Hertfordshire Part 6

_Bull's Mill_ is 2 miles N. from Hertford.

BUNTINGFORD, a small town on the river Rib, on the Royston-Cambridge Road, consists chiefly of the long High Street and of a few small by-ways, E. by the river side, and W. on the roads to Aspenden and Cottered. Standing across the High Street is the cruciform church of St.

Peter, built in 1614-26 as a chapel-of-ease to Layston (_q.v._). An old bra.s.s tablet still preserved represents the holding of a Divine service in the church before completion. There is also a portrait of Seth Ward (see Aspenden); the almshouses a few yards W. were founded by him in 1684. "This town," wrote Chauncy, "is of small antiquity, for there is no mention of it in Domesdei Book, neither can I find anything of it before Anno. 21. Edwd. III., when that King did grant one Market every Week, and one Fair every Year in Buntingford, to Elizabeth de Burgo and her Heirs, reserving the Yearly Rent of 6d." At the N. end of High Street is the old pound. _Corney Bury_ ( mile N.) is a fine old manor house. Little of historic importance is to be gleaned in the town, but a ramble from end to end is interesting by reason of the many quaint inns and cottages, of all ages and styles, which meet the eye at every turn.

_Burnham Green_ is a hamlet 1 mile N.E. from Welwyn Station, G.N.R.

_Bury Green_ (1 mile W. from Cheshunt Station, G.E.R.) is a small hamlet near Theobald's Park; also

_Bury Green_, a hamlet 2 miles W. from Bishop's Stortford.

_Bury Hill and Bury Mill._ (See Hemel Hempstead.)

_Bury Stede._ (See Hexton.)

_Bush Barrow_ is 1 mile N. from Wallington, on Metley Hill, midway between the village and the Icknield Way.

BUSHEY is a large village, now practically the S.E. suburb of Watford.

The station (L.&N.W.R.) is in the hollow between the village itself and High Street, Watford; cyclists must be careful of the descent towards that town. Near the centre of the village is a small green and pond, and here stands the partly Dec. church of St. James, rebuilt in 1871 by Sir Gilbert Scott. The E.E. window, triple lancet, is to the memory of Edwards Marjoribanks of the Hall (d. 1879) and his wife. Silas t.i.tus, whose name is remembered for his supposed authorship of the notorious pamphlet _Killing noe Murder_, was born at Bushey and buried in this church; there is a headstone to his daughter in the graveyard.

BUSHEY HEATH (1 mile S.E. from the above) is on the Middles.e.x border. It is now an ecclesiastical district, formed in 1889; the church, an E.E.

brick structure, dates from 1838; the porches were added in 1882. The district is very healthy.

_Bushey, Little_, is E. from Bushey Heath, which it almost joins.

_Bushey Mill_ is on the river Colne, mile N.E. from Watford Junction.

_Butchery Green._ (See Hertford.)

BYGRAVE (1 mile N.E. from Baldock Station, G.N.R.) has a small church built of clunch from the Ashwell pits near by. It dates from perhaps 1320. Note (1) octagonal font (about 1420-40), (2) slab on floor to a former rector, a Huguenot (d. 1725), and (3) the piscina in chancel.

Close by, at the Manor House, are the remains of some moats constructed five centuries ago by the resident knight, Sir John Thornbury, because of the many marauders that infested the neighbourhood. The place was once a market-town; the market, granted by Henry III., was held each Monday. The village lies on high ground, a few minutes' walk N. from the Icknield Way.

CALDECOTE (about 3 miles N.N.E. from Baldock Station, G.N.R.) has a Perp. church of rubble, containing a few memorials, a very finely canopied holy water basin, and a font dating from, say, 1480.

_Caldicot Hill_ is 1 mile E. from Bushey Heath, on the Middles.e.x border.

Ca.s.sIOBURY PARK. (See Watford.)

_Catlip_ is a hamlet near Chorley Wood Station, Met.R.

_Chandler's Cross_ (2 miles S.W. from King's Langley Station, L.&N.W.R.) is a small hamlet.

_Chapmore End_ is 2 miles N. from Hertford.

_Chelsing_ is near the river Rib, 3 miles N. from Ware.

_Cherry Green_ (1 mile S.W. from West Mill Station, G.E.R.) is a small hamlet.

CHESHUNT, according to Grose's _Antiquities_, the _Durolitum_ of Antoninus, is a large parish which contains much of interest. Its ancient names, Cestre, Ceaster, Cestrehunt, leave little doubt that it was a Roman station.[3] At Roman Urn Inn, near the station, G.E.R., is an urn imbedded in the wall; it was discovered close by some years ago, and is probably of Roman manufacture. Cheston, yet another old name of this spot, has been thought to be derived from the chestnut trees once plentiful in the neighbourhood, of which many of the houses were built.

William I. gave the manor to Alan the Red, Earl of Brittany, and it remained an appendage to that earldom for a long time. Edward III.

granted a weekly market to be held in the town every Monday. The Church of St. Mary the Virgin was built in 1420 by Nicholas Dixon, who held the living of Cheshunt for thirty years. It is Perp., entirely embattled; the W. tower has an octagonal cupola. Restoration was carefully effected during 1872-4, under Mr. G. F. Bodley. The rood-screen, lectern and pulpit are of carved oak, all comparatively new. The memorials are very numerous; amongst them may be noted (1) bra.s.s on chancel floor to the above-mentioned Nicholas Dixon (d. 1448); (2) bra.s.s to William Pyke (d.

1449); (3) two female effigies, 1500-20; (4) altar tomb in chancel to Robert Dacres, Privy Councillor to Henry VIII. There are windows of stained gla.s.s to a former vicar (d. 1858); to General Miles (d. 1860), and, in the tower, to one Robert Archer, for thirty-six years parish clerk. N. from the main street, near the river Lea, stood a small Benedictine nunnery. It originally belonged to the Canons of Cathele, but Henry III. turned them out and gave the property and rights to the "Prioress and Nuns of Cesthont". The college, a famous inst.i.tution, stands near the church; it was founded in 1768 by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, at Trevecca, near Talgarth, S. Wales, and removed to Cheshunt after her death. A few years ago it was bought by the Church of England, for use as a theological college. Close by, too, is the site of Pengelly House, once the home of Richard Cromwell. Cheshunt Park (1 mile N.) is full of memories of the Cromwells and the Russells. The Great House, near Church Gate, was one of the many residences of Cardinal Wolsey. Both the house and the moat are still preserved.

[Footnote 3: Chauncy writes: "This Vill in old Records was called Cestrehunt, from Castrum in the Latin, which might, in all Probability, import some castle erected here by the Romans; and the Saxons imitating the name, though corruptly ... might from hence call it Cestrehunt".]

CHESS, river. (See Introduction.)

_Cheverell's Green_ (1 mile N.W. from Flamstead, and about 4 miles N.W.

from Redbourn Station, M.R.) is a small hamlet and green adjoining Beechwood Park.

_Childwick Green_ is 1 mile S. from Harpenden Common, and 2 miles N.

from St. Albans.

CHIPPERFIELD (2 miles W. from King's Langley Station, L.&N.W.R.) was made an ecclesiastical parish in 1863. The small church on the common, E.E. in style, built in 1837, is of little interest. There is a good lich-gate at the N. entrance to the churchyard. The neighbourhood is pleasant and varied.

_Chipping_ (2 miles N. from Buntingford) is a small village on the Royston Road.

_Chivesfield (or Chesfield)_ is 2 miles N.E. from Stevenage Station, G.N.R. It is locally famous for its ruined church. One John Wykins was rector here as early as 1323. The windows were partly destroyed in 1642. Some interesting memorials were extant in Chauncy's day, and are mentioned in the second volume of his _Antiquities_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHORLEY WOOD COMMON]

CHORLEY WOOD, a village 2 miles N.W. from Rickmansworth, has a station on the Met.R. near the Amersham Road. The church, E.E. in style, dates from 1845, but was largely rebuilt in 1870. William Penn, the Quaker, was married here. There are many pretty walks through the Valley of the Chess, which flows between the village and Sarratt (_q.v._).

_Church End_ is a small hamlet in the parish of Albury, 3 miles E. from Braughing Station, G.E.R.

_Clapgate_, a hamlet on the river Ash, is close to Church End.

_Clay End_ (1 mile S.E. from Walkern) is about equidistant--5 miles--from Stevenage or Westmill Stations.

_Clay Hill_ is on the high road between Bushey and Bushey Heath (_q.v._).

CLOTHALL (2 miles S.E. from Baldock) has an interesting church, chiefly Perp., on a gentle hill. There is a good bra.s.s in the chancel to John Vynter, first rector of the church (d. 1404), and one to John Wright, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, also rector here (d. 1519). On the S. of the church is a small Dec. chantry chapel. Note also a sixteenth century bra.s.s to the wife and sixteen children of William Bramfield of Clothall. The Saxons are said to have called the spot Cley Hall, because it stood on a hill of clay. Clothall Bury is a little to the E.

_c.o.c.kernhoe Green_ is 2 miles S.W. from Offley, and 2 miles N.E. from Luton Station (Beds).

_c.o.c.khampstead_ (2 miles N.E. from Braughing Station, G.E.R.) is near Albury Hall.

CODICOTE (3 miles N.W. from Welwyn Station, G.N.R.) is a large village on the Welwyn-Hitchin Road, with a pleasant heath a little W. The Church of St. Giles is an ancient structure, E.E., restored in 1853; it stands in a field mile N. from the village. The S. chapel dates from 1312.

The embattled W. tower is a fine structure. There are several memorial windows, comparatively modern.

COLE GREEN has a station on the G.N.R. branch line from Hatfield to Hertford. From the station little is to be seen except the Cowper's Arms and a few cottages.

_Coleman's Green_ (1 mile S.E. from Wheathampstead Station, G.N.R.) is prettily situated near the "Devil's d.y.k.e" and Brocket Hall. John Bunyan sometimes preached in a cottage here; a large chimney-stack, bearing an inscription, still marks the spot, unless quite recently removed.

_Collier's End_ is on high ground, on the Old North Road, 2 miles S.W.

from Standon Station, G.E.R. It is a very typical English hamlet.

COLNE, river. (See Introduction.)

COLNEY HEATH (1 mile S. from Smallford Station, G.N.R.) is an ecclesiastical parish. The brick church (1844) is in Byzantine style; it has an apsidal chancel, and small N. porch and tower. The new West Herts County Asylum is close by.