Hertfordshire Part 2

V. POPULATION

Comparatively little peculiar to the county is known of the early inhabitants of Hertfords.h.i.+re. They seem from the earliest times to have been scattered over the county in many small groups, rather than to have concentrated at a few centres. Singularly enough, this almost uniform dispersion of population is still largely maintained, for, unlike so many other counties, Hertfords.h.i.+re has not within its borders a single large town. The larger among them, _i.e._, Watford, St. Albans, Hitchin, Hertford and Bishop's Stortford, are not collectively equal in population to even such towns as Bolton, Halifax or Croydon. Another feature to be noted is that, owing to the county's proximity to London, it is now the home of persons of many nations and tongues, and only in the smaller villages between the railroads are there left any traits of local character or peculiarities of idiom. It is hardly necessary to say that this conglomeration of peoples is common to all the home counties, though mostly so, as I venture to think, in Hertfords.h.i.+re and Surrey.

The Ess.e.x peasant is still strongly differentiated from his neighbours.

Grose, writing towards the end of the eighteenth century, stated that the population of Hertfords.h.i.+re was 95,000. They must have been well dispersed, for he tells us that the county contained at that period 949 villages; by the word "village," however, he seems to mean any separate community, including small hamlets. Some interesting figures are to be found in Tymms's _Compendium of the History of the Home Circuit_. He states that in 1821 the county contained 129,714 inhabitants, comprising 26,170 families and living in 23,687 houses. Of these families no fewer than 13,485 were engaged in agriculture. From the same source I quote the following figures relating to the year 1821:--

Houses. Inhabitants.

Hemel Hempstead 1,012 5,193 Watford 940 4,713 Hitchin 915 4,486 St. Albans 735 4,472 Cheshunt 847 4,376 Hertford 656 4,265

In 1881 the population of the county was 203,069; in 1891 it had increased by about one-eleventh to 220,162; in 1921 it was 333,236.

In the days of William I. the whole of the possessions and estates of Hertfords.h.i.+re belonged to the King and forty-four persons who shared his favour, amongst whom may be mentioned the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of London, Winchester, Chester, Bayeux and Liseux, and the Abbots of Westminster, Ely, St. Albans, Charteris and Ramsey.

To go as far back as the Heptarchy, we find the land mostly owned by Mercians, East Saxons and by the Kings of Kent, and thus there gradually sprang up that "Middle English" population which for so long formed a large proportion of the inhabitants of Hertfords.h.i.+re, Middles.e.x and Ess.e.x.

How thoroughly such persons separated into small communities and settled down in every part of the county may be ascertained by the many "buries"

found at a little distance from the town or village--Redbourn-bury, Ardeley-bury, Bayford-bury, Langley-bury, Harpenden-bury, etc.

VI. COMMUNICATIONS

1. _Roads._--Hertfords.h.i.+re, as one of the home-counties, is crossed by many fine roads from the N.E., E. and N.W., as they gradually converge towards their common goal--London. Among them may be mentioned the Old North Road, from Royston through Buntingford and Ware to Waltham Cross; the Great North Road from Baldock through Stevenage, Welwyn and Hatfield to Barnet; and the Dunstable Road through Market Street, Redbourn and St. Albans, which meets the last-mentioned road at Barnet.[1] We may contrast these roads at the present day with the rough paths infested with robbers existing in the days when the country between Barnet and St. Albans was little better than a continuous, tangled forest; or even with the same roads in the days when Evelyn and Pepys frequently rode along them--and found them exceedingly bad. The cyclist wis.h.i.+ng to ride northwards through Hertfords.h.i.+re has comparatively stiff hills to mount at Elstree, High Barnet, Ridge, near South Mimms, and at St. Albans. He should also beware of the descent into Wheathampstead, of the dip between Bushey and Watford, and of the gritty roadways in the neighbourhood of Baldock. Most of the roads are well kept, particularly since they have been cared for by the County Council, and the traveller's book at the inn usually contains fewer anathemas touching the state of the highways than in some other counties which might be named.

[Footnote 1: There has been much dispute as to the exact trend of the "Great North Road". After careful inquiry I believe that the above paragraph states the case correctly. Much misunderstanding has doubtless arisen by confounding the "Old" with the "Great" North Road.]

_Railways._--Few counties in England are so well served with railroad communications; the London and North Western, Midland, Great Northern and Great Eastern running well across its face.

_The London and North Western_ enters the county mile N.W. of Pinner, and has stations on its main route at Bushey, Watford, King's Langley, Boxmoor, Berkhampstead and Tring. It crosses the Bedfords.h.i.+re border near Ivinghoe. From Watford it has a branch to Rickmansworth; and to Bricket Wood, Park Street and St. Albans; it has also a station at Marston Gate, on its branch line to Aylesbury.

_The Midland_ enters the county during its pa.s.sage through the Elstree tunnel and runs nearly due N., having stations at Elstree, Radlett, St.

Albans and Harpenden. It has also a branch with stations at Hemel Hempstead and Redbourn.

_The Great Northern_ main line crosses a small tongue of the county upon which it has stations at Oakleigh Park and New Barnet. It then traverses the Hadley Wood district of Middles.e.x, entering Hertfords.h.i.+re again at Warren Gate, and has stations at Hatfield, Welwyn, Knebworth, Stevenage and Hitchin. From Hatfield it has three branches: (1) to Smallford and St. Albans; (2) to Ayot, Wheathampstead and Harpenden; (3) to Cole Green, Hertingfordbury and Hertford. At Hitchin it has a branch to Baldock, Ashwell and Royston.

_The Great Eastern_ enters the county at Waltham Cross and skirts the whole of the S.E. quarter, running on Ess.e.x soil from near the Rye House almost to Sawbridgeworth. It has stations in Hertfords.h.i.+re at Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop's Stortford. It enters Ess.e.x again near the last-named station. It has also important branches, (1) from Broxbourne to Rye House, St. Margaret's, Ware, and Hertford; (2) from St. Margaret's to Mardock, Widford, Hadham, Standon, Braughing, West Mill and Buntingford.

In addition, the Metropolitan Railway has an extension which crosses the S.W. extremity of the county, having stations at Rickmansworth and Chorley Wood. The Great Northern Railway has a branch from Finsbury Park to High Barnet, with a station at Totteridge.

VII. INDUSTRIES

1. _Agriculture._--Charles Lamb used no mere haphazard expression when he wrote of Hertfords.h.i.+re as "that fine corn county". Forty years ago the county contained 339,187 acres under arable cultivation, of which considerably more than half were utilised for corn; and the proportion thus used is still much larger than might be supposed. (In 1897 it amounted to about 125,000 acres.) At the same period there were about 60,000 acres under wheat alone; for this grain, of which a large white variety is much cultivated, the county has long been famous. To this circ.u.mstance the village of Wheathampstead is indebted for its name.

Barley and oats are also staple crops. The first Swede turnips ever produced in England were grown on a farm near Berkhampstead. Watercress is extensively cultivated, enormous quant.i.ties being sent into London from St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhampstead, Welwyn and many other districts. Much manure is brought to the farms from the London stables, and by its aid large second crops of vegetables are frequently obtained.

Clover, turnips and tares may be mentioned among other crops prominently cultivated. Fruit is also sent to London, particularly from the district lying between Tring, Watford and St. Albans, but none of the orchards are large.

The number of pigs reared in the county is--or was quite recently--rather above the average (per 100 acres under cultivation) for all England; the number of cattle rather below, and of sheep much below, this average.

2. _Manufactures_ are fairly numerous.

(_a_) _Straw Plait_ has for over 200 years been extensively made by hand for the Luton dealers. The wages earned by peasant girls and women in this employment were formerly high; 100 years ago a woman, if dexterous, might earn as much as 1 a week, but the increase in machinery and the compet.i.tion from foreign plait has almost destroyed this cottage industry in some districts. During the last four decades several large straw hat manufactories have been erected in St. Albans, and the trade enlarged, although the conditions of production are altered.

(_b_) _Malting_ is still extensively carried on at Ware, which has been the centre of the industry for many years; it is said, indeed, to be the largest malting town in England. There are nearly 100 malting houses, many of them being beside the River Lea, navigable from this town for barges W. to Hertford and S. to London. There are extensive _Breweries_ at St. Albans, Watford, Hertford, High Barnet, Baldock, Hitchin, Hatfield, Tring, Berkhampstead, and other places.

(_c_) _Brick Fields_ are worked at Watford, St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Broxbourne, Bishop's Stortford, Hitchin and elsewhere.

(_d_) _Brushes_ of many kinds are manufactured at St. Albans and Berkhampstead.

(_e_) _Hurdles_ are made at Barkway, Croxley Green, Breachwood Green, Chorley Wood, Albury, and at one or two other places.

(_f_) _Iron Foundries_ are at Hertford, Ippollitts, Royston, Colne Valley (Watford), Hitchin and Puckeridge.

(_g_) _Paper_ is made at Croxley Mills, King's Langley, and Nash Mills.

(_h_) _Silk_ is made at the large mill on the River Ver, St. Albans, and at Redbourn.

(_i_) _Photographic plates_, _paper_, etc., are made at Watford, Boreham Wood and Barnet.

(_j_) _Lavender Water_ is made at Hitchin, from lavender grown in fields close by.

_Gravel_ abounds in many districts, and pits are extensively worked at Rickmansworth, Hertford and at Heath, Wheathampstead, Watford and Harpenden.

There are _windmills_ at Cromer, Albury, Goff's Oak, Anstey, Arkley, Much Hadham, Weston, Tring and Bushey Heath. _Water mills_ are too numerous to specify, there being several on many of the small rivers named in Section II.

VIII. HISTORY

Hertfords.h.i.+re was formerly a part of Mercia and of Ess.e.x. Its share in what is usually called "History" can hardly be called great; but many interesting details of its story are recorded in the histories of Chauncy, Salmon, Clutterbuck, and Cussans. Among smaller works the following will be found useful: Cobb's _Berkhampstead_; Gibbs'

_Historical Records of St. Albans_; Nicholson's _Abbey of St. Albans_; Bishop's _Hitchin and Neighbourhood_, and _Bygone Hertfords.h.i.+re_ by various writers.

The story of Hertfords.h.i.+re may be said to commence with the sack of the great Roman city of _Verulamium_ by the followers of Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni[e] (A.D. 61). Our knowledge of the event is largely drawn from Tacitus, and Dion Ca.s.sius, who give revolting details of the torture of the inhabitants by the Britons. The martyrdom of St. Alban (_circa_ A.D. 304) the Synod of Verulam (429), the second destruction of that city by the Saxons towards the end of the sixth century and the siege of Hertford by the Danes in 896, when Alfred the Great grounded their vessels by cutting the river banks, are some of the more prominent episodes of pre-Conquest times. William I., entering the county from the direction of Wallingford, met the Saxon n.o.bles in council at Berkhampstead immediately before his coronation at Westminster. The castles of Hertford and Berkhampstead were captured by the revolted barons.

There was a dangerous insurrection of the peasantry in the days of Richard II. Three important battles were fought in Hertfords.h.i.+re, during the Wars of the Roses: (1) At St. Albans on 23rd (?) May, 1455; (2) on Bernard's Heath, St. Albans, 17th February, 1461; (3) near Chipping Barnet, 14th April, 1471; these battles are mentioned more fully in the Sections on St. Albans and Barnet.

The residence of the Princess Elizabeth at Ashridge Park and her subsequent captivity at Hatfield up to the time of her accession (1558) may be here mentioned, but the more casual visits of monarchs are referred to as occasion requires.

The county was not the scene of any considerable engagement during the great Rebellion; but the Parliamentary troops are held responsible for much ecclesiastical sacrilege at St. Albans, Hitchin and elsewhere, and it was from Theobalds that Charles I. set out to meet his army in 1642.

In 1647, when a prisoner in the care of Cornet Joyce, he was taken from Leighton Buzzard to Baldock and from thence to Royston. The march of Cromwell from Cambridge to St. Albans towards the end of the war is recorded rather too literally on the interior of several churches.

Of importance in history was the Rye House Plot (1683), a carefully laid but abortive scheme to murder Charles II. and James, Duke of York, on their way to London from Newmarket. (See Rye House.)

IX. ANTIQUITIES

The antiquities of Hertfords.h.i.+re have been carefully studied and well repay the labour that has been bestowed upon them. A few words under several heads will suffice to show that the subject is a large one.

1. _Prehistoric._--_Paleolithic_ man--in whom we are all so interested, but of whom we know so little--must have dwelt in Hertfords.h.i.+re for a long period, a period to be measured by centuries rather than by years.

Perhaps, however, the word "dwelt" is hardly appropriate here; for doubtless, for the most part, the rude flint-shaper and skin-clad hunter roamed at random over this tract of land wherever necessity led him. It is usual to speak of him as a troglodyte, or cave-dweller, but the caves of Hertfords.h.i.+re are, and probably _were_ few, and his life in such a district would therefore be more than usually nomadic. As is often the case, we find traces of him in the river-valleys more frequently than elsewhere, and it is in beds of clay, conjectured to be of lacustrine origin, that we find those rudely shapen flint nodules which served him for tools. Such implements have been found in the Valley of the Gade by Sir John Evans, K.C.B.; in more central neighbourhoods by Mr.

Worthington G. Smith; and many axes, knives, etc., were discovered only a few years ago near Hitchin. Implements of the _Neolithic_ Age are naturally more numerous and form in themselves an interesting study in the evolution of manual skill. Flint axe-heads, wonderfully polished, have been found at Albury, Abbot's Langley, Panshanger and Ware; chipped flints of more fragmentary character have been found near St. Albans and elsewhere; flint arrow-heads were discovered at Tring Grove nearly 170 years ago. The great number of natural flints found in the county make it very difficult to recognise these archaeological treasures, many of which must thus escape detection and be destroyed. Some details of the discovery of Prehistoric implements are given in the Gazetteer.