Hertfordshire Part 12

_No Man's Land_ is a large tract of common, partly covered by furze, stretching left from the road between Sandridge and Wheathampstead. Some years ago a farmer close by collected quite a museum of stuffed birds, etc., shot in the neighbourhood, which many persons visited, but I understand the collection is now dispersed.

In 1884 Sir John Evans showed to Mr. W. G. Smith "a good white ovate palaeolithic implement," one of two found on No Man's Land Common. In December, 1886, Mr. Smith visited the gravel pits there and found a somewhat similar implement _in situ_; this latter is engraved in his _Man the Primaeval Savage_. At the same time Mr. Smith found two neolithic celts on the common.

_n.o.bland Green_ (1 mile N.W. from Widford Station, G.E.R.) is little more than a farm and a few cottages.

NORTHAW (2 miles E. from Potter's Bar Station, G.N.R.) is a village on the Middles.e.x border, near the source of the river Colne, and a place of considerable interest. In the wood N. from the village there lived a hermit named Sigar, the subject of some monkish legends. He lived about the time of Henry I., and was buried beside Roger the Monk (see Markyate Street) in the S. aisle of the Baptistery of St. Alban's Abbey. There was originally a small church close to the village, E.E. or perhaps late Norman; this was replaced by the cruciform church of St. Thomas Becket, a pseudo-Perp. structure, destroyed by fire in 1881; the present cruciform building of Ancaster stone is Dec. with a conspicuous W. tower carrying four pinnacles. Note the piscina, three sedilia and credence table in chancel; also the finely carved font of Ancaster stone, on marble pillars, presented by the children of the parish. There are several memorial windows, of only local interest; but the pulpit and reredos are both good, the former showing the four Evangelists in canopied recesses. Unfortunately, only a portion of the old registers were saved from the fire of 1881.

NORTHCHURCH, or Berkhampstead St. Mary, forms one long street with Great Berkhampstead, but is a separate village, 1 mile W. from Berkhampstead Station, L.&N.W.R. The cruciform church is Dec.; it stands in a small graveyard close to the high road to Tring. The most curious memorial is the bra.s.s near the porch to Peter the Wild Boy, who was found wild in a forest in Hanover in 1725 and brought to England at the desire of Queen Caroline. He lived at a farm at Broadway (_q.v._) and died in 1785.

There is also a curious sentence about this church in Chauncy: "Henry Axtil, a rich Man starved himself, and was buried here April 12, 1625, 1 Car. I." The church was entirely restored in 1883, when the present N.

aisle was added.

_Northfield_, a small hamlet, is a little S. from Ivinghoe (Bucks).

NORTON, near the tiny river Ivel and the Roman Icknield Way, is 1 mile W. from Baldock. The large building on the hill-top close by is the Three Counties Asylum. The manor belonged to the Abbot of St. Albans at the time of the Conquest; and in the year 1260 Roger de Norton, who took his name from this village, became the twenty-fourth abbot of that monastery. The church, E.E., is of great antiquity, some parts of it having been little altered; it is of flint, and stands at the N.E. end of the village. It contains two or three old memorials, but none of historic interest. A pretty walk from the church leads through Norton Bury and beside the Ivel to Radwell Mill.

_Norton Green_, between Knebworth Park and Stevenage, is mile W. from the Great North Road. It is a small hamlet.

_Nup End_ (1 mile W. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R.) is almost one with Knebworth Green. Codicote church is 1 mile S.W.

_Nuthampstead_ (about 5 miles N.E. from Buntingford Station, G.E.R.) is a large hamlet on the Ess.e.x border. The parish churches of Barkway (W.), Anstey (S.W.), and Meesdon (S.E.) may all be reached within a short walk.

OFFLEY or OFFLEY ST. LEGER (3 miles S.W. from Hitchin) is a village at the meeting of the ways from Hitchin, Temple Dinsley, and Lilley. It owes its name to Offa, King of the Mercians, who had a palace here, as we learn from his life by Matthew Paris, and its adjunct to the St.

Legiers, who became Lords of the Manor soon after the Conquest. Miss Hester Salusbury, who became Mrs. Thrale, and afterwards Mrs. Piozzi, used as a child to visit at _Offley Place_, in the park close to the church. The old mansion was built by Sir Richard Spencer in 1600, and in part rebuilt early last century, when its style was changed from Jacobean to a form of Gothic.

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) bra.s.s with effigy, to John Samwell (d. 1529), and his wives Elizabeth and Joan; (4) bra.s.s to a civilian and his family (_circa_ 1530); (5) well carved Perp.

font.

_Offley, Little_, is a hamlet 1 mile N.W. from the above.

_Offley Green_ is 4 miles N.W. from Buntingford Station, G.E.R. The walk beside Julians[l] Park to Rushden, 1 mile S.W., is very pleasant.

_Offley Holes_ (2 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_ (1 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 Middles.e.x 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, ma.s.sive 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 1 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 G.o.dfrey 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._).

_Parker's Green_ (4 miles S.W. from Westmill Station, G.E.R.) is a hamlet adjoining Wood End.

_Patient End_ may be reached from Braughing Station, G.E.R., 4 miles S.E., the road being more direct than that from Westmill Station, about the same distance as the crow flies. The hamlet lies between Albury and Furneaux Pelham.

_Patmore Heath_ is 1 mile S.E. from the above.

_Pepperstock_, a hamlet on the Beds border, is a little W. from the Harpenden-Luton road, and close to Luton Hoo Park.

_Perry Green_ (1 mile S.E. from Hadham Station, G.E.R.) is a small scattered hamlet.

_Peter's Green_, on the Beds border, lies at the meeting of several roads; the Half Moon and Rising Star with a few cottages comprise the hamlet. The descent W. towards Chiltern Green Station, M.R., commands a fine view, looking towards Luton Hoo Park. The several ways (one is hardly more than a lane) lead S.E. to Kimpton, S. to Harpenden, N. to Lawrence End Park, and N.E. to Breachwood Green and Bendish.

_Piccotts End_ is pa.s.sed when going from Hemel Hempstead to Great Gaddesden. It is on the river Gade, at the N.E. extremity of Gadesbridge Park.

_Pin Green_ (1 mile E. from Stevenage Station, G.N.R.) lies between the Great North Road and the river Beane.

PIRTON (3 miles N.W. from Hitchin) is an ancient village on the Beds border, said to owe its name to one Peri, who possessed it in Saxon times. William I. gave it to Ralph de Limesie, or Limesy, who founded the church and gave the t.i.thes of it to the Abbey of St. Albans. The site of the castle built by Ralph is thought to be at Toot Hill, W. from the church, where a moat may be traced. The church was originally cruciform, but the transepts have long disappeared; the tower, ma.s.sive and embattled, still standing between nave and chancel. Restoration has been carefully carried on recently; the tower was rebuilt in 1877, but some Norman work may still be traced in its arches. Note (1) monument and curious inscription to Jane, wife of Thomas Docwra (d. 1645); (2) double piscina, fourteenth century, in S. wall of chancel.

Pirton should be visited for the fine old houses in its neighbourhood.

_High Down_, S. from the church, is Elizabethan, with gables, twisted chimneys and mullioned windows; it was formerly the home of the Docwras.

_Pirton Hall_, on a hill N.W. from the village, is also Elizabethan, and the _Rectory Manor House_ and _Hammond's Farm_ are both ancient. In the latter is some fine old carved oak.

_Plummers_ is 1 mile S.W. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R. It consists of a few cottages.

_Ponfield_ lies between Bedwell and Bayfordbury Parks. It is a small hamlet nearly 2 miles S.E. from Cole Green Station, G.N.R.

_Poplar's Green_ is on the river Maran, on the W. edge of Panshanger Park. The old church at Tewin is less than 1 mile N.W. The station is Cole Green.

_Potten End_ (2 miles N.E. from Berkhampstead Station, L.&N.W.R.) has a modern chapel-of-ease to Nettleden (1 mile N.). The hamlet is prettily situated between the rivers Gade and Bulbourne.

PRESTON (4 miles W. from Stevenage Station, G.N.R.) is a hamlet beautifully situated on high ground. The Church of St. Martin is a small building a few yards W. from the green, a modern erection; close by is the Bunyan Chapel, and mile N. is Bunyan's dell, where the author of the _Pilgrim's Progress_ often preached. _Temple Dinsley_, a manor house a little E. from the Red Lion, stands on the site of the preceptory of the Knights Templars, founded by Bernard de Baliol in the reign of Stephen.

_Primrose Hill_ is a hamlet in King's Langley parish, mile N. from the station, L.&N.W.R.

PUCKERIDGE, a village on the Old North Road, nearly 1 mile S.W. from Braughing Station, G.E.R., was visited by Pepys on more than one occasion. Here, at the White Hart Inn, the road divides, going left nearly due N. to Royston and right to Cambridge. The village lies partly in Standon and partly in Braughing parish. The nearest church is at Standon, 1 mile S.E., but divine service is conducted in the church schoolroom.

_Puddephats_ (3 miles N.W. from Redbourn Station, M.R.) is a hamlet in Flamstead parish.

_Purwell Mill_, on the river Purwell or Pirrel, 1 mile E. from Hitchin, stands near the spot where the tesselated pavement of a Roman villa was discovered many years ago, in excellent preservation.

PUTTENHAM (1 mile S. from Marston Gate Station, L.&N.W.R.) lies near the Clinton chalk hills, in the extreme W. of the county, on the Bucks border. The church, close to the village, is of several periods, parts of the structure being E.E. and other portions Perp. and Tudor. Several portions should be carefully noted: (1) very large embattled W. tower, built of blocks of Ketton stone with flints laid in squares between each block; (2) roof of nave, thought to date from _temp._ Edward IV.; with two s.h.i.+elds under the ridges, one bearing the arms of Zouch, the church having belonged to the Priory of Ashby; (3) solid oak pews, probably coeval with nave roof. The S. porch was rebuilt in 1889. The vill of Puteham belonged to Leofwin, brother to Harold G.o.dwin; William I. gave it to his half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux.

_Queen Hoo Hall._ (See Bramfield.)

_Rabley Heath_ (1 mile S.W. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R.) adjoins Sallow Wood. Knebworth and Codicote churches are about equidistant (1 mile), N.W. and S.W. respectively.

RADLETT, with station on M.R. (main line), is about 5 miles S. from St.

Albans, on the high-road from the Marble Arch to that city. Seen left from the train the neighbourhood is very pretty, the spire of the church showing among the trees some distance before the station is reached. The cruciform church is modern (1864), E. Dec. in style, with several good windows of stained gla.s.s. A picturesque ramble may be taken by turning into any lane in the vicinity, especially towards the Valley of the Colne, W. A potter's kiln of the Roman Age was discovered here.

RADWELL, on the Beds border, is in a charming district, threaded by the little river Ivel, 1 mile N.N.W. from Baldock. The mill is reached by turning left after pa.s.sing The Compa.s.ses, a quaint old inn, where a story is told of the "Maid of the Mill," a local beauty, who captured many hearts in days long past.[5] Between The Compa.s.ses and the mill stands the little Perp. church, very ancient, but in part restored on several occasions. It has no tower, the two bells hanging in a small turret at the W. end of nave. Here, as at Norton, there are several memorials to the Pym family; and a few others worth noting: (1) bra.s.s, with effigies, to John Bell, Gent. (d. 1516), and his two wives; this was discovered during restoration, about twenty-five years ago, but the inscription was copied by Chauncy, so it must have been hidden by some alterations effected after, say, 1690; (2) marble monument to John Parker, Kt. (d. 1595), and Mary, his wife (d. 1574); the latter was buried at Baldock. There is also a small bra.s.s to Elizabeth (Gage or Cage), wife of John Parker (d. 1602). The font is fourteenth century.

Radwell, formerly Reedwell, is said to owe its name to the many reeds that grew by the river-side. There are plenty of moor hens, coots and dab-chicks on the lake-like expansion of the Ivel near the mill.