Hertfordshire E-Book

Tompkins, Herbert Winckworth, 1867

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• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Excerpt from Book: The only true and right way of learning geography (which in its widest sense comprehends almost everything connected with the earth) is to become acquainted with the geography—or, strictly speaking, the topography—and history of the district in which we live. Modern England is split up into a number of main divisions known as counties, and in some instances also as shires; the word shire, when it is used, being added at the end of the county name. Thus we have the county of Essex or the county of Hertford; but whereas in the former case the word shire is never added, it may be in the case of the latter. We then have either the county of Hertford, or Hertfordshire, as the full designation of the territorial unit in which we dwell. In official documents our area is always mentioned under the title of the “County of Hertford”; but imperfectly educated persons when filling in such documents frequently write the “County of Hertfordshire.” This is wrong and superfluous; shire being equivalent to county.

Leseprobe

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

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Hertfordshire

Tompkins, Herbert Winckworth, 1867-

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HERTFORDSHIRE

THE LITTLE GUIDES

Pott 8vo, cloth, y.; leather, 3s. 6d. net.

Oxford and its Colleges. By J. Wells, M.A. Illustrated by E. H. New. Fourth Edition.

Cambridge and its Colleges. By A. Hamilton Thompson. Illustrated by E. H. New.

Shakespeare's Country. ByB.C.A. Windle.F.R.S., M.A. Illustrated by E. H. New. Second Edition.

Westminster Abbey. By G. E. Troutbeck. Illustrated by F. D. Bedford.

Sussex. By F. G. Brabant, M.A. Illustrated by E. H. New.

The Malvern Country. By B. C. A. Windle, D.Sc, F.R.S. Illustrated by E. H. New.

Norfolk. By W. A. Dutt. Illustrated by B. C. Boulter.

Cornwall. By A. L. Salmon. Illustrated by B. C. Boulter.

Brittany. By S. BaringGould. Illustrated by Miss J. Wyllie.

Surrey. By F. H. Lambert. Illustrated by E. H. New.

Rome. By C. G. EUaby. Illustrated by B. C. Boulter.

Kent. By George Clinch, F.G.S. Illustrated by F. D. Bedford.

Buckinghamshire. By E. S. Roscoe. Illustrated by F.

D. Bedford.

Hertfordshire. By H. W. Tompkins. Illustrated by

E. H. New.

St. Paul's Cathedral. By G. H. Birch. Illustrated by Beatrice Alcock.

The English Lakes. By F. G. Brabant. Illustrated by E. H. New. Cloth, 4s.; leather, 4s. 6d. net.

IN PREPARATION

Shropshire. By J. A. Nicklin.

English Architecture. By F. O. Atkinson. Illustrated by the Author.

Oxfordshire. By F. G. Brabant. Illustrated by E. H. New.

Derbyshire. By J. C. Cox, LL.D. Illustrated by J. C. Wall.

Hampshire. By J. C. Cox, LL.D.

Suffolk. By W. A. Dutt.

The North Riding of Yorkshire. By J. E. Morris.

Berkshire. By F. G. Brabant.

9fl

TO

MY WIFE

534229

\

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

PREFACE

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.

VIU

CONTENTS

. PAGE

Introduction . . • • •

I

I Situation, Extent and Boundaries

I

II Physical Features

2

111 Climate

II

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 Hertford

shire arranged Alphabetically

+5

Index to Persons

.

.

. 235

IX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Railroad Map of Herts . . Front Cover

The Abbey Church, St. Albans Frontispiece By kind permission of tlie Graphotone Co., Enfield. Bishop's Stortford .... 74

From a photograph by Messrs. Frith & Co., Ltd. Broxbourne ..... 79

Hatfield House . . .109

From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine & Sons, Ltd. King James's Drawing - Room, Hatfield House . . . . 111 From a photograph by Messrs. Valentine & Sons, Ltd. Hemel Hempstead . , . . 115

Hertford . , . . .117

xi

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

HiTCHIN . . • • • • "^5

From a photograph by Messrs. Frith & Co., Ltd. Knebworth Park . • • '139

Bacon's Monument . . . • 1^3

From a photograph by Messrs. Frith & Co., Ltd. Ruins of Bacon's House . . .184

From a photograph by Messrs. Frith & Co., Ltd. St. Alban's Shrine . • • .192

By kind permission of the Graphotone Co., Enfield. Stevenage Church .... 204 From a photograph by Messrs. Frith & Co., Ltd. Waltham Cross . ■ .214

Map of Hertfordshire . . . 233

xn

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, o" 13' (E.)

W. Long. 0° 45' (W.)

S. Lat. 51° 36' (N.) Its area is 400,671 acres or 626 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.

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 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 parklike 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 :—

(i) 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.

4

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, seaurchins, 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, con

5

tain 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.

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

6

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 Woolzv'ich 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 suifoce 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 debtis 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.

I. 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. T/ie 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.

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 P.ickmansworth 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

8

PHYSICAL FEATURES

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 Siort Naz'igation is navigable to Bishop's Stortford.

10. The Ma7-an, 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 Quill 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 Jdam and Eve, runs to Westmill, Standon and Thundridge, finally uniting with the Lea at Hertford.

15. The Siort 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 Fe?' 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 Start Navigation already mentioned, there are other artificial waterways :—

The Jlyksbtay Canal (a branch of the Grand Junction Canal) crosses the extreme western neck of the county, from S. of Puttenham to S. of Gubblecote.

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 Nezv 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.

10

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 Aila$ 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 ciensely 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 ",

II

Observations taken at the following meteorological stations during the twelve years 1887 to 1898 have been printed annually in the Trmisactions 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° i' 8" W. ; alt. 301 feet ; observer, the late Hale Wortham, F.R.Met.Soc.

Berkhampstead {Kossh3.nk) : lat. 51° 45' 40" N. ; long. 0° 33' 30" W. ; alt. 400 feet ; observer, Edward Mawley, F.R.Met.Soc.

St. Jlbans (The Grange): lat. 51'" 45' 9' N.; long, o" 20' 7" W.; alt. 380 feet; observer, John Hopkinson, Assoc.Inst.C.E.

Bennington (Bennington House): lat. 51° 53' 45" N. ; long, o'' 20' 7" W. ; alt. 407 feet ; observer, Rev. Dr. Parker, F.R.Met.Soc.

Nezv Barnet (Gas Works) : lat. 51° 38' 5' N. ; long, o" 10' 15" W. ; alt. 212 feet ; observer, T. H. Martin, M.Inst.C.E.

I. 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 (i8-i°) 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 6i"0° ; the coldest is January, with a mean of 36'1°. August is very little colder than July. In these two

12

CLIMATE

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 o (clear sky) to 10 (completely overcast), is 6"7. It has varied from 6"o 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"o) and most cloudy in November.and January (7'5).