Hertfordshire Part 13

[Footnote 5: The story of the "Maid of the Mill" is, I understand, told in an early number of _Temple Bar_.]

_Red Heath_ is in the parish of Croxley Green, 2 miles N.N.E. from Rickmansworth.

_Red Hill_, 4 miles E. from Baldock, is a small hamlet in a very quiet neighbourhood. The nearest church is at Wallington, mile N.W.

_Julians_, a substantial house in the park, mile S., was built early in the seventeenth century.

REDBOURN (_i.e._, the road by the burn) lies on the old Watling Street, 4 miles N.W. from St. Albans. The river Ver, here a small stream, skirts the E. side of the village. The old manor, like that of Abbots Langley, was given to the Abbey of St. Albans by Egelwine the Black and Wincelfled, his wife, in the days of Edward the Confessor. St.

Amphibalus was probably buried here after his martyrdom; his barrow was on the Common, and the story of the removal of his bones to St. Albans is narrated in Matthew Paris, and is referred to in the Introduction (Section IX.). The church of St. Mary, at Church End, mile W. from the station (M.R.), dates from Norman times; the only existing portions of the ancient structure are the three columns of the N. aisle arcade, but much thirteenth and fourteenth centuries work still stands. It was largely rebuilt by Abbot John Wheathampsted (_temp._ Henry VI.). Note (1) almost unique carved oak rood screen, double canopied; (2) pointed arches of S. side of nave, replacing those defaced during the Commonwealth; (3) Eastern sepulchre and sedilia in chancel; (4) piscinae in N. aisle and lady-chapel; (5) bra.s.s in chancel, with eight kneeling effigies, without date; (6) bra.s.s in chancel to Richard Pec.o.c.k, or Pekok (d. 1512). There are silk and corn mills on the Ver, close by.

REED lies on the chalk range, midway between Buntingford and Royston, about 3 miles S. from Royston Station, G.N.R. The village lies right from the Old North Road. One of the best Norman doorways in the county is on the N. of the little church, which also contains good Dec.

portions. The tower alone was untouched during the restoration of sixty years ago. Some remains of two moats are a little E. from the village; Reed End, Reed Green and Reed Wood, are in the vicinity. The neighbourhood is less wooded and picturesque than most of the county.

_Revel End_ (1 mile S.W. from Redbourn Station, M.R.) is a hamlet.

RICKMANSWORTH is in the extreme S.W. of the county; the rivers Colne, Chess, and Gade unite here, close to the Grand Junction Ca.n.a.l; and it is easy to understand why the place was formerly called "Rykemereswearth,"

_i.e._, the rich moor-meadow. It is a compact little town with many quaint houses and quainter by-paths. The residence now called _Basing House_, in the High Street, was for some time the home of William Penn, the Quaker; a photograph of it was long since reproduced in the _Quiver_. The manor was given by Offa to the Abbots of St. Albans, who retained it till the Dissolution, after which Edward VI. granted it to Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London. Henry III. granted a market to be held in the town every Wednesday; it was subsequently held on Sat.u.r.day, but has long been discontinued. Paper-making and brewing are now largely carried on in the neighbourhood.

The church, at the S. end of Church Street, was rebuilt (except the tower) in 1826; and again in 1870, from designs by Sir Arthur Blomfield.

It is Perp., almost entirely embattled, and is constructed of flints, with stone dressings. Note (1) sedilia, piscina and modern oak stalls in chancel; (2) restored marble altar tomb carrying shield of arms, and inscription to Sir Henry Cary, Baron of Leppington and Earl of Monmouth (d. 1661); (3) bra.s.s with effigy to Thomas Day (d. 1613), and his wives Alice (d. 1585), and Joane (d. 1598); a separate inscription in the "Ashbie Chapple" ran--I am not sure if it is still preserved:--

"Here ly byrid undyr this stone Thomas Davy and his two Wyfs Alice and Joan".

The vicarage is thought to be the oldest in Hertfordshire; it still retains portions dating from the middle of the fifteenth century.

One mile S. is _Moor Park_ (Lord Ebury). The house has undergone many changes. George Nevil, Archbishop of York, built a house in the park in the reign of Edward IV., and sometimes entertained that monarch, and we read of a lodge (was it Nevil's house?) being here when Cardinal Wolsey owned the manor of "More Park". The estate changed hands several times before we find it in the hands of the unfortunate James Fitzroy, Duke of Monmouth, who is believed to have built a large mansion on the site of the present house. This mansion was almost rebuilt by B. H. Styles, a man who made a fortune over South Sea Shares, and is said to have spent 130,000 in erecting and adorning his house in this beautiful park, with the a.s.sistance of the architect Leoni. The house that Styles built still largely survives in the present structure, after several alterations and much embellishment during eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is a large and stately mansion of Portland stone, with fine Corinthian portico, the columns of which are about 50 feet high.

The vast hall was almost covered with cla.s.sical and mediaeval designs by Sir James Thornhill, who had to sue Styles before he could obtain his remuneration; note the huge statues supporting the five marble doorways.

The house may be seen to advantage some distance from the terrace; but it must be remembered that it no longer retains its wings, which were removed when Mr. T. B. Rous lived at Moor Park towards the end of the eighteenth century.

Permission must be obtained before the park, grounds or house can be inspected. The park contains about 500 acres and is famous for its splendid timber, some of its oaks being of almost perfect development and proportions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RICKMANSWORTH]

_Rickmansworth Park_, N. from the town, has a modern house well situated. The park stretches nearly to Loudwater Mill on the river Chess, and is, like Moor Park, beautifully wooded.

RIDGE (2 miles S.W. from Potter's Bar Station, G.N.R.) is on the Middles.e.x border, close to South Mimms. The village doubtless owes its name to its situation on the hill. The small church is mainly Perp., but the chancel is E. Dec.; it contains several memorials to the Blount family, including one to Charles Blount (1654-93). He was an infidel of more bitterness than ability, as may be seen from his translation of Philostratus's _Apollonius Tyanaeus_; readers may remember that his _Just Vindication of Learning_, etc., was stigmatised by Macaulay as "garbled extracts" from Milton's _Areopagitica_. On being refused a licence to marry his deceased wife's sister, he committed suicide--Pope says he "despatch'd himself". The Blount family resided in the neighbourhood for many generations; Sir Henry Pope Blount, father of the above-mentioned Charles, "built here a fair structure of Brick, made fair Walks and Gardens to it, and died seiz'd thereof". He was the author of _A Voyage into the Levant_.

_Ringshall_ is a hamlet on the Bucks border, in the parish of Little Gaddesden.

_Roe Green_ (4 miles S.E. from Ashwell Station, G.N.R.) is in a pleasant and very quiet neighbourhood. The nearest parish church is Sandon, about 1 mile N.E. Roe Wood is a little N. from the hamlet.

_Roestock_, a hamlet in the parish of North Mimms, is 1 mile N. from the Park. Smallford Station, G.N.R., is 1 mile N.W.

_Round Bush_ consists of a few cottages, 1 mile S.W. from Radlett Station, M.R.

_Row Green_ (1 mile S.W. from Hatfield) lies close to the road from St.

Albans to Hatfield. Row Hyde is a little farther S.W.

_Rowley Green_, on the road from Barnet Gate to Shenley, is nearly 2 miles E. from Elstree Station, M.R.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HIGH STREET, ROYSTON]

ROYSTON, an ancient market town on the Icknield Way at its junction with Ermine Street, was until recently partly in Cambs. It is supposed to owe its name to a Dame Roesia who placed a cross here on the highway, near which spot a monastery of Black Canons was founded by Eustace de Mere and others in the reign of Henry II. Early in the reign of Henry IV. the town was almost destroyed by fire. Royston enjoyed several market privileges in the good old days, and it is recorded that early in the fifteenth century wheat was so plentiful that it was sold in Royston market for 12d. a quarter.

The church was erected close to the monastery late in the thirteenth century, and at the Dissolution was const.i.tuted the parish church.

Thirty years ago it was restored, and more recently enlarged, and is now an imposing structure of flint and rubble, E.E. in style. The tower (W.) is embattled and carries four pinnacles. The fine lancet windows in the chancel were discovered during restoration in 1872, as were also the fragments of the old screen, since pieced together to form the present pulpit and reading desk. The alabaster effigy in the chancel, of a knight in armour, is believed to represent one of the Scales family.

There are several old bra.s.ses: (1) to William Taberam, Rector of Therfield (d. 1432), this was large, but only the upper part now remains; (2) to a civilian and his wife (_circa_ 1500); (3) to Father William Chamber, who founded an annual sermon to be preached in the church on Rogation Mondays (d. 1546). There are some good modern windows of stained gla.s.s.

James I., who had been entertained at Royston by Robert Chester during his progress from Scotland to London, built a lodge near Royston Heath, to which both he and Charles I. occasionally resorted, the latter being brought here as prisoner in 1647. Some cottages still standing on the outskirts of the Heath are said to have been used for stables when James I. used to hunt in the neighbourhood, and by inquiring for the "Old Palace" visitors will be shown what little remains of his Majesty's hunting lodge. The Heath is now famous for its fine golf links.

Beneath the old boundary between the two counties, and close to the Post Office, is the famous _Royston Cave_, which visitors should not fail to see. It was accidentally discovered in 1742 by some men who were digging a hole in the market-place, and is now entered by a specially constructed pa.s.sage under the street. It was visited by Louis XVIII.

Hewn out of the solid chalk, its greatest height is about 25 ft., its diameter about 17 ft. It contains curious, and in some cases uncouth figures and coloured reliefs of saints, kings, queens, etc., of all sizes and ages, and some crucifixes. The late Joseph Beldam, F.S.A., was of opinion that the cave dates from pre-Christian times, that it became in turn a Roman sepulchre and an oratory, and that it was closed during the Reformation.

There are still the traces of several tumuli in the neighbourhood, and ancient coins, etc., have been found, but the evidences of any Roman occupation are not very convincing.

Royston is a somewhat quaint town, with some narrow byways and odd-looking houses, amongst which the Old Plough Inn is not the least noticeable.

_Rush Green_ (1 mile S. from Ware) is a small hamlet.

_Rushden_, formerly Risendene and Risden (5 miles S.E. from Baldock), has a stuccoed brick church, Dec. and Perp. Chauncy saw in it, "no Inscription, Monument, or other Remark," but in 1754 the monument of Sir Adolphus Meetkerke, Kt., was brought here from St. Botolph's, Aldersgate. Meetkerke was Amba.s.sador from Flanders to the Court of Queen Elizabeth, and the author of several volumes. Note the canopy in nave, thought to have covered a statue of the Virgin. In the reign of Henry II. the patronage of the church was given by William Ba.s.set, Sheriff of Leicestershire, to the Canons and Church of St. Peter's at Dunstable.

_Rustling Green_ is midway between Knebworth and St. Paul's Walden Parks. The district is prettily diversified by small woods. By the shortest way through the park Knebworth Station is about 3 miles E.

THE RYE HOUSE, on the W. bank of the river Lea, is a famous resort of fishermen, excursionists and folk wishing to see the Great Bed of Ware, brought here from Ware in 1869. The bed is a huge construction of solid oak, quaintly carved, and large enough to hold twelve adults, as is proved by a story which can readily be found by the curious, but which is unfit for repet.i.tion in these pages. It is alluded to by Shakespeare, Byron and other writers. The present Rye House is modern, but attached to it are some remains of the old House, some account of which must be given here.

In his description of the "Mannor of the Rye" Chauncy says, "King Henry VI. granted licence to Andrew Ogard and others, that they might impark the scite of the Mannor of Rye, otherwise called the Isle of Rye in Stansted Abbot, fifty Acres of Land, eleven Acres of Meadow, eight Acres of Pasture and Sixteen Acres of Wood, erect a Castle there with Lime and Stone, make Battlements and Loopholes &c."[6] The castle built by Ogard pa.s.sed into the hands of the Baesh family; it was doubtless in part rebuilt at different times, for what remains of it is of brick. In course of time it became the property of Lieut., afterwards Col., Rumbold, known as "Hannibal" among his a.s.sociates, who had been a private in Fairfax's famous regiment of 1648. This man was the originator of the _Rye House Plot_.

[Footnote 6: _Hist. Antiq. of Hertfordshire_, etc., vol. i., p. 383, ed.

1826.]

The story of that plot may be recapitulated in few words. In the spring of 1683 Charles II. and James Duke of York were at Newmarket. Rumbold and some of his ultra-Republican friends heard that the Royal party would return to London by way of Rye House. They met together and arranged to secrete some men in the house, to create a disturbance as the King pa.s.sed and to kill him in the confusion which would follow. The King escaped--probably, as most writers agree, because he left Newmarket earlier than was expected. The plot soon became known, the Rye House was searched and many persons were charged with High Treason. Two ill.u.s.trious men became implicated, through the allegations of Howard of Escrick and others--Algernon Sidney and Lord Russell. Both were certainly innocent, but both were beheaded, and Russell was buried at Chenies in Bucks (almost on the Herts border). Rumbold fled to Holland, joined the expedition which Argyle headed in Scotland, and was hanged in Edinburgh in 1685. Visitors to the neighbourhood of the Rye House will perhaps be a.s.sured that Rumbold suffered on a tree near by, but such was not the case.

SACOMBE (4 miles N.W. from Ware) lies scattered over a considerable district. It was long ago called Suevecamp (_i.e._, Suaviscampus) because of its pleasant situation. The small Dec. church stands on the hill, at the N. end of the Park; it is of ancient foundation, but was entirely restored about fifty years ago. There are two sedilia and a piscina in the chancel, and two bra.s.ses, to John Dodyngton and Eleanor his wife (d. 1544 and 1550 respectively). Sacombe Park is beautifully timbered; the present house of red brick dates from about 1800.

ST. ALBANS is one of the most ancient and interesting places in England; it became a city on the foundation of the Bishopric of St. Albans in 1877. It may be approached by road from London, (1) by way of Barnet and London Colney, the G.N.R. Station (branch from Hatfield) being pa.s.sed on the left nearly a mile from the old clock tower and market-place; (2) by way of Edgware, Elstree and Radlett, by which route, after pa.s.sing St.

Stephens, the L.&N.W.R. Station (branch from Watford) is on the right and the steep Holywell Hill leading to High Street is straight before.

The river Ver skirts the entire S. limits of the city itself; the field that slopes upwards from the silk mill, in a N. direction, is called the Abbey Orchard, and on the summit of the slope stands the great Abbey of St. Alban.

As the ancient Roman city--the _Verulamium_ of Antoninus--stood some distance to the W., a brief account of it will be found under the heading Verulam. The history of St. Albans itself commences with the death of Alban, the proto-martyr of Britain, who was flogged with rods and beheaded by the Romans for having sheltered the priest Amphibalus, connived at his escape, and adopted his faith (_circa_ 285-305; the date is very uncertain). During the fifth century the Saxons captured and destroyed Verulam and built a new town on the hill some distance E.

This they named _Watlingceaster_ (the town on Watling Street), but when (793) Offa built a monastery to the memory of Alban on Holmhurst Hill, the traditionary site of the martyrdom, the town itself became known as St. Albans. Gildas, Bede and other old authorities agree that an earlier church stood on this spot; they state, indeed, that it was built soon after the death of St. Alban.

The plan of the city is, like the Abbey, cruciform, four old high-roads meeting together near the Clock Tower, N.W. from Dunstable, S.W. from Watford, S.E. from London, N.E. from Wheathampstead. The latter unites with the road from Harpenden and Luton at The Cricketers, mile N.W.

from St. Peter's Church. The four roads, on entering the city, are respectively called Verulam Road, Holywell Hill, London Road and St.

Peter's Street; one of the oldest thoroughfares, however, is that called Fishpool Street, which runs from near the W. end of the Abbey to the flour mill on the Ver. Quite recently several of the oldest houses in the neighbourhood were in this street; but some have now been pulled down.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FIGHTING c.o.c.kS, ST. ALBAN'S _The oldest Inn in England_]

We will enter the city from the direction of St. Stephens. Crossing the bridge over the Ver, we turn left by the Duke of Marlborough, pa.s.s through the gate near the river side and keeping the cress-beds on the left reach the silk mill. Turning right we ascend the hill W. of the Abbey orchard, obtaining meanwhile a fine view of the stately W. front of the Abbey itself, as reconstructed by Lord Grimthorpe. Our way into the city lies through the old, partially ivy-clad _Gate House_, a relic of the Benedictine Monastery; note the Perp. pointed arch and vaulted roof. This was originally the entrance to the Abbey court, the "Magna Porta" of the old monastic days. There was a former structure on or near the same spot; this was blown down and the present building dates from the rule of Thomas de la Mere, thirtieth abbot (1349-96). Used as a jail some centuries ago, it has long been known as St. Alban's _Grammar School_; the battlemented house S.W. of the archway is the residence of the head master. The claims of this school to be _the oldest in England_ cannot be adequately discussed here. Suffice it to say that doc.u.ments attesting its existence date from Abbot Richard de Albini (1097-1119); his successor, Geoffrey de Gorham, came from Normandy to become its master. Matthew Paris records that the school was afterwards kept by a nephew of Abbot Warine (or Warren) de Cambridge, and had at that time more scholars than any school in England. Pa.s.sing through the arch we notice on the left a small, triangular burial ground. The spot is called Romeland. Here George Tankerville was burnt by order of Bishop Bonner, on 26th August, 1556.

Pa.s.sing straight forward into Spicer Street the _Congregational Chapel_, founded in 1797, is on the right. A little farther on is College Street; on the left side stands the house in which Cowper was placed under the charge of Dr. Cotton when his insanity was most p.r.o.nounced. To reach the old _Clock Tower_ we turn right into Verulam Street and left into High Street. The Tower stands at the S. end of the Market Place; note the quaint, narrow thoroughfare at its W. side, called French Row. The Tower is Perp., of flint and dressed stone, battlemented, and surmounted by a small spire; the bas.e.m.e.nt has long been utilised as a saddler's shop. It dates from the fifteenth century,[7] but was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1864. In it hangs the great bell "Gabriel" cast early in the reign of Edward III.; it is now used for striking the hour and formerly tolled the curfew. In the foreground, where the drinking fountain now stands, was "Eleanor's Cross," erected, like the cross at Waltham (_q.v._), by Edward I. in memory of his Queen. It was destroyed about 1700. The old market-place, so quaint even fifty years ago, is now largely occupied by modern shops; partly by reason of a fire which occurred many years back.