HertfordshireTompkins, Herbert W. (Herbert Winckworth)
History
Hertfordshire
Tompkins, Herbert W. (Herbert Winckworth)
Hertfordshire (England) -- Guidebooks
On the opposite (S.) side of the chancel is the _Brockett Chapel_,
containing monuments to the Reades and Brocketts of Brocket Hall (see
below). Among them note (1) two recumbent female figures, above them the
arms of the Brockett family and beneath an inscription to Dame Elizabeth
Brockett (d. 1612) and an epitaph to Dame Agnes Saunders (d. 1588); (2)
medallion of a female by Rysbrack (1760); (3) bust of Sir James Reade,
Bart. (d. 1701), and of Sir John Reade, Bart. (d. 1711); (4) helmet of
Sir John Brockett on wall. There are piscinae in the chancel and N.
transept, both discovered during restoration. The reredos, alabaster and
mosaic, has a fine crucifixion group, with SS. Alban and Etheldreda on
either side, carved by Earp, who also carved the pulpit of Caen stone.
Note the beautiful clustered shafts of marble on the font of Tisbury
stone, the gift of the late Marchioness of Salisbury.
Three miles N.N.W. is _Brocket Hall_. The Great North Road skirts the
park on the E. and the river Lea flows past the house from N.W. to S.E.
The present edifice was designed by Paine for Sir Matthew Lamb, Bart.,
whose son, Sir Peniston Lamb, Bart., became Viscount Melbourne in 1780.
By this nobleman the Prince Regent was sometimes entertained here, and
here, as stated in the Introduction, Lord Palmerston died in 1865. The
drawing-room and grand staircase have always been admired, but, as a
whole, the house is large and stately rather than beautiful. Elizabeth
is said to have visited here before she became Queen, and in the park,
as at Hatfield, an oak is shown as the one under which she loved to sit.
From the Hall the most charming walks may be taken in any direction;
_e.g._, through the park S.E. to Lemsford Mill, or S.W. to Cromer Hyde,
N.W. to Water End, or N.E. to Ayot Green. More charming still is the
ramble--permission should be requested--beside the winding Lea towards
Old Marford and Wheathampstead.
_Hatfield Hyde_ (13/4 mile N.E. from Hatfield) is a hamlet in a pretty
district, with the river Lea and Hatfield Park a little S.
_Haultwick_ lies 3 miles W. from the Old North Road; it is a hamlet 1
mile N. from Little Munden. The nearest station is Braughing, G.E.R.
(about 31/2 miles E.), passing the S. side of Hamel's Park.
_Heavensgate_ (2 miles W. from Redbourn Station, M.R.) consists of a
few cottages in the centre of a district of small hamlets. The walk (2
miles N.) to Flamstead through Trowley Bottom is pleasant.
[Illustration: HEMEL HEMPSTEAD]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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