Barnet, or Chipping Barnet, originally Chipping Bernet (7876), a large and important market-town near the Middlesex border of the county, with a station (High Barnet) on a branch of the Great Northern Railway. Near by are New Barnet and East Barnet, with a station on the main line, and having a population of 10,024. The name Barnet is a corruption of the Saxon Bergnet, signifying a little hill; the site of the town then forming a small rising in the midst of the great forest; the prefix Chipping = market is a word of Scandinavian origin, represented in the Swedish Jonköping and the Danish Kjøbenhavn = (Copenhagen). Barnet was the scene of a battle in 1471, when the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians, killing their leader, Warwick the king-maker. The market was famous for its cattle; and in addition to this there is an annual horse-fair, which formerly attracted dealers from all parts of the country. (pp. [9], [53], [54], [82], [99], [128].)
East Barnet (2867), known as La Barnette in the thirteenth century, and Low Barnet in the fifteenth century, is situated on the stream known as Pymmes’ Brook, on the western side of the valley of which stands the almost deserted old parish church.
Bayford (330), a village nearly midway between Hatfield and Hoddesdon. In the churchyard is buried William Yarrell the naturalist. Bayfordbury is celebrated for its collection of portraits of members of the Kitcat Club painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. (p. [147].)
Bengeo (3063), formerly Bengehoo, a village in the valley of the Beane one mile north of Hertford. The old church, now little used, is one of the oldest in the county, dating apparently from the early Norman period. Together with Great Wymondley church, it is peculiar, so far as Hertfordshire is concerned, in having an apsidal chancel. In place of a tower, it has a wooden bell-cote. Panshanger, formerly the property of the late Lord Cowper, is near by.
Bennington (522), a market-town and manor, situated on the Beane, from which it takes its name; it was an important place in the ninth century, when it was the residence of the kings of Mercia. The church is fourteenth century. (pp. [53], [54], [56], [78], [111].)
Berkhampstead, or Berkhampstead Magna (5140), an important market-town[3] on the London and North-Western Railway and Grand Junction Canal, and one of the oldest in the county, the castle dating from Norman times, and being possibly on the site of an earlier Saxon edifice. It was here that the crown of England was offered to William the Conqueror. The manor and castle were granted first to Piers Gaveston and subsequently to Edward the Black Prince, but were afterwards annexed to the Duchy of Cornwall. Berkhampstead, which is now a petty-sessions town, and has an ancient grammar school, formerly returned burgesses to Parliament. Its almshouses were built in 1684. Cowper was born here. Berkhampstead Parva and Berkhampstead St Mary’s—the latter now generally known as Northchurch—are villages in the neighbourhood. The church dates from the thirteenth century; it contains the beautiful Torrington tomb. (pp. [2], [7], [63], [80], [81], [82], [91], [92], [109], [111], [131], [132], [141].)
[3] The market at Berkhampstead has been discontinued for many years.
Bishop’s Stortford (7143) is the most important town on the Essex border of the county, and has a station on the main line of the Great Eastern Railway, and a bridge over the Stort. The town, which has a market, possessed a considerable trade in Saxon times, and was the property of the Bishop of London, and to protect this, and for the purpose of consolidating his own rights, William the Conqueror built a small castle here. Bishop’s Stortford has a grammar school, and formerly returned members to Parliament. The church, which dates from the tenth century, is an imposing Perpendicular edifice, and stands on the site of an earlier building. (pp. [23], [24], [79], [92], [112], [132], [144].)
