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) brass 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 assistance 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 classical and mediæval 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.
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 (2½ miles S.W. from Potter’s Bar Station, G.N.R.) is on the Middlesex 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 Tyanæus; 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.