Hertfordshire

by Richard Lydekker

Stevenage (3957), a market-town on the Great North Road and Great Northern Railway, between Welwyn and Hitchin. The town originally stood near to the church of St Nicholas, now half-a-mile distant; but after a disastrous fire, a new settlement sprang up on each side of the North Road, which runs to the south-west of the old church. The fortieth, and last, abbot of St Albans was Richard Boreham de Stevenage, elected in 1538, and dismissed the following year on the dissolution of the monasteries. Elmwood House, now pulled down, was the home of Lucas, the Hertfordshire hermit. (pp. [14], [39], [116], [128], [129].)

Tring (4349) forms the extreme western outpost of Hertfordshire, being situated in the peninsula projecting from this part of the county into the heart of Buckinghamshire. It has a station on the North-Western Railway some considerable distance from the town itself; and of late years has become well-known in the scientific world on account of the private natural history museum established by the Hon. Walter Rothschild in Tring Park, the seat of Lord Rothschild. Tring was formerly one of the centres of the straw-plait industry. (pp. [18], [42], [46], [47], [54], [72], [90], [99], [105].)

Waltham Cross (5291), a town on the Essex border of the county, with a station on the Great Eastern Railway, which takes its name from one of the crosses erected at the resting-places on the funeral route of Queen Eleanor from Grantham. (pp. [124], [125].)

Ware (5573), an ancient town to the north-east of Hertford, situated on the river Lea (which is here navigable), and on a branch of the Great Eastern Railway. Ware, which is associated with the story of “John Gilpin,” is the chief centre of the malting industry in the county; the grant of a market was made by King Henry III in the year 1254. (pp. [5], [44], [70], [80].)

Watford (29,327) is by far the largest town in the county, being the only one with a population which exceeded 20,000 at the census of 1901. It is situated in the south-western corner of the county, and is traversed by the Colne; it has a station on the North-Western Railway, from which a branch line runs to St Albans. A market has existed since the time of Henry II, and is stated to have been granted by Henry I. Watford played an important part in Wat Tyler’s rising. The Grove, the seat of the Earls of Clarendon, and Cassiobury, that of the Earls of Essex, are situated in the vicinity of the town. Watford is the centre of the West Herts parliamentary division and has numerous mills and factories. The parish church contains some magnificent monuments by Nicholas Stone. (pp. [6], [31], [34], [44], [99], [122], [123], [131], [132], [141].)

Watton or Watton-at-Stone (710), a village in the valley of the Beane, near the centre of the county, taking its name from the number of springs in the neighbourhood—Wat, in Saxon, signifying a moist place. Watton, which was in existence as a manor in the time of the Conqueror, was the home of the ancient family of Boteler, whose seat was the present Woodhall Park, now the property of the Abel Smith family. Near by is the manor house of Aston Bury, a fine example of a sixteenth century house, also once belonging to the Botelers, with tall, twisted chimneys, a magnificent staircase, and an upper room occupying the whole width of the building. (p. [113].)

Welwyn (1660), a village on the Great Northern Railway between Hatfield and Stevenage. Young, who was born near Bishop’s Waltham in Hampshire, became Rector of the place, wrote his Night Thoughts here, and is buried in the churchyard. Two centuries ago Welwyn was celebrated for its chalybeate springs. (pp. [62], [128], [149].)

Wheathampstead (2405), a village in the valley of the Lea, between Luton and Hatfield, with a station on the Luton and Dunstable branch of the Great Northern Railway. The parish originally included Harpenden, which was separated about 1860. One of the oldest buildings is Wheathampstead Place, or Place Farm, which dates back to the time of Queen Elizabeth, and has some fine Tudor chimneys; it was formerly the property of the Brockett family, whose monuments are in the church. The church itself, which is a cruciform edifice with a central tower, is dedicated to St Helen, and was judiciously restored in the sixties; the chancel with its three beautiful lancet windows was built about 1230, the tower was rebuilt towards the close of the thirteenth century, and the north transept between 1330–40. The parish includes the manors of Mackery End and Lamer; the latter taking its name from the de la Mare family, by whom it was held in the fourteenth century. Lamer House was rebuilt about 1761. (pp. [38], [67], [90], [97], [101].)