صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

because it was seated among hills; for Berg signified a hill; ham, a town; and stedt, a seat; all which are proper for the situation hereof."

The ruins of an old castle, which was very large and strong, on the north side of the town, are supposed to be remains of a palace, where the kings of Mercia resided. The castle was encompassed by a moat that covers above four acres. The keep is on the north side of the moat, and the remains of the bridge are now visible. The castle was judiciously set on the north side of the town, on dry ground, though among springs, and made exceedingly strong by the Saxons.

It was near Beckhamsted that Frederick, abbot of St. Alban's, a man of the royal blood, and related to king Canute, impeded the march of William I. by causing the trees on the road side to be felled and laid across the way, after a consultation of the English nobility at this place. The abbot "first threw trees, and then oaths; and brought the Conqueror to mean concessions, and swallowing oaths he never meant to keep. But William was so much a conqueror, that he conquered that just dread mortals should have of the Avenger of perjury. He swore upon the Gospel, and the reliques of St. Alban's church, that he would keep inviolable the good and antient laws of the kingdom: yet he took away all their lands, and divided them among his commanders and his countrymen. They that would excuse him in this small slip of perjury, lay it upon Norman advice, that he broke through his engagement. He seems to have wanted no counsel in the case, to slight those he had subdued, and to trust for his support in the throne, to the men whose valour had raised him to it."*

.

* Salmon. When William enquired of the abbot, at a subsequent meeting, why he had cut down the trees to impede his passage, Frederick boldly answered, that, "He had done no more than his duty;" and that "if all the ecclesiastics in the kingdom had performed theirs in like manner, it would not have been in the power of the Normans to have advanced so far." The abbot was obliged, afterwards, to seek refuge from William's vengeance, in the monastery of Ely, where he died of grief and mortification, at the sufferings of his enslaved country.

[blocks in formation]

Berkhamsted castle was given by king William to Robert, earl of Mortaigne, his half brother, who rebuilt, and much enlarged it. His son William, having rebelled against Henry I. that monarch caused the castle to be partially razed, and seized upon the earl's other possessions. It afterwards became a royal residence, and Henry II. kept his court here, when he granted the church of Hauering, in Essex, to the monks of St. Bernard de Monte Jovis, to find firing for the poor.

Henry granted to "all the men and merchants of this town great privileges, even the same as they enjoyed under Edward the Confessor; that they should have liberty of selling their merchandize through England, Normandy, Aquitain, and Anjou, quit of tolls and duties." had farther an exemption from the common jurisdiction, and had particular offices of this honour and liberty, such as high steward, escheator, coroner, bailiffs, &c. and that no market should be held within seven miles of the town."

They

The crown continued possessed of Berkhamsted till king John granted it to Geoffrey Fitz Piers, earl of Essex. This nobleman founded two hospitals here, one dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the other to St. John the Evangelist, for lepers, and vested the guardianship of both in the brothers of the hospital of St. Thomas D'Acres, in London, obliging them, however, to spend the revenue in Berkhamsted, and not carry it elsewhere. This earl is supposed to have rebuilt the castle from the foundation; and having deceased in the fourteenth year of John's reign, the king granted the government of it to Ranulph, a German; in 1216, the castle was besieged by the dauphin of France, in concert with the barons, and was bravely defended. The besieged made two successful sallies, and carried off a great booty, as well as the standard of William de Magnavilla; they held out till the king gave them orders to surrender.

Henry III. changed the market, which had been on Sunday, to Monday. That monarch, when he created his brother Richard, earl of Cornwall, invested him with the castle and honour of Berkhamsted, as an appendage to the earl

dom

dom. This earl, after having made two pilgrimages to the Holy Land, married his second wife, the daughter of Raymond, count of Provence, and sister of the queen of England, who he endowed, at the church door of Westminster Abbey, with the third portion of all his estates, and this of Berkhamsted among the rest. He was afterwards elected king of the Romans, and died, leaving by his second wife, Edmond, earl of Cornwall, who married Margaret, daughter of Richard de Clare, earl of Glocester and Hereford, from whom he was divorced, and living a life of discontent, founded the convent of Esserugge, where he died without issue, and was buried near his father, at Hales Abbey, in Glocestershire. His nephew, king Edward I. was declared his heir, who granted to Piers Gaveston, on his marriage. with the king's sister, Berkhamsted, and all its royalties; by the death of this upstart favourite, the estate devolved to the crown; and Edward III. having raised his brother, prince John of Eltham, to the earldom of Cornwall, he added to it the honour, castle, and town of Berkhamsted, with other manors, to the value of 2000l. per annum. Upon his decease, without issue, the same king bestowed all these estates on his eldest son Edward, prince of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince, together with the dukedom of Cornwall, "to be held by him and his heirs, and the eldest sons of the kings of England." It has since descended from the crown to the successive princes of Wales, and is held at preseut by John Roper, Esq. of Berkhamsted Place, lessee under his royal highness George prince of Wales, duke of Cornwall, &c.

There antiently belonged to the honour of Berkhamsted no less than fifty towns and hamlets in the counties of Herts, Bucks, and Northampton; and the tenants were accustomed to do their service at this town. This custom has, however, been relaxed; the courts are held in each county, and the tenants pay a pecuniary consideration, to be excused the above service. The courts-leet and courts baron are held on the site of the castle; those for the borough at the church house or loft.

The

The town formerly sent members to parliament; and it was incorporated by James I. whose children were nursed here, by the name of Bailiff and Burgesses, who might have a common seal, purchase a council house, and make laws for the borough, chuse a recorder and town clerk; the bailiff, recorder, and chief burgess, to be justices of the peace for the borough and liberties; they were to have a silver mace, with the arms of Charles prince of Wales, en-. graved on it; a gaol was appointed in the bailiff's keeping; another market to be held on Thursday, and various other privileges.

During the war between Charles I. and the parliament, this corporation sunk into oblivion. "This body politic," says Salmon," is now reduced to a skeleton; and, like the castle, which is to be known only by its walls and moats"

Its market, which is on Monday, is much decayed, though the town is pretty large, with a handsome broad street, of a good length; at the south-east end of which was St. Leonard's Hospital, and at the other end that of St. James. The church of St. Peter is a handsome Gothic structure, and has many chapels and oratories, and eleven of the Apostles on its pillars, with each of them a sentence of the Creed; and on the twelfth pillar is St. George killing the dragon. The living doth not exceed 2001. per annum, and is in the gift of the prince of Wales. Here is an almshouse for six poor widows, and 501. a year for their maintenance. Besides the charity school, here is a free grammar school, a handsome brick structure, which was twenty years in building, founded by Dr. Incent, dean of St. Paul's, in the reign of Henry VIII. and endowed with lands by king Edward the Sixth; master's salary 907. usher's 451. per annum, to teach one hundred and forty-four boys gratis, being the subjects of the king of England. St. John's chapel in the church is used only by the master, usher, and scholars. It has an almshouse, endowed by Mr. John Sayer and his wife, with 1300l. Berkhampstead gives title of marquis to the duke of Cumberland. There is an exceedingly good road from London through Berkhampstead, to Tring, Ayles

bury,

bury, &c. and is two miles and a half nearer than the other road by Amersham. The chief trade is bowl turning, shovel and spoon making; lace is made here by women. Fairs on Shrove Monday, Whit Monday, and St. James's Day; and a statute fair the day after Old Michaelmas Day, for hiring of servants.

Berkhamsted is one street, nearly half a mile in length, on each side of the high road, and a smaller branching from the church towards the castle. The buildings are irregular, some handsomely constructed with brick; others with thatch, &c. It is inhabited by many respectable families, and has some good inns; here also the justices for this district sit to transact their business.

The population act states the inhabitants to be one thousand six hundred and ninety, residing in three hundred and thirty-eight houses.

Berkhamsted Place, the seat of Mr. Roper, was the nursery of the children of James. I.

Proceeding through NORTHCHURCH, or BERKHAMSTED ST. MARY, in which there is nothing worthy notice, we proceed towards Tring, and arrive at the small remains of PENDLEY HOUSE, possessed by the earl of Mortaigne, in the reign of William I.; afterwards by John D'Aygnel, Sir John Delahay, and Robert Whittingham, who held courts. here, and in the reign of Henry VI. was knighted, had a licence from the king to make a park in Tring and Albury, and to have free warren in these villas. He was attainted by Edward IV. for adhering to Henry, and this estate was bestowed on Bourchier, lord Cromwell, son of the earl of Essex, who was killed in the fight at Barnet, and dying without issue, the estate was restored to Sir Robert Whittingham, whose daughter having married John Verney, in the reign of Henry VII. Pendley came into that family, and was sold by Edward Verney, sheriff of Herts, 19 Eliz. to Richard Anderson, Esq. who was knighted by king James. Henry, his son, was created à baronet in 1643; his son, Sir Richard, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Hewyt, of Pishiobury, and left an only daughter, who

married

« السابقةمتابعة »