Bedmond, or Bedmont, together with Sheppeys, forms a large hamlet 1 mile N. from the village of Abbots Langley, and nearly 2 miles N.E. from King’s Langley Station, L.&N.W.R.
Bedwell Plash is a hamlet 1 mile S.E. from Stevenage.
Beeson’s End is pleasantly situated near the S. extremity of Harpenden Common, and about 1¾ mile nearly due E. from Redbourn Station, M.R.
Bell Bar, a hamlet in the parish of North Mimms, is near Brookman’s Park, and about 2½ miles N. from Potter’s Bar Station, G.N.R. (Middlesex).
Bendish lies on high ground, 2½ miles S.W. from St. Paul’s Walden ([q.v.]). The nearest station is at Luton Hoo (Beds) about 4 miles S.W.
Bengeo (¾ mile N. from Hertford) is a village between the rivers Beane and Rib; Ware Park is close by (N.E.). It is now in the borough of Hertford. The old church dedicated to St. Leonard, is Early Norman; there are very few churches of older foundation in Hertfordshire. It was restored at several times between 1884 and 1893. The bell in the wooden cote bears date 1636; a small Norman arch divides the nave from the chancel; there are lancets and a Perp. window in the apse. The monuments are mostly to local gentry. Eric, seventh Baron Reay, is buried in the tiny churchyard. The new church, erected on the hillside in 1855, is of Kentish rag. There are terra-cotta panels by Tinworth in the reredos. The walk from Bengeo to Hertford, past the sandy warren-hills, so beautifully clad with fir, larch, etc., with the Lea winding through the low meadows on the left, is one of the finest in the county.
Bengeo (Rural) was formerly a part of the same parish as the above. Near by, at Chapmore End, is the Hertford County Reformatory for boys.
Bennett’s End is the name of two small hamlets, one near Leverstock Green ([q.v.]) and the other near Hemel Hempstead ([q.v.]).
Bennington (4½ miles N.E. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R.) was once the residence of Mercian kings. The village and neighbourhood are picturesque; the roads from Walkern, Hertford and Knebworth meet where a tiny triangular green is shaded by fine elms. The river Beane is 1 mile to the W. The church is at the S. end of the village; it dates from the fourteenth century. The nave is wide, with clerestory; the narrow chancel has a chapel on the N. side. The tower is embattled, and contains a ring of eight bells. There are triple sedilia, and stalls of carved oak in the chancel; what was once a holy water basin is in the porch. Note also (1) the oaken rood-screen, surmounted by a large cross; (2) the memorial to the Cæsar family (1622-61); (3) the (supposed) tomb of Sir John de Benstede (1432), a baron who sat in Parliament in the time of Edward II., as we learn from Dugdale’s Monasticon; (4) Carved oak reredos. Near the churchyard a large house of red brick stands on the site of the castle of the Benstedes, in ruins when Chauncy wrote two centuries back. Bertulf, King of the Mercians, held a council here in 850. Bennington Park (1¼ mile E.) is one of three deer parks in Hertfordshire which figured in Domesday Book.
BERKHAMPSTEAD (Great) an interesting town in the W. of the county, is situated on the little river Bulbourne, and is chiefly famous as the birthplace of William Cowper, who was born in the rectory on 26th November, 1731. The Grammar School was founded by Dr. John Incent in 1541. The castle, of which there are still ruins close to the L.&N.W.R., dates from before the Domesday Survey. Visitors must not expect to find a castle here such as those at Carisbroke or Lewes. The ruins, although of considerable extent, are fragmentary, and little more than the plan of this stronghold can now be traced. The moats are double to the N.W., but triple elsewhere. Henry II. held a court here; and the castle was at times the residence of many monarchs, particularly Edward III. The Black Prince was a visitor here during his father’s reign. The Church of St. Peter, on the N. side of the High Street, is by local authorities claimed to be larger than any parish church in the county, saving only St. Albans Abbey; but this distinction is also claimed for St. Mary’s, Hitchin. The original structure was of great antiquity, dating from pre-Norman times; but it was wholly rebuilt early in the reign of Henry III. There are chantry chapels on either side of each transept; that called “St. John’s Chantry” dates from about 1350. Among many other features of interest note (1) fine groined roof of northern chantries; (2) lancet windows in the chancel, containing fourteenth century glass; (3) the E. window, a memorial to the poet Cowper; (4) tablet to Ann Cowper, the poet’s mother; (5) brass to John Raven, Esquire to the Black Prince; (6) altar tomb to John Sayer, head cook to Charles II.; (7) mosaic reredos; (8) altar tomb and effigies of Richard Torrington (d. 1356) and Margaret his wife, in N. transept. During the restoration of this transept in 1881 a portion of an ancient arch was discovered.