Chapter 10

On _Metley Hill_, between the Icknield Way and the village of Wallington, may be seen Bush Barrow, one of the many ancient mounds in the county concerning which so little is known.

_Micklefield Green_ (½ mile E. from Sarratt Church) is near the river Chess and the Bucks border. The nearest station is Chorley Wood (Met. R.) 2 miles S.W. The district is varied and undulating.

MILL END (1 mile S.W. from Rickmansworth) is on the Middlesex border, close to the river Colne. The church (modern) is late Dec. in style, and has several good stained windows. The village and parish were only formed in 1875. There is also a hamlet of this name 1½ mile S.W. from Buckland, on the Royston road.

_Mill Green_, at the N. end of Hatfield Park, is a pretty hamlet on the Lea, near the old paper mill.

MIMMS, NORTH (3 miles N.W. from Potter's Bar Station, G.N.R.), is in one of the prettiest districts in the county, although so close to Middlesex. The church and parsonage are in the park, ½ mile from the village. Dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, the church is Dec., unusually pure in style. It is said to have been built by Sir Hugh de Magneville (_temp._ Stephen); I should think it more probable that Geoffrey de Magneville, then Lord of the Manor, was the real founder, as stated by Chauncy. However this may be, the structure is now almost wholly of later date. The monuments and brasses are numerous and very interesting; several of the latter, now in the chancel, were moved from their original positions on the floor during the restoration sixty years ago. Among them we may note (1) large black marble monument in chancel surmounted by a figure of justice, to John Lord Somers, Baron of Evesham (d. 1716); (2) altar tomb in N. aisle, with Elizabethan effigy, to a Derbyshire family named Beresford; the inscription is only in part decipherable; (3) mutilated brass to Sir Robert Knolles (d. 14--), and to Elizabeth his wife (d. 1458); (4) brass to Sir Henry Covert (d. 1488); (5) fine old brass to Richard Boteler and Martha (Olyff) his wife (_circa_ 1560); (6) brass, probably of Flemish workmanship, thought to be a memorial to William Kesteven, vicar (d. 1361). This effigy is closely described in Murray. "It is apparently Flemish, and resembles in style that of Abbot de la Mare at St. Albans. He is vested in a chasuble and stole, has a chalice on his breast, and over him is a rich canopy, with, on the dexter side, St. Peter, and underneath SS. John the Evangelist and Bartholomew, and in corresponding places on the sinister SS. Paul, James the Great, and Andrew, with their respective emblems. Above is the Almighty holding the soul of the deceased; at the sides are two angels swinging censers." Separated from the chancel by an oaken screen is the chantry-chapel of St. Catherine, dating from early fourteenth century.

_North Mimms Park_ surrounds the fine Jacobean manor house of red brick, recently in part restored, but originally built about 1600 by Sir Ralph Coningsby; it is very extensive and can show some good carving, and a chimney-piece dating from sixteenth century. E. from this park is _Potterels_, a modern house standing in another but smaller park, and E. again from Potterels is the more famous _Brookman's Park_, where, in 1682, Andrew Fountaine erected the mansion soon afterwards purchased by the great Lord Somers who died here in 1716. The house was completely burnt down thirty years ago and has only in part been rebuilt. The further stretch of park adjoining Brookman's on the S. is _Gubbins_, or more correctly _Gobions_, where formerly stood the old manor house in which Sir Thomas More lived awhile with his family. The walks in each of these parks are very fine, and most beautifully wooded; they command distant views in many directions, and, in the autumn, are a perfect study in colour. No London cyclist should fail to visit this picturesque and interesting neighbourhood.

MIMMS, SOUTH, recently included in the administrative county of Herts, has a restored, E. Perp. church, with fine massive W. tower. The Frowyk chantry, at E. end of N. aisle, contains a very ancient tomb with recumbent effigy of a knight in armour, under a richly designed canopy. The knight was a Frowyk, and there are also some mutilated brasses to this family. The village is prettily situated on rising ground, 1½ mile W. from Potter's Bar Station, G.N.R. (Middlesex).

_Moneybury Hill_ is on the Bucks border, close to the Bridgewater Column, 2 miles S.W. from Tring Station.

_Moor Green_ (3 miles W. from Buntingford Station, G.E.R.) is a hamlet in Ardeley parish.

_Morrell Green_ is a hamlet 2 miles E. from Barkway on the Essex border. The nearest station is Buntingford, nearly 6 miles S.E.

_Mortgrove_, on the Beds border, is little more than a modern house, 1½ mile S. from Hexton.

_Munches Green_ lies in the centre of that quiet district of villages and hamlets which stretches between the G.N.R. and G.E.R. It is a hamlet a little S.E. from _Ardeley Bury_ and nearly 4 miles W. from Westmill Station, G.E.R.

MUNDEN, GREAT, formerly Mundon Furnival, from Gerrard de Furnival, who was Lord of the Manor in the time of Richard I., is a village 2 miles W. from Braughing Station, G.E.R. There is a Norman doorway on the N. side of the church, and a small Perp. reredos which was discovered during restoration in 1865. There is a brass in the chancel to John Lightfoot, Canon of Ely (d. 1675). The hamlet of Nasty, a little N.E. from the church, now takes Munden Furnival as its alternative name, but the older historians give that title to the district around the parish church.

MUNDEN, LITTLE, or Munden Frewell, is 2¼ miles S.W. from the above, and 4 miles W. from Standon Station, G.E.R. The church, conspicuously placed on the hill, dates from the thirteenth century; it was restored in 1866-68. It is a structure of many parts, consisting of nave of three bays, chancel, N. chapel, N. aisle, N. and S. porches, and W. tower. Note the two altar tombs beneath the chancel arcade, at the S. side of the chapel, each supporting the stone effigies of a male and female, presumably man and wife. They bear no inscriptions, but from the arms and shields figured on one of them it is conjectured to be the tomb of Sir John Thornbury, Kt., and his lady; whilst the other is probably that of his son Philip Thornbury and his wife: the former dates from about 1340-50. Early in the fourteenth century the manor belonged to a Knight named Frewell or de Freville, hence the old adjunct of the village. _Rowney Abbey_, now a modern mansion, takes its name from Rowenea Priory, founded by Conan, Duke of Brittany, about 1164, and occupied for several generations by a Benedictine prioress and nuns. At Munden Street, or Dane End, ¼ mile S. from Little Munden, were formerly two or three large tumuli, long since levelled.

_Nash Mills_, on the river Gade, is a hamlet in the parish of Apsley End, 2 miles S. from Hemel Hempstead. The House was the seat of Sir John Evans, K.C.B., F.R.S., etc., the great archæologist, who had a rich collection of coins, prehistoric flints, implements, etc., some of which were discovered in the neighbourhood.

_Nettleden_ was formerly in Bucks, but was transferred to Herts a few years ago. The village is beautifully situated at the foot of a wooded hill, at the meeting of the roads from Great Gaddesden and Little Gaddesden. The small parish church is a Perp. structure of stone, with a N. porch; it was partly rebuilt by the last Duke of Bridgewater, and was restored in 1887. Note the carved oak pulpit, which, like that in Little Gaddesden Church, was the gift of Lady Marian Alford (d. 1888). Sir John Cotton, Vice-Chamberlain to Edward VI., was buried here. The nearest station is Berkhampstead, L.&N.W.R., 2½ miles S.W.

_New Mill_ is 1 mile N. from Tring, between the hamlets of Little Tring and Tring Grove. The famous reservoirs, often the resting-place of rare water-fowl, are within a short walk.

_Newgate Street_, a small hamlet in Hatfield parish, is, however, 6 miles S.E. from that town. It is in a prettily wooded district, close to _Ponsbourne Park_.

NEWNHAM (2½ miles N. from Baldock) is a village lying on high ground, with an E.E. battlemented church on a little knoll above a brook. It consists of chancel, nave of four bays with clerestory, S. aisle and porch, and W. tower. The interior can show little of interest, but there are brasses, (1) on chancel floor, to Sir William Dyer, Bart. (d. 1680); (2) to a family, the man in civic costume (_circa_ 1490); (3) to Joan, wife of James Dowman (d. 1607), and her eight children.

_Newsell_, a hamlet 1 mile N. from Barkway, lies a little W. from the Cambridge Road. The nearest station is Royston, G.N.R., 3½ miles N.W. Newsell Park is a modern mansion S. from the hamlet.

_No Man's Land_ is a large tract of common, partly covered by furze, stretching left from the road between Sandridge and Wheathampstead. Some years ago a farmer close by collected quite a museum of stuffed birds, etc., shot in the neighbourhood, which many persons visited, but I understand the collection is now dispersed.

In 1884 Sir John Evans showed to Mr. W. G. Smith "a good white ovate palæolithic implement," one of two found on No Man's Land Common. In December, 1886, Mr. Smith visited the gravel pits there and found a somewhat similar implement _in situ_; this latter is engraved in his _Man the Primæval Savage_. At the same time Mr. Smith found two neolithic celts on the common.

_Nobland Green_ (1¼ mile N.W. from Widford Station, G.E.R.) is little more than a farm and a few cottages.

NORTHAW (2 miles E. from Potter's Bar Station, G.N.R.) is a village on the Middlesex border, near the source of the river Colne, and a place of considerable interest. In the wood N. from the village there lived a hermit named Sigar, the subject of some monkish legends. He lived about the time of Henry I., and was buried beside Roger the Monk (see Markyate Street) in the S. aisle of the Baptistery of St. Alban's Abbey. There was originally a small church close to the village, E.E. or perhaps late Norman; this was replaced by the cruciform church of St. Thomas Becket, a pseudo-Perp. structure, destroyed by fire in 1881; the present cruciform building of Ancaster stone is Dec. with a conspicuous W. tower carrying four pinnacles. Note the piscina, three sedilia and credence table in chancel; also the finely carved font of Ancaster stone, on marble pillars, presented by the children of the parish. There are several memorial windows, of only local interest; but the pulpit and reredos are both good, the former showing the four Evangelists in canopied recesses. Unfortunately, only a portion of the old registers were saved from the fire of 1881.

NORTHCHURCH, or Berkhampstead St. Mary, forms one long street with Great Berkhampstead, but is a separate village, 1 mile W. from Berkhampstead Station, L.&N.W.R. The cruciform church is Dec.; it stands in a small graveyard close to the high road to Tring. The most curious memorial is the brass near the porch to Peter the Wild Boy, who was found wild in a forest in Hanover in 1725 and brought to England at the desire of Queen Caroline. He lived at a farm at Broadway (_q.v._) and died in 1785. There is also a curious sentence about this church in Chauncy: "Henry Axtil, a rich Man starved himself, and was buried here April 12, 1625, 1 Car. I." The church was entirely restored in 1883, when the present N. aisle was added.

_Northfield_, a small hamlet, is a little S. from Ivinghoe (Bucks).

NORTON, near the tiny river Ivel and the Roman Icknield Way, is 1 mile W. from Baldock. The large building on the hill-top close by is the Three Counties Asylum. The manor belonged to the Abbot of St. Albans at the time of the Conquest; and in the year 1260 Roger de Norton, who took his name from this village, became the twenty-fourth abbot of that monastery. The church, E.E., is of great antiquity, some parts of it having been little altered; it is of flint, and stands at the N.E. end of the village. It contains two or three old memorials, but none of historic interest. A pretty walk from the church leads through Norton Bury and beside the Ivel to Radwell Mill.

_Norton Green_, between Knebworth Park and Stevenage, is ½ mile W. from the Great North Road. It is a small hamlet.

_Nup End_ (1½ mile W. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R.) is almost one with Knebworth Green. Codicote church is 1 mile S.W.

_Nuthampstead_ (about 5 miles N.E. from Buntingford Station, G.E.R.) is a large hamlet on the Essex border. The parish churches of Barkway (W.), Anstey (S.W.), and Meesdon (S.E.) may all be reached within a short walk.

OFFLEY or OFFLEY ST. LEGER (3 miles S.W. from Hitchin) is a village at the meeting of the ways from Hitchin, Temple Dinsley, and Lilley. It owes its name to Offa, King of the Mercians, who had a palace here, as we learn from his life by Matthew Paris, and its adjunct to the St. Legiers, who became Lords of the Manor soon after the Conquest. Miss Hester Salusbury, who became Mrs. Thrale, and afterwards Mrs. Piozzi, used as a child to visit at _Offley Place_, in the park close to the church. The old mansion was built by Sir Richard Spencer in 1600, and in part rebuilt early last century, when its style was changed from Jacobean to a form of Gothic.

The church (restored Perp.) stands in the park, close to the road. Note (1) monument in chancel to Sir H. Penrice, Kt. (d. 1752); a figure of Truth standing on a sarcophagus of black marble, the whole finely executed; (2) monument in white marble, by Nollekens, to Sir Thomas Salusbury, Kt. (d. 1773), and Sarah his wife (d. 1804); (3) brass with effigy, to John Samwell (d. 1529), and his wives Elizabeth and Joan; (4) brass to a civilian and his family (_circa_ 1530); (5) well carved Perp. font.

_Offley, Little_, is a hamlet 1¼ mile N.W. from the above.

_Offley Green_ is 4 miles N.W. from Buntingford Station, G.E.R. The walk beside Julians[l] Park to Rushden, 1 mile S.W., is very pleasant.

_Offley Holes_ (2½ miles S.W. from Hitchin) is a small hamlet. Offley Grange, Offley Hoo, Offley Cross and Offley Bottom are all in the immediate neighbourhood, W. and N.W.

_Old Hall Green_ (1½ mile W. from Standon Station, G.E.R.) lies W. from the Old North Road. It is a small hamlet.

OXHEY (2 miles S. from Watford) is a hamlet on the Middlesex border. It has a good modern church, E.E. in style. N. lies _Oxhey Place_, on the site of the old home of the Heydon family, rebuilt by Sir William Bucknall in 1668, and again by Hon. William Bucknall in 1799. The chapel, close to the old mansions, was spared by both those renovators, but has since been repeatedly restored. It contains many interesting monuments, conspicuous among which is that on the S. wall to Sir James Altham (d. 1617) who had built the chapel on the site of an earlier structure in 1612. The old judge is represented kneeling in his robes between two pillars, beneath a canopy of alabaster; behind him is the effigy of his third wife Helen (Saunderson). Note the carved oak seventeenth century reredos, occupying the whole of the E. end of the chapel. It is divided into three compartments by two columns, massive and twisted, with Corinthian capitals; these support a frieze, with cornice and pediment. Note also the oak ceiling, and the five Tudor windows (replaced). _Oxhey Hall_, N.W. from the chapel, is now a farm; but can still show the wonderful ceiling of carved oak, in sixteen panels, which must be very ancient.

PANSHANGER PARK, Lord Desborough, K.C.V.O, should be visited by all who love an historic home surrounded by beautiful scenery. It lies almost midway between Hatfield and Ware Parks; the house itself is 1½ mile N. from Cole Green Station, G.N.R. The park is very extensive (about 900 acres); the river Maran flows through it from W. to S.E., opening into a lake S. from the house. It is famous for its splendid timber; the wonderful "Panshanger Oak," one of the very largest in England, stands W. from the house.

Panshanger is not a "correct" structure from an architectural standpoint; the writer of Murray's Handbook describes it well as "a stucco-fronted, semi-castellated Gothic mansion of the Walpole-Wyatt type". Most ramblers, however, are not architects, and the grey stone mansion and its surroundings are, as a whole, as picturesque as they can well be. The greater part of it was built by Peter, fifth Earl Cowper, in 1801; but the picture gallery, overlooking the terrace and gardens, was a later addition. The house was partially burnt in 1855. The older home of the family stood at Cole Green--then called Colne Green.

The famous _Cowper Collection_ is largely the result of the taste and perseverance of the third earl, who resided for some years at Florence. Only a few of the pictures can be named here: Madonna, by Raphael (1508); Holy Family, by Fra Bartolommeo; Mountainous Coast (fishermen in foreground), by Salvator Rosa; Nativity, by Carlo Dolce; Virgin Enthroned, by Paul Veronese; Third Earl Cowper and His Family; First Earl Cowper, by Sir Godfrey Kneller; Francis Bacon, by Van Somer; Turenne, by Rembrandt; Charles Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, by Janssens. The whole collection is worth careful study. Permission to view may be obtained when the family are away.

PARK STREET, a large hamlet with station 1/3 mile W. (L.&N.W.R.), is on the river Colne, 2 miles S. from St. Albans. The parish church is at Frogmore (_q.v._).

_Parker's Green_ (4 miles S.W. from Westmill Station, G.E.R.) is a hamlet adjoining Wood End.

_Patient End_ may be reached from Braughing Station, G.E.R., 4 miles S.E., the road being more direct than that from Westmill Station, about the same distance as the crow flies. The hamlet lies between Albury and Furneaux Pelham.

_Patmore Heath_ is 1 mile S.E. from the above.

_Pepperstock_, a hamlet on the Beds border, is a little W. from the Harpenden-Luton road, and close to Luton Hoo Park.

_Perry Green_ (1¼ mile S.E. from Hadham Station, G.E.R.) is a small scattered hamlet.

_Peter's Green_, on the Beds border, lies at the meeting of several roads; the Half Moon and Rising Star with a few cottages comprise the hamlet. The descent W. towards Chiltern Green Station, M.R., commands a fine view, looking towards Luton Hoo Park. The several ways (one is hardly more than a lane) lead S.E. to Kimpton, S. to Harpenden, N. to Lawrence End Park, and N.E. to Breachwood Green and Bendish.

_Piccotts End_ is passed when going from Hemel Hempstead to Great Gaddesden. It is on the river Gade, at the N.E. extremity of Gadesbridge Park.

_Pin Green_ (1½ mile E. from Stevenage Station, G.N.R.) lies between the Great North Road and the river Beane.

PIRTON (3½ miles N.W. from Hitchin) is an ancient village on the Beds border, said to owe its name to one Peri, who possessed it in Saxon times. William I. gave it to Ralph de Limesie, or Limesy, who founded the church and gave the tithes of it to the Abbey of St. Albans. The site of the castle built by Ralph is thought to be at Toot Hill, W. from the church, where a moat may be traced. The church was originally cruciform, but the transepts have long disappeared; the tower, massive and embattled, still standing between nave and chancel. Restoration has been carefully carried on recently; the tower was rebuilt in 1877, but some Norman work may still be traced in its arches. Note (1) monument and curious inscription to Jane, wife of Thomas Docwra (d. 1645); (2) double piscina, fourteenth century, in S. wall of chancel.

Pirton should be visited for the fine old houses in its neighbourhood. _High Down_, S. from the church, is Elizabethan, with gables, twisted chimneys and mullioned windows; it was formerly the home of the Docwras. _Pirton Hall_, on a hill N.W. from the village, is also Elizabethan, and the _Rectory Manor House_ and _Hammond's Farm_ are both ancient. In the latter is some fine old carved oak.

_Plummers_ is 1½ mile S.W. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R. It consists of a few cottages.

_Ponfield_ lies between Bedwell and Bayfordbury Parks. It is a small hamlet nearly 2 miles S.E. from Cole Green Station, G.N.R.

_Poplar's Green_ is on the river Maran, on the W. edge of Panshanger Park. The old church at Tewin is less than 1 mile N.W. The station is Cole Green.

_Potten End_ (2 miles N.E. from Berkhampstead Station, L.&N.W.R.) has a modern chapel-of-ease to Nettleden (1 mile N.). The hamlet is prettily situated between the rivers Gade and Bulbourne.

PRESTON (4 miles W. from Stevenage Station, G.N.R.) is a hamlet beautifully situated on high ground. The Church of St. Martin is a small building a few yards W. from the green, a modern erection; close by is the Bunyan Chapel, and ½ mile N. is Bunyan's dell, where the author of the _Pilgrim's Progress_ often preached. _Temple Dinsley_, a manor house a little E. from the Red Lion, stands on the site of the preceptory of the Knights Templars, founded by Bernard de Baliol in the reign of Stephen.

_Primrose Hill_ is a hamlet in King's Langley parish, ½ mile N. from the station, L.&N.W.R.

PUCKERIDGE, a village on the Old North Road, nearly 1 mile S.W. from Braughing Station, G.E.R., was visited by Pepys on more than one occasion. Here, at the White Hart Inn, the road divides, going left nearly due N. to Royston and right to Cambridge. The village lies partly in Standon and partly in Braughing parish. The nearest church is at Standon, 1 mile S.E., but divine service is conducted in the church schoolroom.

_Puddephats_ (3 miles N.W. from Redbourn Station, M.R.) is a hamlet in Flamstead parish.

_Purwell Mill_, on the river Purwell or Pirrel, 1 mile E. from Hitchin, stands near the spot where the tesselated pavement of a Roman villa was discovered many years ago, in excellent preservation.

PUTTENHAM (1½ mile S. from Marston Gate Station, L.&N.W.R.) lies near the Clinton chalk hills, in the extreme W. of the county, on the Bucks border. The church, close to the village, is of several periods, parts of the structure being E.E. and other portions Perp. and Tudor. Several portions should be carefully noted: (1) very large embattled W. tower, built of blocks of Ketton stone with flints laid in squares between each block; (2) roof of nave, thought to date from _temp._ Edward IV.; with two shields under the ridges, one bearing the arms of Zouch, the church having belonged to the Priory of Ashby; (3) solid oak pews, probably coeval with nave roof. The S. porch was rebuilt in 1889. The vill of Puteham belonged to Leofwin, brother to Harold Godwin; William I. gave it to his half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux.

_Queen Hoo Hall._ (See Bramfield.)

_Rabley Heath_ (1 mile S.W. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R.) adjoins Sallow Wood. Knebworth and Codicote churches are about equidistant (1¼ mile), N.W. and S.W. respectively.

RADLETT, with station on M.R. (main line), is about 5 miles S. from St. Albans, on the high-road from the Marble Arch to that city. Seen left from the train the neighbourhood is very pretty, the spire of the church showing among the trees some distance before the station is reached. The cruciform church is modern (1864), E. Dec. in style, with several good windows of stained glass. A picturesque ramble may be taken by turning into any lane in the vicinity, especially towards the Valley of the Colne, W. A potter's kiln of the Roman Age was discovered here.