Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/222

HATFIELD. 214 HATFIELD-PEVEREL. station in the outskirts of the town. It is situated on the declivity of a hill, forming part of the ridge separating the valleys of the Lea and Colne, heing nearer to the former river, and on the Great North road. It was called Haethjield by the Saxons, and was given to Ely Abbey. After the Norman Conquest it became the property of the bishops of Ely, who had a palace here, which came to Henry VIII., and was exchanged by James I. for Theobalds with the Cecils. The town of Hatfiold is a small straggling place, most of the houses being old, except in the extensive suburb on the V. called Hatfield New Town, which has recently been built, and stands on the St. Alban's road. It contains a market-house, union poorhouse, and militia barracks recently erected. It is well supplied with water, and is lighted with gas. On the Lea are several mills, and some of the inhabitants are employed in the silk and paper manufactures. Hatfield is a polling-place for the county, and a telegraph station ; it is also the head of a Poor-law Union, embracing the pars, of Essendon, Hat- field, North Mimms, and Northaw, and of a superin- tendent registry district, but is included in the St. Alban's new County Court district. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. with the ohplry. of Tottoridge annexed, 2,097. The church, dedicated to St. Etheldroda, is an ancient structure with embattled tower surmounted by a now spire, erected through the munificence of the Marquis of Salisbury. It contains a monument to Sir Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salis- bury ; also others to the Botelers, Brockets, and Reads, of Brocket Hall, and has adjoining a mortuary chapel ' of the Cecil family, earls and marquises of Salisbury. There are besides four churches recently erected in the parish viz. at Wood Hill and Hatfield Hyde, both built by the Marquis of Salisbury; at Lomsford Mills by Lady Cowper, and one at Newgate-street dedicated to St. Mary. This last was erected and endowed by Thomas Mills, Esq., M.P. and J.P., who also built a school with a residence adjoining. The Independents have a chapel, and there is a public library recently established. There are several charities, producing altogether about 117 per annum, part of which is for education, and part an endowment of the almshouscs, founded by one of the Cecil family. There are several schools, including Church of England, National, and infant and district schools at Woodside, Cromer Hyde, and Newgate Street. The chief seats are Ilatfield House, of the Marquis of Salisbury, and Brocket Hall, of Vis- count Palmerston. The former is a large Elizabethan brick building with enrichments of stone, built by the first Earl of Salisbury in 1605-11, and restored by Thorpe. It stands near the site of the palace of the bishops of Ely, which was burnt in 1835, when the Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury perished. Both Edward VI. and Elizabeth were here when called to the throne the latter in a sort of confinement ; and the oak-tree under which the princess sat awaiting the arrival of her troops to escort her to London to be pro- claimed queen, is still preserved in the park, being care- fully fenced round. Charles I. was confined here for some time by order of parliament, and Queen Victoria visited the mansion in October, 1846. In the hall is a gallery of paintings, including portraits of the great statesman Burleigh ; Sir Robert, and others of the Cecil family, by Lely and Kneller ; Richard III. ; Margaret, mother of Henry VII. ; Henry VIII. ; Anne Boleyn ; Mary Queen of Scots ; Elizabeth ; and Dudley, Earl of Leicester : also a library containing many rare MSB. and original letters, including those of Sir Robert Cecil to James I. before his ascending the English throne, and recently published for the Camden Society. The park, which is the most extensive in the county, is bounded on the N. by the river Lea, and on the W. by the Great North road. Brocket Hall, now the property of Vis- count ' Palmerston, was the residence of the late Lord Melbourne, and at which he was visited by her Majesty Queen Victoria. The park comprises 500 acres, and is adorned by the windings of the river Lea. Hatfield Woodall was an old seat of the Bassingbournes and Botelers, but is now pulled down. The Marquis Salisbury is lord of the manor, and chief proprietor ( the parish. Thursday is market day, and fairs are held on the 23rd April and 18th October. HATFIELD-BRO AD-OAK, or HATFIELD REGIS, a par. in the hund. of Harlow, co. Essex, 4J miles from the Sawbridgeworth station of the Great Eastern rail- way, and 7 S.E. of Bishop's Stortford. It derives the epithet by which it is distinguished from Hatfiold-Peve- rel from a remarkably fine oak, called the Doodle Oak, now very old, but carefully fenced round and preserved. This oak stands in Hatfield Forest, which lies to the N.W. of the town, and comprises near 1,000 acres, the greater part of which has recently been enclosed under an Act of Parliament. The parish is very extensive, comprising 8,810 acres, and at the time of the Domesday Survey belonged to the crown. It was subsequently granted to the family of Do Gemon, or Monttichct, who held it as a royal manor till the reign of Henry III., when, reverting to the crown, it was granted by that sovereign to Isabella de Brace, whose son, Earl Carrick, becoming a competitor for the crown of Scotland, his English estates were confiscated. The manor subse- quently became the property of the De Bohun, Stafford, and Rich families, and was ultimately purchased by Sir Francis Barrington, whoso descendant through the female line, George Alan Lowndes, Esq., is now lord of the manor, and principal landowner. The land is chiefly arable, except about a third, which is pasture and wood- land. The town, now only a largo village, was formerly an extensive market town. It consists of irregularly- built houses scattered at distant intervals, and occupying a ridge of elevated land near the Pinay brook, a feeder of the river Stort. Near the village arc several mansions, as Down Hall, and Gladwyns, near Hatfield Heath. The present Barrington Hall, was commenced in the middle of the last century, but has never been finished, and ia uninhabited. Old Barrington Hall, the original seat of the Barrington family, and Bromesho Bury, where the De Bruces resided, are both now farmhouses. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 180, in the gift of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, who are also owners of the great tithes, vaL 1,760. The parish church, a large structure, with a lofty tower containing eight bells, is dedicated to St. Mary, and was originally the conventual church of the Priory of Black Canons, founded hero in 1135 by Albcni de Vere. It contains several ancient monuments, in particular a very fine effigy of Robert do Vere, third Earl of Oxford. There are two district churches that of St. John the Evangelist, at Bush End, in the N. part of the parish, and that of the Holy Trinity, at Hatfield Heath, in the S. The livings of both are perpet. curs.,* val. severally 75, in the patron, of the vicar. The Independents have a chapel at Hatfield Heath, and a school in connection with it. There are three National schools, besides seve- ral private schools. The charities chiefly consist of * small endowment for the almshouses, and about 100 per annum for the repairs of the church. The poet Prior frequently resided at Down Hall, in this parish. A fair is held on the 5th August for the sale of lambs. HATFIELD, GREAT, a tnshp. in the par. of Map- pleton, and partly in that of Sigglesthorne, wap. Holderness, East Riding co. York, 3 miles S.W. of HOT sea, and 9 N.E. of Beverley. It is a station on the T and Hornsea branch line of railway. The land is fei producing good crops of wheat, oats, beans, &c. At 1 junction of three roads is an ancient cross of Nm workmanship. The village is a small scattered i and is a meet for the Holderness hounds. Then small charity of 40s. a year for the poor. Lord Vestbnry is lord of the manor. HATFIELD, LITTLE, a tnshp. and hmlt. in the par. of Sigglesthorne, wap. of Holderness, East Hiding co. York, 1 mile N.W. of Great Hatfield, which tov ; it adjoins. It consists of two farms, with several o it ! . HATFIELD-PEVEREL, a par. in the hund. of Witham, co. Essex, 3 miles S.W. of Witham. The parish derives its name from Ranulph Peverel, its proprietor at