Parts of ALL SAINTS and ST. JOHN'S HERTFORD, including the
liberties of Brickendon and Little Amwell.
The following account deals with the district comprising the modern civil parishes of Brickendon Rural,
St. John Rural and Little Amwell, all of which lie
immediately south and east of Hertford Borough.
They were for the most part either in the ecclesiastical parish of All Saints, the church of which
belonged to Waltham Abbey, or in the parish of
St. John, a church belonging to Hertford Priory. (fn. 1)
The benefices of All Saints and St. John were
amalgamated about 1640, (fn. 2) and Little Amwell was
constituted a separate parish in 1864. (fn. 3) This district
lies on the southern edge of the Hertfordshire Chalk
beds, and the arable land and pasturage are about
equal in quantity.
The present parish of Brickendon Rural includes
about 1,348 acres immediately south of All Saints'
Church. A large part lay within the liberty of
Brickendon, also belonging to the abbey of Waltham. (fn. 4)
Brickendon Bury, the capital messuage of the manor
of Brickendon, lies within Brickendon Rural. It
stands on the summit of rising ground about a mile
south of Hertford. The present house dates from
the early 18th century, but the interior has been
completely modernized and additions have been made
to the rear. The plastered north or entrance front,
which is two stories in height with an attic, remains
more or less in its original condition and presents,
with its central pediment and Corinthian pilasters,
an elevation correct in detail but poor in design.
Considerable portions of the moat remain on the west
and south, where it is still filled with water. A large
find of Roman coins was discovered in making a sunk
bed to the south-east of the house. On the Hertford
side the house is approached by a magnificent avenue
of trees nearly three-quarters of a mile in length,
known as 'Morgan's Walk.' On the well-wooded
slopes to the south are Brickendon Green and Grange.
A part of this district was at one time held by the
equally powerful Abbots of Westminster. (fn. 5) Fanshaws,
a little to the north of Brickendon Green, is the
property of Mrs. Kingsley. The house was built by
Mr. H. Demain-Saunders, Mrs. Kingsley's first
husband, who acquired property at Brickendon Green
(including Fanshaws Farm), formerly part of the
manor of Brickendon.
St. John Rural is a purely agricultural district
immediately east of Brickendon. It covers some
1,662 acres and includes only one considerable
house, viz. Jenningsbury, at which there is a moat.
The manorial lands of Jenningsbury extend into the
ecclesiastical parishes of All Saints, St. Andrew and
St. John, Hertford, and also into Broxbourne and
Great Amwell. (fn. 6) Balls Park, the estate of Sir George
Faudel Faudel-Phillips, bart., is a detached portion
of Little Amwell, lying between the parishes of
Brickendon Rural and St. John. It was the property of Sir John Harrison about 1640, when in
endowing the joint vicarage of All Saints and
St. John he excepted the tithes of his own estate. (fn. 7)
At Dalmonds, near Hoddesdon, there are fragments
of a homestead moat.
The civil parish of Little Amwell contains about
495 acres and lies between St. John Rural and the
parish of Great Amwell. On its north-west is a
detached portion of Great Amwell. There is reason
to believe that Little Amwell was included within
the holding of Amwell in 1086, (fn. 8) and that it subsequently became distinct, both for ecclesiastical and
other purposes, through its acquisition by the monks
of Waltham. (fn. 9)
The village of Little Amwell stands on high
ground between Hertford and Great Amwell, near
the junction of Ermine Street with the Hertford
road. The modern church is a little south of the
village, which is small, consisting of a few scattered
houses and the farm buildings of Amwellplace. On
the Ermine Street, about half a mile north of the
village, is the small hamlet of Rush Green with a
moated homestead at Gamels Hall. Late in the
14th century John son of Robert Gamel held the
land formerly 'Gameles' jointly with seven other
tenants of the lord of Great Amwell Manor. (fn. 10) A
barrow of unknown date lies beyond 'Thieves Lane'
on the borders of the detached portion of Great
Amwell parish. (fn. 11)
The main road from Hertford to Ware traverses
the northern part of the parishes of St. John and
Little Amwell. The famous spring at Chadwell
near this road is the head of the New River, the
water-supply brought to London by 'one man's
industry, cost and care.' As early as the 13th
century the monks of Waltham had been induced
by Philip of Hertford to improve the supply from
Chadwell Spring, doubtless for local use. (fn. 12) Under
Queen Elizabeth an Act was passed for the conveyance of water from any part of Middlesex or
Hertfordshire to the city. (fn. 13) The Acts of 1605 and
1606 mention the springs of Chadwell and Amwell
as the source of the projected supply. (fn. 14) The works
were begun by Sir Hugh Myddelton 20 February
1608, and the 'keeper of Amwell-head' took a conspicuous part in the pageantry on Michaelmas Day
1613, when the water was first admitted to the great
cistern at Islington. (fn. 15) On a pedestal at the spring
is an inscription to the memory of the great engineer
of the river.
MANORS
Liberty Of Brickendon
The LIBERTY OF BRICKENDON
lay outside the borough of Hertford.
Before the Conquest Brickendon already
belonged to Waltham Abbey, to which it had been
confirmed by Edward the Confessor. (fn. 16) Between 1174
and 1184 Henry II confirmed the manor to the monks
who had replaced the canons at Waltham. (fn. 17) He
gave with it freedom from geld and toll and the forfeitures of criminals, (fn. 18) thus
establishing the 'liberty.' The
Abbot of Waltham duly
claimed and obtained freedom
from tallage in 1227. (fn. 19) The
estate at Brickendon, having
no church, was regarded as
belonging to the parish of All
Saints. (fn. 20)
Waltham Abbey. Argent a cross engrailed sable with five crosslets fitchy or thereon.
The liberty was held by
the monks until the Dissolution. (fn. 21) Henry VIII granted
it to Thomas Knighton, (fn. 22) with
the advowson of All Saints'
Church, and it descended with
All Saints (fn. 23) (q.v.) to Sir William Soame, who conveyed it to Edward Clarke in 1682. (fn. 24) Clarke's son
Thomas held the manor in 1728 (fn. 25) and 1730. (fn. 26) On
his death in 1754 he is said to have left the manor
to Mrs. Jane Morgan, his niece, whose youngest son
John died in 1792 and left half to his sister Jane
and the other half to the representatives of his aunt
Anne Freke. From Jane's son, Sir Charles Morgan,
the one moiety passed finally to his grandchild Selina
Rose Catherine wife of the Rev. W. T. Marsh
Lushington-Tilson. (fn. 27) The other moiety came to
Anne Freke's two granddaughters—Mary wife of
the Rev. Edward Lewis and Fanny wife of the Rev.
Francis Lewis. (fn. 28)
In 1881 the representatives of Mary and Fanny
Lewis joined with Mrs. Lushington-Tilson in a sale
of the whole manor to Messrs. Paine & Brettell of
Chertsey. It was afterwards acquired from them by
Mr. Hill of Nottingham, who sold it to Mr. George
Pearson, father of Mr. Ernest Pearson, the present
owner. (fn. 29)
Three virgates in Brickendon which had been held
by three brothers before the Conquest were held by
Baldwin, a serjeant of the king, at the time of the
Domesday Survey. (fn. 30) This holding was probably
identical with the I carucate in Brickendon which
Miles de Somery (d. about 1229) (fn. 31) held by serjeanty
at the king's storehouse (de dispensa). (fn. 32) Among the
co-heirs of Adam grandson of Miles de Somery was
John son of Ela Monchensey. (fn. 33) It is therefore
possible that it was over the holding of Miles de
Somery that Richard Monchensey had a grant of free
warren in 1333. (fn. 34)
Another holding of 1086 consisted of 5 virgates
which a certain Isenbard held of Geoffrey de Bech
as a manor. It had been held by Leveron, a man of
Archbishop Stigand's. (fn. 35) This is probably identical
with the quarter of a knight's fee in Brickendon held
of Alice Countess of Kent at her death in March
1415–16. (fn. 36) The Earls of Kent had evidently inherited
their rights from Margaret sister and heir of Thomas
second Lord Wake, who was descended from Emma
daughter of Baldwin son of Gilbert de Clare. (fn. 37) The
latter had succeeded Geoffrey de Bech in Eastwick
(q.v.). The overlordship descended with the manor
of Ware to Edward Earl of Warwick. (fn. 38) After his
execution in November 1499 his interest in the manor
was assigned to Margaret Countess of Richmond,
grandmother of Henry VIII, (fn. 39) and on her death it
lapsed to the Crown. (fn. 40)
Of the actual tenants of this holding little is
known. About 1282 the tenant was possibly one of
the name of 'Bellere.' (fn. 41) A 'manor of Brickendon'
was held in January 1250–1 by Philip Darcy, who
had a grant of free warren within it at that date. (fn. 42)
The third holding in the Domesday Survey was
1 virgate which Walter held of Geoffrey de Mandeville. (fn. 43) It had previously been held by Oswi, one of
the men of Asgar the Staller. It is possible that this
is a part of the knight's fee in Amwell (and Brickendon) subsequently held by the Abbot of Westminster
of Hugh de Oddingselles. (fn. 44) This fee was probably
attached to the manor of the abbey at Great Amwell,
which included lands in Brickendon. (fn. 45) The monks
of Westminster produced Saxon charters purporting
to be the gift of Brickendon to the abbey by a certain
Aelfhelm Polga and the confirmation of the same by
Bishop Dunstan and King Edgar, (fn. 46) but the latter is
certainly, and the former probably, a forgery. (fn. 47)
The Grange estate originated in copyhold and
freehold land of the manor of Brickendon Bury,
purchased by Benjamin Cherry of Hertford, gent.,
and by him bequeathed to his brother John Cherry.
The mansion now known as the Grange was built
by Benjamin son of John Cherry about the middle of
the last century. The property has recently been sold
by Mr. B. L. Cherry, grandson of Benjamin Cherry,
to Mr. John Trotter, who resides at the Grange. (fn. 48)
Jenningsbury
The manor of JENNINGSBURY (Juveneles or
Juvenelisbury, xiv cent.; Jenaldesbury 'la Mote' or
Jovenellesbury, xv cent.; Genyngisbury, xvi cent.)
was held as one knight's fee by Aymer de Valence
Earl of Pembroke in 1303. (fn. 49) The manor was
always held in chief, but the service is recorded as
that of a quarter of a fee in the 15th century. (fn. 50) The
family of Juvenal was connected with this neighbourhood about the year 1228, when William Juvenal,
as guardian of the heir of Alexander Alders (de Alno),
had the custody of the half of 2 carucates in Brickendon
and Hoddesdon. (fn. 51) Aymer de Valence died in 1324, (fn. 52)
and this manor was committed to the custody of
Hugh le Despenser the younger (fn. 53) during the minority
of Lawrence de Hastings (afterwards Earl of Pembroke), who was Valence's grand-nephew and one of
his co-heirs. (fn. 54) In February 1326–7, shortly after
the forfeiture of Despenser's land, the king assigned
Jenningsbury to Juliane widow of John de Hastings,
the father of Lawrence, in dower. (fn. 55) She had married
Sir Thomas Blount, kt., (fn. 56) and afterwards became the
wife of William de Clinton Earl of Huntingdon. (fn. 57)
In 1345 Lawrence Earl of Pembroke, Juliane's son
and heir, released to her third husband and his heirs
all right in the manor of Jenningsbury. (fn. 58) It thus
descended to the Earl of Huntingdon's nephew John
Lord Clinton after the death of Juliane in 1367. (fn. 59)
Valence. Burelly argent and azure an orle of martlets gules.
Hastings. Or a sleeve gules.
In 1391 the manor was in dispute between Reginald
de Grey, grandson of Elizabeth, aunt of Lawrence
Earl of Pembroke, who had
died without issue, and Richard
Talbot and others, representatives of the second sister of
Lawrence's great-uncle, Aymer
de Valence. (fn. 60) In accordance,
however, with the settlement
of 1345 Jenningsbury remained in the Clinton family
until William Lord Clinton,
grandson of John Lord Clinton
mentioned above, enfeoffed
Simon Stratford and others. (fn. 61)
The feoffees transferred the
manor to Richard Clitherow
and John Chamberleyn, chaplain. (fn. 62) The tenant in 1402 was returned as John
Clitherow, (fn. 63) and Richard Clitherow of Kent, esq.,
conveyed to Richard Claidich and others on 3 April
1415, evidently in trust for his son and heir Richard,
upon whom the feoffees settled the manor in 1443. (fn. 64)
William Lord Clinton was returned as tenant in
1428, (fn. 65) and, as in the case of Pirton (q.v.), his son
and successor John apparently attempted to oust
Roger son of Richard Clitherow from Jenningsbury. (fn. 66) Roger died on 12 March 1455, and the
manor apparently passed to his daughter Eleanor wife
of John Norres (fn. 67) of Goldstone, co. Kent. (fn. 68) A John
Norres, apparently the younger brother of William
Norres, who succeeded John in Goldstone, (fn. 69) held
Jenningsbury jointly with his wife Isabel. He died
on 12 October 1485, and his widow married Henry
Marney. (fn. 70) Edmund Norres, son and heir of John
and Isabel, probably sold the manor to Edward
Sulyard, (fn. 71) who bequeathed it to his wife Anne and
their heirs. (fn. 72) He died on 30 March 1516, leaving
a son and heir William. (fn. 73)
Clinton. Argent six crosslets fitchy sable and a chief azure with two pierced molets or therein.
Gardiner of Jenningsbury. Party gules and or a fesse between three hinds tripping counter coloured.
The manor passed by sale to the family of Gardiner.
Henry son of Henry Gardiner of London and Mary
his wife were dealing with it
in 1552. (fn. 74) Their son John
was styled 'of Jenningsbury,' (fn. 75)
and the manor descended to
his son Henry Gardiner of
Jenningsbury, (fn. 76) whose daughter and ultimate heir married
Henry Dunster. (fn. 77) 'Henry
Dunster of Jenningsbury, esq.,
was indicted for not repairing
a footbridge on a footway from
Hertford to Ware in 1671, (fn. 78)
and in 1683 refused to pay
his quota of the rate for building a house of correction. (fn. 79)
His wife survived him. (fn. 80) Upon
her death in 1718 her estates descended to her son
Giles. (fn. 81) He died childless in 1724, and was succeeded by his nephew Henry Dunster. (fn. 82) Upon the
death of the latter without issue in 1754 the estate
of Little Amwell with Jenningsbury passed to his
nephew Henry Dunster, who died on 23 August
1791. (fn. 83) In accordance with Henry Dunster's will
the manor was sold to George Townshend Earl of
Leicester, from whom it was purchased by Lord John
Townshend (fn. 84) of Balls Park, great-grandfather of the
sixth Marquess Townshend, who is the present owner. (fn. 85)
Little Amwell
The manor of LITTLE AMWELL, sometimes
known as LITTLE AMWELLNBURY or RUSHEN, (fn. 86)
was among the possessions of the abbey of Waltham
Holy Cross at its dissolution on 23 March 1540. (fn. 87)
It was distinct from the neighbouring manor of
Brickendon, which with its members had been held
by the canons since the foundation of their house. (fn. 88)
It probably had its nucleus in the lands given to
Waltham by Gilbert Monk ('Monacus') in the
latter part of the 12th century. (fn. 89) These were the
tenements of Henry the Salter ('Salinarius'), Siward
Claud and Edward Felleden in Amwell near Brickendon and certain meadow lying in Broadmead, Caldwell and 'Hoco' (? Hook). (fn. 90) Gilbert's brother John
confirmed this grant, (fn. 91) and Richard I included the
land 'at Brickendon' (sic) given by Gilbert the Monk
in his confirmatory charter to the abbey on 14 March
1189–90. (fn. 92) The land in the hamlet of Rushen
came to the abbey by grant of Walter de Wyteberuwe
(Widbury) and his wife Beatrice. (fn. 93) Other land in
Amwell was held by the abbey of the fee of Philip
son of Galien of Hertford, (fn. 94) who held of the Prioress
of Cheshunt land acquired from Galien son of Joseph. (fn. 95)
Philip and his wife Beatrice gave to the abbey Chadwell
(Chaldewell) Grove and 'Chadwell holme' with a
part of his meadow which was of the fee of Berkhampstead, desiring that the monks would improve the
water supply from Chadwell Spring. (fn. 96) The abbey
also acquired other small tenements in Amwell from
various donors. (fn. 97)
The 'manor' of Little Amwellbury was let for
forty years to Nicholas Norres in 1536. (fn. 98) After the
surrender of Waltham Abbey on 23 March 1540 this
manor was purchased from the Crown on 17 June
1542 by Richard Andrews of Hailes, co. Glouc., and
Leonard Chamberlain of Woodstock. (fn. 99) They immediately obtained licence to convey to John Knighton
of Aldbury the elder and to his son John Knighton
the younger. (fn. 100) In 1576 John Knighton the elder
of Bayford conveyed the manor to John son of George
Knighton. (fn. 101) In 1590 George Knighton and his son
John Knighton the younger had licence to alienate a
moiety of the manor to John Knighton the elder,
gent. (fn. 102) This last was evidently the son of Sir George
Knighton of Bayford. He held a court for Little
Amwell in 1614 (fn. 103) and was the last of his name. (fn. 104) He
is said to have given the manor to Henry Gardiner of
Jenningsbury, a gentleman 'knowing and ingenious
in the management of the affairs of this country,' who
had married his niece Mary Spring. (fn. 105) Little Amwell
was thus united to the neighbouring manor of Jenningsbury, with which it has descended to the present
Marquess Townshend.
The Abbot of Waltham obtained a grant of free
warren in Amwell and elsewhere on 30 March 1253. (fn. 106)
He had extensive liberties, including sac and soc, infangtheof and utfangtheof, and quittance from shires
and hundreds throughout all his lands. (fn. 107) Thus the
abbey had its 'liberty' of Little Amwell distinct from
its 'liberty' of Brickendon; but it appears that Rushen
was a tithing of Brickendon, (fn. 108) and it was to Brickendon
that Gilbert the Monk and his heirs sent for the rent
due for the lands with which he had endowed the
abbey. (fn. 109)
The manor of Hertford Priory was styled in 1637
'the manor of Hertford Priors otherwise called the
manor of the Priory of Hertford and now or late
called or known by the name of the manor of
Amwell or called and known by the name of the fee
of Amwell.' (fn. 110) This was probably due to the close
connexion between the Limesy fee in Hertford and
Amwell. (fn. 111) The founder of Hertford Priory, Ralph
de Limesy the elder (vetus), also endowed it among
other holdings with a free tenement in Amwell, (fn. 112)
evidently part of the fee which he held in 1086. (fn. 113)
The priory had charters concerning this land from
Ralph's uncle and from John de Limesy. (fn. 114) . In the
time of Richard I Ralph de Limesy, possibly the
grandson of Geoffrey de Limesy and tenant of Great
Amwell under the elder branch of the family, (fn. 115)
attempted to exact from the priory aid towards scutage contrary to the effect of these charters. (fn. 116) The
lands and rents of the priory in Amwell were valued
at £1 0s. 2d. in 1291. (fn. 117) They may perhaps be
identical with the estate held by the priory now
known as BALLS PARK, which is a detached portion
of the parish of Little Amwell, (fn. 118) surrounded by the
parishes of St. John Rural and Brickendon Urban
and Rural. (fn. 119) The name 'Balls' also exists in 'Balleshoke,' a meadow adjoining the footway from Hertford to Ware, near a former footbridge called 'High
Bridge.' (fn. 120) Balleshoke was among the possessions of
Hertford Priory in 1462. In that year Prior Thomas
Walden failed to credit himself with various sums
received to the use of the priory. These included
6s. 8d. paid by Thomas Blak and John Sadiller for
hay crops at Balleshoke. (fn. 121) The capital messuage called
'Balles' was evidently included in those 'members' of
the manor of Hertford Priory which lay in Amwell.
It was held with the manor by Richard Willis at his
death 16 October 1625, (fn. 122) and descended from him
to Thomas Willis of Fen Ditton. (fn. 123) He sold with the
priory manor to John Harrison of London in 1637
the mansion-house and farm called Balls 'and two
other little tenements thereto belonging and now
decayed.' (fn. 124)
Harrison rebuilt the house at Balls Park, where
he was visited in 1643 by John Evelyn the diarist. (fn. 125)
Harrison. Or a cross azure with five pheons or thereon.
Faudel-Phillips, baronet. Paly ermine and azure a chief gules with a squirrel or therein.
He was one of the farmers of the customs (fn. 126) in 1640–1
and M.P. for Lancaster. (fn. 127) Charles I knighted him
in 1640 in reward for advancing £50,000 on the security
of the subsidies; but it was
with difficulty that he overcame the scruples of the Long
Parliament regarding the payment of interest. (fn. 128) He supported the Royalist cause until
August 1645, when he tried
to surrender to Parliament. (fn. 129)
His estates had been sequestrated, Balls Park was in the
hands of a certain Mr. Rolles,
who left it empty, making
scarcely any use of the orchard
and gardens, and Lady Harrison and her children
were homeless. (fn. 130) Harrison fled to France and only
recovered his estates in 1648 by paying a fine of
£1000. (fn. 131) After his death in 1669 Lady Mary retained Balls Park for life. She died in 1705. (fn. 132) The
estate was inherited by her son Richard, (fn. 133) and ultimately passed to his third son Edward Harrison, who
had served the East India Company as Governor of
Fort St. George in 1711 and was appointed postmaster-general in 1726. (fn. 134) His daughter and heir
Audrey wife of Charles third Viscount Townshend
was the brilliant and witty friend of Horace Walpole (fn. 135)
and the mother of Charles Townshend, chancellor of
the Exchequer, (fn. 136) who doubtless inherited from her his
eloquence and facility of repartee. Her uncle George
Harrison lived at Balls until
his death in 1759. (fn. 137) She died
5 March 1788, having bequeathed the estate to her
grandson Lord John Townshend. (fn. 138) It descended to his
son John, who became Marquess Townshend in 1855
upon the death of his cousin
George, the third marquess. (fn. 139)
Balls Park was one of the
principal seats of his son, the
fifth marquess. (fn. 140) The present
owner is Sir George Faudel
Faudel-Phillips, bart., who purchased the estate
(where he had already resided for some time) in
1901.
The house is an early and interesting example of
the purer type of design which the influence of the
work of Inigo Jones was beginning to make fashionable towards the end of the first half of the 17th
century. Built, so far as can be ascertained, soon
after the year 1640 (see above), the elevations have
so completely lost the characteristics of the preceding
Jacobean style as to appear at a little distance contemporary with the large sash-windows by which the
original casement frames were replaced early in the
18th century, when the house was enlarged by the
addition of a kitchen wing on the west. The original
house, which is square on plan with a central court,
perhaps originally open, but now covered in, is of
two stories elevated on a basement, with an attic floor
in the roof, and is built of narrow red bricks, the
courses varying in depth from 2¼ in. to 2½ in., with
occasional dressings of stone. All four elevations are
of equal length and height, and are crowned by
uniform slated roofs, hipped at the angles, and having
projecting eaves supported by large and widely-spaced
console brackets of wood. An elaborate string-course
of moulded brick, which marks the level of the first
floor, runs round the whole building, and the architraves of the windows are also of moulded brick,
while the angles are emphasized by rusticated quoins
of the same material. The walls set back from the
face of the basement with a bold inverted cyma. The
entrance doorway in the centre of the principal or
north front has elaborate dressings of stone, from
which the paint has recently been removed. It has
a semicircular head and is flanked by Tuscan pilasters,
from which spring bold consoles of considerable projection supporting a balcony above. Their design and
that of the ornament above the keystone of the doorway betray their early 17th-century origin. The firstfloor window over the doorway has also a semicircular
head with a continuously moulded architrave, and is
flanked by Ionic pilasters, each with a swag depending between the volutes. In the tympanum of the
pediment which crowns the design is the shield of
Harrison, with the crest of a cuffed arm holding in
the hand a broken dart. The centres of the elevations on either side of the doorway are accentuated
by semicircular heads to the first-floor windows,
which with those of the ground floor are elsewhere
square-headed. The basement is lighted by semicircular-headed openings with rusticated dressings of
moulded brick. The south front has a central doorway with a porch supported by fluted Ionic columns.
This feature is clearly shown to be an addition of
the Queen Anne period as well by its greater purity
of design as by the method in which the moulded
brick string-course at the first floor level is rudely cut
away for its insertion—a strong contrast to the
workmanlike way in which it is stopped in stone for
the dressing of the entrance doorway on the north
front. Above is a semicircular-headed window
flanked by sham 'œils-de-bœuf.' The east and
west elevations are of similar type, with the exception
that each stage has pilasters at the angles. The later
additions on the west partly conceal this elevation.
The entrance doorway leads by a short passage
directly into the central court, known as the vestibule,
which has recently been panelled with oak in the
Jacobean style, replacing a painted scheme of wall
decoration dating from the Queen Anne reconstruction of the house. The fireplace here, which is of
Jacobean date, was brought from elsewhere. To the
east of the entrance, occupying the remainder of the
south front on this side, is the dining room, the walls
of which are lined with painted panelling. The
original kitchen probably occupied the corresponding
portion of this front to the west of the entrance.
The offices are now principally contained in a
building added to this side of the house at the 18th-century reconstruction. South of the dining room
and separated from it by the main staircase hall is
the oak parlour, the ceiling of which appears to be
of the original date. Opposite the main entrance,
leading out of the hall or vestibule, is a short passage
connecting with the south or garden entrance. Some
17th-century panelling is preserved here. Over
the fireplace of the small room to the east of the
garden entrance is a view of the house, painted, to
judge from the figures introduced into the foreground, about the middle of the 17th century. The
lay-out of the surrounding gardens has completely
disappeared, but in other respects the house presents
much the same appearance as now, with the exception that casement frames take the place of the sashes
inserted later. The remaining rooms on the ground
floor contain little of architectural interest. A later
staircase has been formed on the west side of the
court. The satin drawing room, over the entrance
on the north, and the long gallery on the east, over
the dining room and oak parlour, are more nearly in
their original condition than any of the principal
rooms on the ground floor. Their panelling is
divided into compartments by fluted Corinthian
pilasters, having the lower third of their shafts enriched with arabesque designs. The panelling of the
long gallery is now painted, and, with the exception
of the pilasters, is probably 18th-century work. The
ceiling of the drawing room, with its wreaths of fruit
and flowers in comparatively shallow relief, appears to
be of original date with the house. In the principal
bed room on the south side of the house is a fine
marble chimney-piece of the late 18th century, which
was formerly in the vestibule. The corridor communicating with the apartments here has an original plaster
ceiling on which is the Harrison crest. Generally the
interior has been much modernized, but sufficient detail
remains to show that the building is substantially that
which was erected by Sir John Harrison about the year
1640.
CHURCH
The church of HOLY TRINITY,
Little Amwell, was built and endowed
about the year 1863. It is in 13th-century style, and consists of chancel, nave, transept,
north porch and eastern spire. The advowson is
vested in trustees. (fn. 141)
The history of the parish church of All Saints and the
charities for that parish are given under the borough.