, immediately N. of
Berkhampstead Common, 1 mile E. from Aldbury Church and about 2 miles E.
from Tring Station, L.&N.W.R. The present house, the seat of Earl
Brownlow, stands in a park of about 1,000 acres, well known for the deer
which are kept there; it was built by the first Earl of Bridgewater, or
rather by his architect, Wyatt, in 1808-14. It is a huge structure, its
greatest width being 1,000 feet; conspicuous portions are the turreted
centre, some good arched doorways and the large Gothic porch. The site
was formerly occupied by the palace of Edmund Crouchback, Earl of
Cornwall, and by the monastery which he built, adjoining the palace, for
the monks of the Order of Bonhommes, an Order which he himself brought
to this country from France. The earl died here, but his bones were
subsequently removed to Hailes Abbey in Gloucestershire. The house
contains some fine pictures, including, in addition to works by modern
masters, Rubens' "Death of Hippolytus," Luini's "Holy Family" and
Titian's "Three Cæsars". In the chapel is a fine brass to John
Swynstede, Prebendary of Lincoln, 1395. It was brought here from
Edlesborough Church.
ASHWELL is a village of considerable size on the Cambridgeshire border.
The village is 2½ miles N.W. from Ashwell Station, G.N.R. The parish is
very ancient, and is believed to have been the site of a British
settlement and of a Roman station. The former theory is considered
proved by the existing entrenchments, S.W. from the village, called
Arbury Banks; the latter theory is supported by the fact that very many
Roman relics, especially coins, have been discovered in the
neighbourhood. That it was formerly a place of importance has been
mentioned in the Introduction (Section V.); it was a town in Norman
times, and held four fairs each year. The Rhee, a tributary of the Cam,
rises in this village, at a spot surrounded by ash trees, and to this
fact the parish is thought to owe its name. When Sir H. Rider Haggard
was at Ashwell recently he was unable to say much for its agricultural
prosperity and outlook; but in Chauncy's day the district produced "all
sorts of excellent Grain, especially Barley, which has greatly
encouraged the trade of Malting in this Borrough". The same writer
mentions the stone quarry, from which he tells as that several
neighbouring churches had been built or repaired. The Church of St. Mary
the Virgin is mostly E.E. and is conspicuous for its spire-topped
western tower, 176 feet high, being equal to the length of the church.
Note (1) the large ambry in the S. aisle, once the lady-chapel, where is
also a fragmentary reredos; (2) the curious inscriptions on the inner
side of the tower walls, mostly undecipherable, one of which refers to
the plague that attacked the town in the fourteenth century; (3) the
really fine oaken pulpit, dating from the year 1627. There was formerly
a small monastic house in the town, a cell to Westminster Abbey. From
the village it is an open, breezy walk N. to Ashwell Common or S.E. to
Ashwell Field, between the village and the station.
ASPENDEN (1 mile S.W. from Buntingford Station, G.E.R.) may be reached
from the Old North Road by turning to the left before entering
Buntingford. It is a small, quiet, unimportant village; but much of it
is picturesque and interesting. Readers will remember that Macaulay was
at school here, and that it was the birthplace of Seth Ward,
mathematician and bishop, a contemporary and antagonist of Thomas
Hobbes. The church is a flint structure,--a conglomeration of many
styles. Notable features are the Easter sepulchre in the N. wall of
chancel, the Norman window close to it, the piscina, ambry and credence
table, discovered during the restoration of the church by Sir A. W.
Blomfield in 1873. There are also memorial windows to members of the
Lushington family, and an altar tomb, under a canopy of marble, to "Sir
Robert Clyfford" (d. 1508), who built the church porch in 1500, and to
his wife Elizabeth. The tomb bears brass effigies of these worthies,
which were once in the Church of St. Michael, Cornhill, but were brought
to Aspenden at the time of the fire of London. The aisle (S.) was built
by Sir Ralph Jocelyn in 1478. This Sir Ralph was lord of the manor; he
is remembered in history for his sally against Thomas Nevill, when that
adventurer attempted to rescue Henry VI. from the Tower. He was twice
Lord Mayor of London (1464 and 1476). He died in 1478 and was buried at
Sawbridgeworth.
ASTON (2¼ miles N.E. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R.) has an ancient
church restored in 1883. There is E.E. work in parts of nave and
chancel, but other portions are largely Perp., especially the tower,
which is embattled. The alabaster reredos and several memorial windows
are worth notice; nor should visitors overlook the brass at the foot of
the chancel steps to one John Kent, his wife and ten children. This
worthy died in 1592; he was a servant of Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth.
The village is scattered upon a hill a little W. from the river Beane,
and dates from Saxon times. The manor was once owned by three men under
the protection of Archbishop Stigand; afterwards by the Abbot of
Reading. It fell to the Crown at the Dissolution, like so many other
properties.
_Aston Bury_ is a fine manor house of red brick, about ¾ mile S. from
the village, formerly the property of the Boteler family. The prospect
from the N. windows is a noble one, the district being varied and
undulating.
_Aston End_, a hamlet 1 mile N.W. from Aston, may be reached from
Stevenage Station, G.N.R., about 2½ miles. There is little here of
interest, but the neighbourhood is very pleasant and largely
agricultural.
_Astrope Hamlet_ (½ mile E. from Puttenham) is midway between the
village of Long Marston and the Aylesbury Canal. It is close to the
Bucks border.
_Astwick Farm_ is 2 miles N.W. from Hatfield Station, G.N.R.
_Attimore Hall_ is 1½ mile S.W. from Welwyn Station, G.N.R.
_Aubrey Camp_ (¾ mile S.W. from Redbourn) is conjectured to be the site
of an early British encampment.
_Austage End_ lies in the parish of King's Walden, in a purely
agricultural district.
_Ayot Green_ is about ½ mile S.E. from and in the parish of Ayot St.
Peter's (_q.v._).
AYOT ST. LAWRENCE (2½ miles N.E. from Wheathampstead Station and about
the same distance N.W. from Ayot Station, G.N.R.) has a new and an old
church. The former is in Ayot Park, and was designed by Revett in a
classical style. Note (1) the _Eastern_ portico, with colonnade on
either side; (2) the memorial to Sir Lionel Lyde, Bart. (d. 1791), and
to the architect of the church (d. 1804). The earlier structure, still
in ruins near the middle of the village, was Dec. of an early period,
with several singular features; the tower, however, was Perp. "The
Windows ... have been adorn'd with curious Pictures, in stained and
painted Glass, beyond many other Churches." The village has at different
times been styled Eye, Aiot, Great Aiot, and Ayot St. Lawrence, and was
a parcel of the property of Harold Godwin. _Ayot House_, standing in a
beautiful park of 200 acres, was once the property and residence of Sir
William Parr, brother to Catherine Parr, Queen of Henry VIII. A room in
an older building in the rear of the present mansion was once, according
to local tradition, the prison of Catherine Parr. There are shoes at
Ayot House which belonged to Anne Boleyn and a hat of Henry VIII.
AYOT ST. PETER'S (¼ mile N. from Ayot Station, G.N.R.) lies in a pretty
district watered by the rivers Maran and Lea. The village is small, but
has a commodious Parish Room, containing a small library. There was a
mill here in the time of the Great Survey, the rent of which was three
shillings and 200 eels from the mill-pool per annum. A church, bearing
"a short spire erected upon the tower," stood on the hill-top in
Chauncy's day; in 1751 an octagonal structure of red brick was built by
the rector (Dr. Freeman) some distance from the village. This church was
demolished in 1862 and a new one built upon its site; in 1874 this
was in turn destroyed by lightning, and in 1875 the present church of
St. Peter, E.E. in style, was erected much nearer to the village. It
contains a very fine pulpit, carved by Miss Bonham, of Norwood, upon
which the figures of SS. Alban and Helen are conspicuous among others.
There are several memorial windows, tastefully designed, one of which,
to the memory of Mrs. I. A. Robinson, was designed by the architect (J.
P. Seddon). A delightful stroll may be taken from the village, westwards
to Wheathampstead or Lamer Park, or northwards to Codicote or Kimpton.
Nightingales are plentiful in the neighbourhood; the numerous thickets,
dense and secluded, affording excellent shelter to this shy songster.
_Baas Hill_ is ¾ mile W. from Broxbourne Station, G.E.R.
_Babb's Green_ (nearly midway between Mardock and Widford Station,
G.E.R.) is a small hamlet.
_Baker's Grove_ is 1½ miles S.W. from Stevenage Station, G.N.R.
[Illustration: OLD COTTAGE, BALDOCK]
BALDOCK, a small town in the northern extremity of the county, lies
between the chalk hills at the junction of the Great North Road and the
Roman Icknield Way. The malting industry is still busily pursued,
although the town is not so exclusively devoted to it as formerly. Very
fine barley was grown in the district before the reign of Elizabeth, and
the horse fairs, of which there are several annually, are well attended.
The township was founded by the Knights Templars, in whose time there
stood a Lazar-house a little eastwards from the town. The church,
dating from the fourteenth century, is large, and of considerable
architectural interest. The chancel and adjoining chapels are Perp. and
contain sedilia and piscinæ; the nave has eight bays and a lofty
clerestory. The rood-screen is co-extensive with the width of the entire
church; the octagonal font is of great antiquity (probably not less than
700 years); there are several brasses, two of which are of the early
part of the fifteenth century. Note also (1) the defaced slab, with
Lombardic inscription to Reynaud de Argenthem, (2) the piscina-like
recess in the N. chapel, (3) the Dec. pillars and arches of nave, (4)
the fine old chest near rood-screen (N. chapel). Baldock has been the
recipient of many bequests; existing charities are in the name of Roe,
Wynne, Pryor, Cooch, Clarkson, Smith, Parker, and a few others, the
whole aggregating a considerable annual sum. The Wynne Almshouses are in
the spacious High Street, where are also the fine town hall and fire
station, erected in 1896-7. Some side streets between the church and
station are noticeable for the variety of cottage architecture which
they display.
BARKWAY (4 miles S.E. from Royston station, G.N.R.) was a village of
some importance in the old coaching days, for it is on the main road
from Ware to Cambridge. It was partly burnt in 1592. There are many
quaint houses in the neighbourhood, and one or two inns seem to still
retain something of the atmosphere of the old régime. Near the village,
at a spot called Rokey Wood, a small bronze statue of Mars was
discovered some years ago. It is of Roman workmanship and is now in the
British Museum. Cyclists riding northwards or eastwards from Barkway
will find many hills to test their powers; but the air is exceptionally
good and the district decidedly worth visiting. The church (flint, with
stone quoins) is Perp. with embattled and pinnacled western tower; it
was restored in 1861. Several memorials are worth noticing: (1) marble
sarcophagus, with bust by Rysbrach, to Admiral Sir John Jennings (d.
1743); (2) brass on N. wall, found in the flooring during restoration,
to Robert Poynard (d. 1561), his wives Bridget and Joan, and his four
daughters; (3) monuments to Chester and Clinton families in chancel. The
once annual Pedlars' Fair has been discontinued; as has also the Tuesday
market, which dated from the days of Henry III. In Saxon times the
village was called Bergwant, _i.e._, the way over the hill.
BARLEY, a village on the Essex border, is 2 miles N.E. from Barkway, and
lies on the same high road. The Church of St. Margaret was restored in
1872, in fourteenth century Gothic, but the tower, which is Norman,
still stands. During the restoration some curious jars, of ancient make,
were found in the chancel walls, but were broken in the efforts to
dislodge them. There is a brass to Andrew Willet, D.D., rector of the
parish and author of _Synopsis Papismi_ (d. 1621).
Some interesting data for a book on the antiquities of Barley are
preserved in the pre-Reformation "Parish Hutch". I may mention the
"towne house ... tyme out of mynde used and employed for the keeping of
maides' marriages," and the "Playstoe" or "common playinge place for the
younge people and other inhabitants of the said towne". This "towne
house" may still be seen near the church.
_Barleycroft End_ is S.E. from Furneaux Pelham (_q.v._). It almost
adjoins that village.
BARNET, EAST (½ mile from Oakleigh Park Station, G.N.R.) is surrounded
by Middlesex except to the N.W. where it adjoins New Barnet. The old
village is situated at the meeting of the roads from High Barnet,
Southgate and Enfield. The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is very
interesting; it stands on the hill-top, at a sharp bend in the road,
about ½ mile S. from the village. It is said to have been founded about
the year 1100 by an abbot of St. Albans; if this date is approximately
correct this abbot must have been Richard d'Aubeny or de Albini, who
ruled the great monastery from 1097 to 1119, and in whose day the whole
manor (including Chipping or High Barnet) belonged to the Abbey of St.
Albans. The structure is Early Norman, with a western tower of brick,
through the lower portion of which the church is entered. The N. wall
is probably the most ancient church wall in this part of the county.
There is a lich-gate at the N. entrance to the churchyard. A son of
Bishop Burnet, the historian, was once rector here, and is buried in the
church. Tradition states that Thomson the poet was tutor to the son of
Lord Binning when that nobleman lived at the old Manor House, the site
of which is now a part of the rectory garden. Near the church, too,
stood once a house in which Lady Arabella Stuart was confined. _Belmont
House_ (C. A. Hanbury, Esq., D.L., J.P.) marks the site where stood
Mount Pleasant, once the property of the Belted Will Howard, Warden of
the Western Marches, referred to in the "Lay of the Last Minstrel".
_Little Grove_, a house on Cat Hill (Mrs. Stern), stands where stood
formerly the house of the widow of Sir Richard Fanshawe, Bart.,
Ambassador to Spain in the reign of Charles I. The whole neighbourhood
is varied and undulating; the eastern extremity of the parish touched
the confines of Enfield Chace until late in the eighteenth century.
BARNET, HIGH (formerly "Chipping Barnet" from the market granted by
Henry II. to the Abbots of St. Albans, which was held every Monday),
stands on the hill-top about 11 miles N.W. from London, and 9 miles S.E.
from St. Albans. As stated above, the manor belonged to the Abbots of
St. Albans, and Chauncy tells a story in this connection which is worth
repeating: "Anno 18, Edw. I., the Abbot of St. Albans (Roger de Norton,
24th Abbot) impleaded several Persons for prostrating his Ditch and
burning his Hedges and Fences in the Night at _Bernet_; Richard
Tykering, one of the Defendants, said, that because the Abbot enclosed
his Pasture with Hedge and Ditch, so that he and the Tenants there,
could not have their common, as their Ancestors were wont to have, they
did lay open the same. The Abbot answered that they ought not to have
Common there; but 'twas found by the Jury that the Tenants ought to have
Common; and Judgment was given against the said Richard Tickering only
for that he burnt the Hedge." Other squabbles between abbot and peasant
are referred to in this book, in the section on St. Albans. The Parish
Church of St. John the Baptist stands at the junction of the roads from
London, Enfield and St. Albans. It has known many changes. A church
stood upon the spot so long ago as _circa_ 1250, to which a detached
tower was added about a century later. The body of this structure was
almost wholly replaced by a new building, reaching to and including the
tower, near the end of the abbacy of John de la Moote (1396-1401). The
present church is the result of the restoration and enlargement under
the direction of Mr. W. Butterfield, in 1875; it is of flint and worked
stone, partly Dec. and partly Perp. The old tower was lowered
sufficiently to form a portion of the nave and a new embattled tower
was built, now a conspicuous landmark for many miles round. The present
N. aisle is entirely new. The nave is clerestoried, with eight bays;
most of the windows are of stained glass. The Ravenscroft mortuary
chapel, adjoining the S. transept, contains many monuments, the most
conspicuous being the altar-tomb and recumbent effigy in marble to
Thomas Ravenscroft (d. 1630), which was formerly in the chancel. Other
memorials are to James Ravenscroft (d. 1680) who founded and endowed the
almshouses in Wood Street near by, called _Jesus' Hospital_, and to John
Ravenscroft (d. 1681). Note (1) the beautifully carved font screen,
pinnacled and crocketted; (2) the pulpit, adorned with carved figures of
men famous in English Church history; (3) the four ancient ledgers of
stone, two in the chapel and two in the tower-basement, all inscribed to
members of the Ravenscroft family. The church was formerly a
chapel-of-ease to that at East Barnet. A Roman Catholic church,
dedicated to SS. Mary the Immaculate and Gregory the Great, stands in
Union Street: it was built in 1850.
On Barnet Common there was formerly a medicinal spring known widely as
"Barnet Wells"; its chalybeate waters are referred to in Pepys' _Diary_,
and more fully praised in _The Perfect Diurnall_ (1652) and _The Barnet
Well Water_ (1800). These waters were in such repute that one John Owen,
an alderman of London, provided £1 to be spent yearly in keeping the
well in fit condition. Barnet Fair, which is held annually early in
September, is attended by cattle dealers from all parts of England and
Scotland, and by showmen and adventurers of all kinds. It is certainly
one of the most famous horse fairs in the country. The ordinary cattle
market is held each Wednesday.
BATTLE OF BARNET.--Of this engagement, so familiar by name, very little
is known accurately. Early in the spring of 1471, Edward IV., assisted
in his schemes by the Duke of Burgundy, quitted Flanders, whither he had
fled when the Earl of Warwick landed in the S. of England with
reinforcements from Louis XI.; touched, after a difficult passage, at
Cromer, where he heard of the resistance organised by Warwick, and
finally landed at Ravenspurgh on the Humber. Having been joined by
further followers at Nottingham he entered London on Holy Thursday, the
Lancastrians offering little resistance. Warwick collected his forces,
and the two armies met on Easter Sunday on Gladmore Common or Gledsmuir
Heath, to the N.W. of what is now Hadley Wood. The engagement was
desperately contested for five or six hours, with such varying success
that some accounts relate how messengers rode to London during the day
with the news that Edward was losing the battle. This, as it proved, was
not the case. Chauncy repeats the old tradition that a fog gathered over
the battle-field, that the Lancastrians slew one another in the mist
and confusion, and that this led to the death of Warwick. It is supposed
that the "King Maker" fell close to the spot now marked by Hadley High
Stone. This obelisk was erected a little distance off in 1740; but was
removed nearer to what is now thought the right position. Montacute,
brother to Warwick, was slain at the same spot.