(_From Bridlington, Yorks._)]
Between the Palaeolithic and Neolithic age exists a gap of untold
length, for the land had again to be re-peopled. Chipped, or rough-hewn
celts, or hatchets, of the latter age have been picked up in fields
near Abbot’s Langley, Bedmond, Kensworth, Wheathampstead, Markyate
Street, and Weston. Polished celts are more rare, but specimens have
been found at Panshanger, King’s Langley, Aldbury (near Stortford),
Ashwell, and between Hitchin and Pirton. Perforated axe-heads and
hammer-heads of stone, which may belong to the close of the Neolithic
or commencement of the Bronze age, are still more uncommon, although
a few such have been found, notably a hammer, near Sandridge, now
preserved in the British Museum. Much the same remark applies to
chipped arrow-heads--the fairy darts of a more poetical age--but a few
beautiful specimens have been found near Tring, some so long ago as the
year 1763 or thereabouts, and others at Ashwell and Hunsdon.
After a time man learnt the use of metal. The smelting of iron was
at first beyond his power, and he employed the mixture of copper
and tin which we term bronze. Of this age specimens of winged celts
and palstaves (a narrow hatchet, with a tang or socket for a haft)
have been found in various parts of the county, as well as socketed
celts, daggers, swords, spear-heads, and the like. The most important
discovery of this nature was made in 1876 during drainage operations at
Cumberlow Green, near Baldock, when some forty bronze implements were
found in a well-like hole. Gold ornaments, probably referable to the
same epoch, have been found at Little Amwell and at Mardox, near Ware.
We now come to the early Iron Age, when man had succeeded in mastering
this metal. Of this a very brief notice must suffice. Primitive coins,
without inscription, of the type issued by Philip II of Macedon, and
hence known as Philippi, were probably coined in the county in early
British times; but after the Roman invasion a number of British coins
were struck at Verulamium, among the most interesting of which are
those of Tarciovanus, who reigned in that city from (probably) about
30 B.C. to about 5 A.D. A large number of his coins have been found at
Verulam, as well as those of other British sovereigns. Tarciovanus, it
may be added, was the father of Cunovelinus (Shakespeare’s Cymbeline),
whose capital was Camulodunum, the modern Colchester.
[Illustration: The Devil’s Dyke, Marford]
Earthworks of great but unknown antiquity are by no means uncommon
in Hertfordshire; one of the most important being Grimes-ditch, or
Grimm’s Dyke, traces of which remain on Berkhampstead common, as well
as on the opposite side of the Bulbourne valley, while a deep ditch
runs in a bold sweep from near Great Berkhampstead through Northchurch
and Wiggington to the north of Cholesbury camp, and thence into
Buckinghamshire. Beech Bottom forms another great dyke lying between
the site of Verulam and Sandridge, and is probably pre-Roman, and
possibly connected with the encampment east of Wheathampstead known
as the Moats or the Slad. The latter forms part of a great system of
earthworks of which the opposite side is marked by the Devil’s Dyke
at Marford. The great earthworks running outside of and parallel to
parts of the Roman wall at Verulam are likewise older than the latter.
Berkhampstead Castle may stand on the site of an earlier camp, as
British and Roman coins have been found there; but the mound or keep,
as at Bishop’s Stortford, Pirton, and Hertford Castles, is probably
Saxon. On the other hand, the well-preserved camp near Redbourn, known
as the Aubreys, Auberys, or Aubury, is certainly pre-Roman; and the
same is probably the case with some of the numerous other earthworks
dotted over the county, such as Arbury Banks, Ashwell. A few barrows or
tombs of pre-Roman age have been opened and examined in various parts
of the county, as at Therfield, Royston, and Easneye near Ware.
[Illustration: Ancient Causeway, Verulam]
In evidence of the Roman occupation of Britain Hertfordshire is
unusually rich, although limitations of space prevent anything like
justice being done to this part of the subject. The county is, in the
first place, traversed from south to north by three main Roman roads,
the Watling Street, running through St Albans and Markyate, the Ermine
Street, passing through Hertford, and the Icknield Way, traversing
Hatfield and Baldock; as well as by the Roman Way, connecting the
latter town with Hertford. Of these we shall speak presently. The
crowning Roman glory of Hertfordshire is, however, the city of
Verulamium, or Verulam, situated on the hill on the opposite side of
the Ver to St Albans. Much of the foundations of this city lie buried
within the area partially enclosed by the remains of the massive walls;
and the ploughman within that ring is constantly turning up coins,
fragments of pottery and glass, and other articles.
[Illustration: Roman Wall in St Germans’ Meadow, Verulam]
In one place are buried the apparently complete foundations of an
amphitheatre, which was opened out many years ago, but again covered
up after examination. Of the walls considerable portions, in a more or
less damaged condition, still remain to bear eloquent testimony to the
lasting character of Roman masonry; and much more would have persisted
had they not been used as a convenient source of materials for the
construction of St Albans’ Abbey and other ancient buildings. The
basement of a Roman villa, in a fine state of preservation, was opened
out at Sarratt Bottom in 1908, and plans of the structure prepared,
after which the excavations were filled in. Other Roman remains are
known to exist in the district.
[Illustration: St Albans’ Abbey from the South Side]
Ravensburgh Castle, Hexton, is a well-known Roman camp, built on an
earlier foundation; and remains of Roman camps exist at Braughing
and several other places in the county, although in many cases the
precise age of such ancient stations does not appear to be definitely
ascertained.
Isolated Roman remains of various kinds occur in many parts of
Hertfordshire. From the writer’s own neighbourhood the British Museum
possesses a Roman altar found many years ago at Harpenden, as well as
a Romano-British stone coffin, containing a glass vessel and pottery,
found near Pickford Mill in the Lea valley, east of Harpenden, in 1827.
The remains of another Roman interment, including fine specimens of
amphorae, or large two-handled pottery vessels, were found about the
year 1865 near Harpenden station on the Great Northern railway, and
Barkway has yielded a fine bronze statuette of Mars.
Reference may here be made to the ancient millstones, for hand use,
made of Hertfordshire pudding-stone, and known as querns, of which the
writer gave two fine specimens from Harpenden to the British Museum.
Both stones have one flat and one convex surface, but the convexity
is much greater in the upper stone, which is almost conical, and is
completely perforated at the centre. When in use, a stick, to serve
as the axis of rotation, was inserted in this hole and received in
a socket in the nether stone. The labour involved in making these
pudding-stone querns must have been enormous.
With the Saxon period we reach the age of church building; but
apart from such portions of certain churches as are of that age,
Hertfordshire is exceedingly poor in evidence of the Saxon dominion.
A glass Anglo-Saxon basin, together with a bronze Frankish pot of
late sixth or early seventh century work, was, however, discovered at
Wheathampstead in 1886. Anglo-Saxon relics are believed also to have
been unearthed at Redbourn at a very early period, when they were
attributed to St Amphibalus; and a Saxon burial-place appears to have
been found near Sandridge in modern times, although unfortunately
ploughed over. Apart from the above, there are only a few isolated
“finds,” such as of the coins known as minimi, and of a gold ornament
discovered at Park Street in 1744.
16. Architecture. (_a_) Ecclesiastical--Abbeys and Churches.
The architecture of Hertfordshire buildings may be most conveniently
discussed under three separate sections, namely:--(_a_) ecclesiastical,
or buildings related to the church; (_b_) military, or castles; and
(_c_) domestic, or dwelling houses and cottages.
As in England generally, the architecture of the older buildings
of all three classes has been affected to a greater or less degree
by the nature of the building materials most easily accessible.
Throughout the northern chalk area of the county the Totternhoe stone
of Bedfordshire and the northern flanks of Hertfordshire was largely
employed in church building, both for inside and outside work, to
the latter of which it is but ill suited. Flint--in the better class
of work “faced” or “dressed” by fracture so as to present a flattened
outer face--was also very extensively used. The Norman builders
of the tower of St Albans found, however, a quarry ready to their
hands in the adjacent walls of Verulam, and we accordingly find this
part of the structure made almost entirely of the characteristic
Roman bricks or tiles. Contemporaneous brick was also locally used
to a very considerable extent even in the chalk districts; and in
the north-western part of the county there are numerous beautiful
examples of Tudor brick chimneys, as at Water End. Timber in the old
days was, however, much cheaper than bricks, and we consequently find
many of the older buildings--especially cottages--constructed of a
framework of wood, arranged in the fashion of a net, with the large
“meshes” filled in with brick. This type of work is locally known as
brick and studding and to the architect as half-timbered work. Other
buildings were largely constructed of a wooden framework overlain with
lath-and-plaster work.
Many of the churches built of flint or Totternhoe stone have their
angles or quoins made of harder material; in many instances of stone
apparently from Northamptonshire, but in other cases of Roman brick;
similar materials being also used in the arches of some of the churches.
[Illustration: St Peter’s, Tewin]
A large number of Hertfordshire churches have relatively low
battlemented towers, frequently with a short spire or steeple in the
centre as at Tewin, or a turret in one corner. Kensworth is an example
of such a battlemented tower without either spire or turret; St
Mary’s, Hitchin, Tring, Northchurch, Barnet, Bushey, King’s Walden,
Cheshunt, and Watford are examples of towers with a turret in one
angle, while at Ashwell there are turrets in all four corners. Some of
the smaller churches, like St Michael’s, St Albans, originally had no
aisles. Clothall church is peculiar in that the roof of the tower forms
a four-sided cone; while the roof of the church at Sarratt is equally
unique in being saddle-backed, that is to say, having a ridge running
at right angles to that of the roof of the nave and chancel.
[Illustration: St Mary’s, Cheshunt]
Apparently there is no wholly Saxon church in the county, although
several of the older ones were constructed on the site of Saxon
buildings, many of which were probably of wood, and thus either
perished through decay or were burnt during the Danish raids. On the
other hand, there are remains of Saxon work in St Albans’ Abbey, and
there are several Hertfordshire churches which are referred with a
greater or less degree of certainty to the period before the Norman
conquest; the original part of St Michael’s, in St Albans, and of St
Stephen’s, to the south-west of that town, may be cited as examples,
both dating from the middle of the tenth century. The church of
Sandridge--on the road from St Albans to Wheathampstead--may likewise
date from the same epoch.
[Illustration: St Helen’s, Wheathampstead]
[Illustration: St Mary’s, Hemel Hempstead]
Of Norman churches there are numerous examples, among which may be
cited as a fine specimen St Mary’s, Hemel Hempstead, whose tall
octagonal tower and spire are visible from a long distance. The
Norman arches of the nave are of great solidity, while the western
doorway, dating from about 1140, is a magnificent example of the work
of the period. Sarratt church is also largely Norman, as was also
the old church of St Nicholas, Harpenden, unfortunately pulled down
(with the exception of the much later tower) nearly half a century
ago. A considerable portion of St Albans’ Abbey (now cathedral), the
pride of the whole county, is also Norman; the tower of Roman brick
being, apart from modern additions, wholly of that period. The old
Saxon Church of King Offa, which stood on or near the site of the
present building, appears to have been completely swept away by Abbot
Paul of Caen (1077–1093), the founder of the present abbey, which
although completed by him, was not consecrated till 1115. “It is to
be inferred,” according to the _Victoria History of Hertfordshire_,
“that a clean sweep was made of the old buildings, and no evidence
as to their site has been preserved. The Norman Abbot’s contempt for
his Saxon predecessors ... led him to destroy their tombs, and he
doubtless laid out his new building without attempting in any way to
accommodate them to those previously existing on the site. But he
preserved and used up in his new church some of the stonework of the
old building, giving a very prominent place to the turned shafts which
still remain in the transept, and are the most notable relics of the
Saxon building.” In the present nave, which is the second longest in
England, the first six pillars on the north side belong to the original
structure of Abbot Paul; after which we come to Early English (Pointed)
work; this being continued to the west end of the building and back to
the fifth pillar on the south side, whence Decorated work extends to St
Cuthbert’s screen. The Norman work (1077–1093) of one side thus faces
Decorated work (1308–1326) on the other, but this is due to accident
rather than design, the Norman pillars having given way early in the
church’s history. It has recently been suggested that the Abbey stands
on the site of the old Roman amphitheatre, and that St Peter’s Street,
St Albans, marks the position of the Roman _cursus_, or race-course.
[Illustration: St Albans’ Abbey]
Of the Decorated style, in vogue during the reigns of the three
Edwards, in other words, throughout the fourteenth century, in addition
to the beautiful work in St Albans’ Abbey, we have examples in Abbot’s
Langley, Clothall, and Hitchin churches. Abbot’s Langley has also some
fine Norman work in the nave. Many of the churches of the Perpendicular
period, like St Mary’s, Hitchin, have large and beautiful porches. Most
of the windows in Abbot’s Langley church are Perpendicular, although
some on the south side are Decorated; and Tring and Offley churches are
wholly of the Perpendicular style.
Previous to the Reformation, Hertfordshire, like other counties,
possessed numerous religious houses, such as priories, monasteries,
nunneries, and hospitals; all of which, commencing with the smaller
ones, were suppressed by Henry VIII, whose chief agent in the work was
Thomas Cromwell. In many instances the sole evidence of the existence
of such establishments is the survival of the word “Abbey” or “Priory”
as the name of a private mansion, but sometimes their gateways, towers,
or merely ruins, still remain.
[Illustration: Ruins of Sopwell Nunnery, St Albans]
The neighbourhood of St Albans is especially rich in relics of this
nature. To the south, on the banks of the Ver, are the famous ruined
walls of Sopwell Nunnery, a building known to have been in existence
so early as 1119; but of the monastery there remains only the fine
gate-house (long misused as a gaol), together with traces of the
cloister arches on the south wall of the abbey. From documentary
evidence, however, aided by excavations in the abbey orchard, it has
been found possible to make a ground-plan of the whole establishment.
The last traces of the hospital of St Mary-de-Pré vanished only during
the last century; the name surviving in a private house by the Ver,
which is known as the Pré.
[Illustration: The Priory, Hitchin]
Hitchin formerly possessed a large priory, as is indicated by the
designation of the home of the Delmé-Radcliffes; as well as by the
existence in the town itself of certain almshouses known as the
“Biggin.” The latter were purchased by a private gentleman in 1545,
being at that time part of the disestablished “Priory of Bygyng in the
town of Hychen.” The Biggin, which was once inhabited by Gilbertine
nuns, has a beautiful wooden corridor. “The Priory” as the title of
a house in the main street of Redbourn, and “The Cell” as that of a
mansion further down the road, at Markyate, are but two among many
other traces of monastic institutions in the county.
[Illustration: Courtyard in the Biggin Almshouses, Hitchin]
Of King’s Langley Priory, which is known to have been in existence in
1400, a considerable portion still exists. Ashridge House now occupies
the site of a large monastery and college, of which there are many
remains. A brief reference may here be made to St Albans’ clock-tower,
which was erected between 1403 and 1412, and from which the curfew was
rung till so late as 1861, while a bell was also rung early in the
morning to awaken work-people.
[Illustration: The Priory, King’s Langley]
17. Architecture. (_b_) Military--Castles.
Like most other counties in the south of England, Hertfordshire
possesses the remains of several Norman castles, most of which
appear to date back no further than the Conquest, while others, like
Berkhampstead (where, as we have seen in a previous section, Mercian
kings held their courts), have been supposed to be constructed on the
site of earlier buildings of a similar nature.
The total number of castles built by the Normans to overawe their
new English subjects is stated to have been about 1100. These, as may
naturally be surmised, varied considerably in size, some being royal
castles, constructed for the defence of the country generally and ruled
by a constable or guardian, while others belonged to individual Norman
noblemen for the defence of their own estates, and were for the most
part the terror of the surrounding districts.
A Norman castle of the highest type occupied a large area, the lofty
and massive outer wall enclosing a space of several acres, and being
surmounted with towers and protected by bastions, while it was also
surrounded by a moat or ditch. Within the enclosure thus formed were
three main divisions, the first of which was the outer bailey, or
courtyard, entered by a towered gateway furnished with a portcullis
(that is to say, a gate which could be dropped down from, and drawn
up into, the tower by means of a system of chains and pulleys) and a
drawbridge. The stables and other buildings were contained in this
court. Next came the inner bailey, or quadrangle, likewise entered
through a towered and fortified gateway, and containing the chapel,
the barracks, and the keep. Lastly, we have the keep or donjon itself,
which always contained a well, and constituted the final portion which
was defended during a protracted siege when the garrison was hard
pressed. In choosing the site for such a military castle, either a
more or less isolated and steep hill or rock might be selected, or a
situation in marshy low-lands, where access might be rendered difficult
or impossible by damming back the waters.
The Norman castle at Berkhampstead, which stood close to the present
railway due east of the station, and portions of the ruins of which
may be seen from the train, was built by Robert Earl of Morton,
brother of William the Conqueror. According to a recent writer, the
earthworks of this castle represent the original fortress founded by
the Conqueror, and the appellation of a “burh” to the structure is
consequently erroneous. A Saxon “burh” or “burg” was a fortified town,
whereas the moated mound of Berkhampstead, like those at Hertford,
Bishop’s Stortford, Anstey, Bennington, and Pirton, are essentially
Norman castles of the type known as “mottes,” or, from their shape,
as “mount and bailey castles.” It is a common idea that Berkhampstead
was originally a stone castle, but the earthworks now remaining really
represent the fortress itself. In the reign of Henry II the custody of
Berkhampstead Castle was entrusted to Thomas à Becket, who replaced
the old wooden defences (such as stockades, palisades, and towers)
originally crowning the banks, by walls of flint rubble, remains of
which still partly surround the enclosure.
Hertford Castle, the site of which forms the residence of His Majesty’s
judges during the assizes, was built by Edward the Elder about the year
905; and after the conquest William I placed both castle and town in
the custody of Peter de Valoignes. Other ancient castles and baileys in
the county include the following, viz:--
Anstey Castle, situated about a mile from the eastern border of
Hertfordshire, on the watershed between the Stort and the Quin.
Bennington Castle, built on high ground about a mile from the river
Beane and some two miles from Walkern Bury; the ruins include the
remains of a small, square keep, as well as of a bailey. Waytemore
Castle, Bishop’s Stortford, belonging to the Bishop of London, is an
excellent example of the type of fortress which owes the main part of
its strength to being situated in a practically impassable morass; that
is to say, when the latter was kept well flooded. The flint rubble
walls of the keep are fully a dozen feet in thickness.
Smaller baileys existed at High Down, near Pirton; at Periwinkle
Hill, on nearly level ground, midway between Reed and Barkway; and
also at Walkern, on the Beane, about a mile and a half distant from
the village. In the last of these it is noteworthy that the church is
situated close to the castle, although, unlike the one at Anstey, it
does not appear to have been included in an outer ward.
The class of defensive works known as homestead moats--that is to say,
simple enclosures formed into islands by means of moats containing
water--do not, perhaps, strictly speaking, come under the title of
either architectural or military structures. Still this seems the most
convenient place in which to mention them. The northern and eastern
districts of Hertfordshire are remarkable for the enormous number of
these homestead moats; these districts being equalled in this respect
only by Essex and Suffolk. On the western side of the county they are
comparatively uncommon.
“These enclosures,” observes a writer in the _Victoria History_ of the
county, “vary greatly in size, shape, and position, and it is obvious
that they do not all belong to one period, for in all ages to surround
a piece of land with a ditch has been one of the most elementary forms
of defence. There are, however, as with the larger earthworks, certain
typical forms.... It should be noted that the typical feature of a
homestead moat is that the earth, dug to form the deep surrounding
ditch, was thrown on to the inclosure and spread, thus raising the
island slightly above the surrounding level. The construction of moats,
except for ornamental purposes, having ceased when the state of the
country no longer necessitated such protective measures against men
or wild beasts, they often fell into decay, or were partially filled
up, and their vestiges converted into ponds, while many may have been
obliterated as interfering with agriculture, but there still remain a
large number.”
To reproduce the list of these would occupy far too much space; and it
must suffice to mention that examples of homestead moats may be seen in
the parishes of Ashwell, Braughing, Pirton, and Sawbridgeworth.