Part 7

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.

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.

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.

A step in advance of the homestead moat was formed by earthworks made on the same plan as the latter, but provided with a rampart and a “fosse,” or ditch, and in some cases also with outer defences. Of this type of earthwork three examples are definitely known to occur in the county, namely one at Bygrave, a second at Whomerley Wood to the south-east of Stevenage, and a third at Well Wood, Watton.

Yet another kind of defensive earthwork is to be found in the shape of walls, ramparts, or ditches surrounding the sites of ancient villages. Of this we have a local example in Kingsbury Castle, an old fortified village lying to the south-west of the city of St Albans, and covering an area of about 27½ acres. The village stood upon a hill, of which the summit has been planed off and the material employed to form steep banks or ramparts, one of which was partially thrown down to form the present Verulam Road, while another portion persists in the shape of a steep fall in the gardens or yards at the back of the houses on the north side of Fishpool Street. The main structure of the castle was demolished during the tenth century, and the remnant about the year 1152. It may be added that the clay-pits on the north side of Kingsbury Castle are the reputed source of the material of the Roman bricks of which Verulam is built.

The gigantic earthworks of the type of Beech Bottom and Grimm’s Dyke have been mentioned in an earlier section.

18. Architecture. (_c_) Domestic--Famous Seats, Manor Houses, Cottages.

With the advent of less troublous times at the close of the Wars of the Roses a marked change is noticeable in the plan and architecture of the residences of the great noblemen and country gentlemen. The need for castles or fortified houses ceased to exist; and attention was consequently directed to comfort rather than strength in the construction of country mansions. Fortunately a number of these fine old Tudor residences have survived in different parts of the country; but many have been replaced by other later structures built on the old foundations.

These Tudor mansions usually took the form of a large house built round a quadrangle, the hall occupying the middle portion of the building, with flanking wings on both sides. The building material depended upon the locality and on the taste and means of the owner; but in this county brick was extensively employed by the Tudor, and still more so by the Stuart builders.

In lordly country seats, as well as in mansions of a less pretentious type, dating from the Tudor period downward, Hertfordshire, owing doubtless to its well-wooded and picturesque scenery, its good soil, bracing climate, and proximity to the metropolis, is especially rich, and in this respect presents a marked contrast to the neighbouring county of Essex. The majority of these houses, however, have been either completely rebuilt or more or less extensively altered at later epochs.

Among the few of these noble residences that can be mentioned here, Hatfield House, which was built between the years 1605 and 1611 by the first Earl of Salisbury, presents a magnificent specimen of early Jacobean architecture in brick and stone, mellowed by time to exquisitely soft tints. The original palace, where Edward VI lived, and where Elizabeth was kept in captivity, now forms the stables. The mention of the virgin queen naturally leads on to Ashridge, near Berkhampstead, formerly the seat of the Dukes of Bridgewater, where Elizabeth also spent a considerable time in her early days. Although the present building, which stands partly in Hertfordshire and partly in Buckinghamshire, is mostly modern Gothic, the fine vaulted cellar is a remnant of the old monastery and college which formerly occupied the site. Knebworth, near Stevenage, the home of the Earls of Lytton, although now a comparatively modern Gothic building, was originally a Tudor mansion, dating from the reign of Henry VII, the present house occupying the position of one of the four wings of the original building. Tittenhanger, between St Albans and Colney, occupies the site of a royal residence dating from the fourteenth and early part of the fifteenth century; the present mansion, notable for its grand oak staircase, is stated to have been built in 1654, although the style of the brickwork suggests the early part of the eighteenth century. Little Hadham Hall, at the village of that name, is a splendid example of Elizabethan architecture in red brick.

A very interesting mansion is Salisbury House, Shenley, built some time before 1669; much of the original brick building still remaining as an excellent example of Stuart architecture. The house is surrounded by a broad moat, and is approached by a bridge. Mackery End, near Wheathampstead, contains some fine examples of sixteenth century architecture; and Rothamsted, near Harpenden, is in the main a seventeenth century brick mansion, dating from between 1630 and 1650, although it has older portions, and the hall belonged to a house constructed of timber on a flint base.

Of fine old houses now forming farm-homesteads there are many examples on the western side of the county. Among these is Turner’s Hall, to the north-west of Harpenden, now considerably modernised.

Another very interesting building of this type is Water End Farm, in the parish of Sandridge, situated on the banks of the Lea about two miles from Wheathampstead, and stated to have been built about 1610. It is constructed of brick and has the straight-gabled, mullioned style characteristic of the later part of the reign of Elizabeth and the commencement of that of James I. Like many other houses of Elizabethan times it is constructed in the form of the letter E, and its three stacks of brick chimneys, with octagonal shafts and moulded brick caps and bases, are especially characteristic of the style of this period.

Of later date are the Marlborough Buildings, or Almshouses, St Albans, erected by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough in 1736, and affording a fine example of the brick architecture of that period in an excellent state of preservation. Here also may be mentioned the Blue-Coat School at Hertford, and the Boys’ Grammar School at Hitchin.

Forty years ago the county abounded in picturesque brick-and-timber cottages, roofed with either tiles or thatch; but these are disappearing yearly under the hand of the speculative builder, to be replaced by hideous box-like buildings of brick and slate. Some, however, still survive, either in the towns or the smaller hamlets, such as picturesque Amswell, near Wheathampstead, which may be cited as an ideal example of one of the smaller Hertfordshire villages.

As has been well remarked in another volume of the present series, the great difference between these ancient cottages and houses and the great majority of their modern successors is that while the former harmonise with their surroundings, reflect not a little of the spirit of the builder, and improve, like good wine, with age, the latter are altogether out of keeping, and are likely to become, if possible, still more offensive and objectionable with the advance of time.

While most of the old Hertfordshire cottages were of brick and timber, others were built of flint with brick facings, or more rarely of rounded pebbles from the Woolwich and Reading beds, or with brick courses and window-mullions; some were of feather-edge boarding, and others again of rubble and plaster.

In Hemel Hempstead High Street is a building, now converted into cottages, which contains above the fireplaces on the ground and first floors the Tudor rose and fleur-de-lys in plaster-work; while the back of a neighbouring building probably dates from the time of Henry VIII. Excellent examples of the old brick-and-timber cottages are to be seen in the village of Northchurch, and also at Aldbury, east of Tring, where the old parish stocks are likewise preserved. Most of these Aldbury cottages are tiled, although a few are covered with thatch, a style of roofing much less common in that district than in many parts of the county. Watford has still a number of old cottages, notably in Farthing Lane and Chequer’s Yard, and in St Albans, especially in the market-place and French Row, there are several dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There is also a very remarkable old hexagonal wooden house near the ford across the Ver at St Michael’s silk-mills, said to be one of the oldest licensed houses in England.

Did space permit, reference might be made to old houses in Hertford, Berkhampstead, and other towns and villages, but the facts mentioned are sufficient to indicate the interest of the county to antiquarians in the matter of ancient buildings, and before concluding this section we must not omit to mention what is certainly not the least interesting of all Hertfordshire antiquities--the Cross at Waltham which Edward erected to his beloved Queen Eleanor; the last before arriving in London of the fifteen commemorating the resting-place of her body on its journey from Grantham to Westminster Abbey in 1290.

19. Communications--Past and Present. Roads, Railways, Canals.

Lying as it does on the direct route from the metropolis to the north and north-west of England, and containing in its western portion the formerly important city of Verulam, Hertfordshire, as might be expected, is traversed by several trunk roads leading in those directions, two of which date from Roman times. What these lines of communication were in pre-Roman days we have no means of knowing, although it is probable that they were little more than rude tracks through the great forest, or “weald,” which in those days extended some forty miles to the north of London, and afforded shelter to the great wild ox, red deer, wild boars, bears, and wolves. Road-making was a special attribute of the ancient Romans; and after they had constructed highways from their early stations in Kent, they probably set to work on those in the counties to the northward of London. So well made and so straight were these ancient Roman roads that many of them (with in some cases a certain amount of local deviation) have remained the main highways of the country down to the present day. Immediately before the introduction of railways, when the coaching traffic was brought to its highest pitch of development, these main trunk roads--thanks to the invention of Macadam--were maintained in superb condition, though with the extension of the railway system some of them were allowed to deteriorate.

There are three great Roman roads traversing Hertfordshire--Watling Street, the Icknield Way, and Ermine Street. Watling Street starts from Dover, and after passing through London, enters the county to the south of Elstree, whence it is continued through Colney Street, Park Street and St Stephens to St Albans, and thence on through Redbourn and Markyate Street, and so to Dunstable whence it eventually reached Chester and Holyhead. Although frequently miscalled the North Road, the modern representative of Watling Street is known as the Chester and Holyhead road. Originally the Roman road in the neighbourhood of St Albans ran altogether to the west of the Ver, from Gorham Block to the Pondyards; this section of the modern road, which crosses the river to enter the city, having been constructed during the years 1826–1834.

The Icknield Way (taking its name apparently from the British tribe of the Iceni) may be the oldest of the three great tracks, and originally of pre-Roman age, as, like the Pilgrims’ Way in Kent, it mainly follows the line of the chalk downs. It may be called a cross-country road from the west of England, cutting the Watling Street at Dunstable, and thence extending in a north-easterly direction across Hertfordshire through Little Offley, Ickleford, and Baldock, and thence by way of Royston, where it crosses the Ermine Street, to Newmarket and Yarmouth.

The Ermine Street, the third great Roman road, takes, on the other hand, a northern direction, passing through Cheshunt, Wormley, Broxbourne, and Wadesmill, and so by way of Buntingford to Royston. There is however some difference of opinion about its course.

Of modern roads, the Chester and Holyhead road has been already mentioned as following in the main the line of the Old Watling Street. Of equal importance is the Great North Road to York, passing through Barnet, Hatfield, Welwyn, Codicote, Stevenage, and Hitchin. Of other highways it must suffice to mention that the Bedford road branches off from the Chester and Holyhead at St Albans to run through Harpenden, and so on to Luton, in Bedfordshire; while the main road from London to Cambridge and Norwich takes the line of the Lea valley on the eastern side of the county, which it leaves a short distance to the northward of Bishop’s Stortford.

In coaching days St Albans was a far more bustling and busy town than it is at the present day; a very large number of coaches passing daily through the city each way, the majority running on the Holyhead and Chester road, but a certain number taking the Bedford line. The two chief coaching and posting inns were the Peahen and the White Hart, both of which are still in existence.

The speed and smartness with which the mail-coaches were run in the days immediately preceding their abolition was little short of marvellous.

The first half of the nineteenth century saw the introduction of railways, which gradually but surely killed the old coaching traffic. One of the first lines to be opened was the London and North-Western--in 1838--which traverses the south-western side of the county, passing through Watford, Boxmoor, Berkhampstead, and the outskirts of Tring. In 1853 a branch line was opened from Watford to St Albans, and another to Rickmansworth in 1862. With a short break between Boxmoor and Hemel Hempstead, the North-Western system is connected with the Midland by means of a branch line from the last-named town to Harpenden. The main line of the Midland, which traverses the western half of the county by way of Elstree, St Albans, and Harpenden, was opened in 1868. Both St Albans and Harpenden have branches of the Great Northern Railway to Hatfield, which is on the main line; the latter continuing through Welwyn, Stevenage, and Hitchin. By means of a branch line of the Great Northern from Hatfield to Hertford, we reach the Great Eastern, the fourth great railway in the county, the main line of which runs through Broxbourne, Sawbridgeworth, and Bishop’s Stortford, but connected also with Ware and Hertford, and having a branch from St Margaret’s to Buntingford.

With such a multiplicity of lines, it might well be imagined that railway communication between nearly all parts of the county would be well-nigh perfect. As a matter of fact, this is by no means the case; and the journey by rail from the western to the eastern side, owing to changes and delays, is so slow and tedious, that it is frequently found convenient to hold important Hertfordshire meetings, like those of the County Council, in London.