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] 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.]).