William's march to Berkhampstead after the battle of Hastings, and his reception there of the submission of the English, is a further witness to its importance. In Domesday Berkhampstead is entered as part of the possessions of Robert, count of Mortain, having formerly been held by Edmar, a thegn of Earl Harold. More important is the mention of a 'fossarius,' one whose duty it was to look after the earthworks, and whatever may be the date of the first occupation of the site there can be little doubt that the mount and main lines of the existing earthworks were in existence at the time of the Survey, and may be the work of Count Robert.

BERKHAMPSTEAD PLACE, which stands on rising ground overlooking the town about a quarter of a mile north of the ruins of the old castle, was up to the time of her death held from Lord Brownlow by Gertrude countess of Pembroke. The principal, or south-east, front is more picturesque than the others, being well broken up by the side wings, and a number of small gables and projections over the hall, but the effect is marred by the cement which covers all but the front wall of the hall. It is, however, well covered with flowering creepers, which give it a charming appearance in summer. Under the sill of the drawing-room window, a small weather-worn stone is built into the wall, bearing the date 1611, which may refer to some additions made at that period, after the purchase of the house by Prince Henry, eldest son of James I. The stone cannot, of course, be in its original position, as, until the fire of 1661–2, this portion formed part of the wing.

There were three courts held in the honour and manor, the Great Court held at Whitsuntide and Michaelmas; the view of frankpledge, the attendance at which at an early date, owing probably to the inconvenience to jurors living at long distances, appears to have been commuted to a fixed yearly payment. This court which corresponded to the hundred court was held usually in the castle, but in times of sickness it was held at an oak within the park or at a willow without the park, probably a survival of the earlier custom of holding the court in the open. On the day following the above court there was another similar court held at the church-house of Berkhampstead. The halmote courts or courts leet and baron of the manor were held fortnightly at the castle. The portmote court to which reference will be made in the history of the borough was also held fortnightly. The only courts now held are those of the petty sessions, which are kept on the first and third Wednesday in each month.

The town of Berkhampstead lies principally along the Roman Akeman Street, here called the High Street, and stretches for about a mile on each side of the church, which stands in the middle of the town on the north side of the street. Leading down from the east end of the church to what was the principal gate of the castle, but now the way to the railway station, is Castle Street, formerly Castle Lane. These, with Ravens Lane (Ravenyngeslane), probably called after the family of Raven living here in the fourteenth century, Green Lane (Greneweylane), Mill Lane, and Elvenweye, afterwards Grubs Lane and now Chesham Road, Water Lane, and the Wilderness, formed the old town. The High Street consists for the most part of two-storied houses or shops of brick and plaster, slated or tiled, the very varied styles of architecture of which are a pleasant and characteristic feature. Before the Conquest, Berkhampstead was held by Edmer Atule, a thegn of King Edward the Confessor.

William I granted it to his half-brother, Robert count of Mortain, to whom he gave the county of Cornwall in 1068. William son of this Robert having joined in the rebellion against Henry I was taken prisoner and dispossessed of his lands in 1104, when the king gave them to his chancellor, Randulph, who was killed by misadventure at Berkhampstead in 1123. The castle and honour again came to the crown, and were, it is supposed, given to Reginald de Dunstanvill, a natural son of Henry I, upon his creation as earl of Cornwall in 1140. Reginald died in 1175, and if he held the castle must have surrendered it before his death, as we find that in 1155 it was in farm from the crown to Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor of England, who held it down to 1165, when William of Windsor appears as farmer and so continued to 1174. At this date the castle was apparently leased to William de Mandeville, earl of Essex, who probably held it till his death in 1189. In the following yeare we find it in the hands of a warden on behalf of the crown.

In 1104 the castle was in the king's hands and was dismantled, but in 1123 Henry I came to Berkhampstead after spending his Christmas at Dunstable, and probably lodged in the castle. At the end of John's reign in 1215, doubtless in view of the unsettled state of the kingdom, an order was given to take from the wood of Berkhampstead so much as was necessary for fortifying the castle. In the next yeare the defences were put to the test, when Louis of France besieged the castle, and, in spite of several spirited sallies by the garrison, took it after a fortnight's attack, mainly by the strength of his mangonels and other engines of war. He directed a continuous fire of destructive missiles (damnosi lapides) from all sides on the castle, and the commandant Waleran, a German by birth, 'after manfully resisting with his companions in arms, and sending to Hell the souls of many excommunicate Frenchmen,' surrendered by order of the king on 20 December, 1216. About this time the honour with the castle and manor was apparently granted in dower to Berengaria, queen of Richard I, who was dispossessed by John on his accession to the throne.

Pope Innocent III from time to time urged John to make restitution to his sister-in-law, and in 1209 threatened to place the honour and all the lands which the queen ought to have had as dower under an interdict till satisfaction should be made. In the following yeare the bishops of Rochester and Salisbury were ordered to publish the sentence of interdict; the matter, however, was not settled till 1216, when a composition was made by the king for payment of arrears and the payment of an annuity to Berengaria. In the meantime John had granted the farm of the honour to Geoffrey Fitz Piers, who became earl of Essex in right of his wife, in whose hands we find Berkhampstead in 1202. In 1204 John settled the honour on Queen Isabella, his second wife, for life. She however seems never to have had seisin, as a little later in the same yeare it was in the hands of a keeper on behalf of the crown, and on 29 May, 1205, it was granted to Geoffrey Fitz Piers, earl of Essex, and the heirs by his second wife, Aveline. At the death of Geoffrey in 1212, nothwithstanding there was issue, a son by his second wife, Berkhampstead was placed in 1213 in the hands of a keeper, Terrice or Theodoric Teutonicus, on behalf of the crown, and was held on behalf of the king till 1215, when the queen received a confirmation of the grant to her of 1204. In 1216 Queen Isabella resided for some time at the castle, and in December of the same yeare the castle was attacked by King Louis of France with the English barons, and, having withstood a fortnight's siege, surrendered.

After King John's death Isabella married Hugh Count de la March, and in 1222 the castle and honour were delivered to them. On 5 October, 1220, Theodoric Teutonicus was ordered to deliver the castle to Hugh de Nazia, knight of the count of March, and eighteenemonths later it was committed to Guy Peveril, knight of the count of March, and his wife. Not liking however to leave so important a position as Berkhampstead Castle in the hands of a foreigner, Hubert de Burgh, the justiciar, and the council, and, later, King Henry III seem to have retained the control of it in their own hands. In November, 1223, the custody of the castle was granted to Geoffrey de Lucy, a servant of the king, and in June, 1224, the custody of the castle and honour, and of all lands which had belonged to the count of March and Isabella, was granted to Thomas de Cyrencestre. The castle and honour were possibly granted to Richard, second son of King John, when he was created earl of Cornwall in 1225. On 4 January, 1244, they were confirmed to his wife Senchia as dower in case of his death. Richard was a frequent resident at the castle and died there in 1272. He was succeeded by his son Edmund earl of Cornwall, who was born at the castle in 1249. This latter earl died in 1300 without issue, when Edward I succeeded him as cousin and heir. In 1303 Edward I granted the honour, including the castle and manor, in dower to Margaret of France, his second queen. Edward II seems, however, to have dispossessed his step-mother and granted Berkhampstead to his favourite Piers Gaveston in 1309, but in the following yeare he confirmed the charter to Queen Margaret, who held it till her death in 1317, after which Edward II appears to have granted it to Isabella his queen.

1329 Edward III granted the castle and honour to John de Eltham, his brother, who died in 1336 without issue, when the king took possession as brother and heir. 17 March, 1336–7- By an Act of Parliament, the king created his son Edward (the Black Prince) duke of Cornwall and granted him the honour of Berkhampstead. This prince resided for some time towards the latter years of his life at the castle, and during his tenancy, John king of France was confined here as a prisoner of war, being brought from Somerton Castle in Somerset in 1360. From this date the honour followed the descent of the duchy of Cornwall and passed successively for some time to the eldest son of the reigning monarch. 1509 the honour was granted as jointure to Katherine of Arragon and was afterwards held successively as jointure by Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, queens of Henry VIII. From the date of the death of the latter the honour remained in the hands of the crown till the end of Henry's reign. 1550, Edward VI granted the manor and park to his sister the Princess Elizabeth for life, and upon her accession to the throne she in 1559 leased the site of the castle with the castle mead, the long stable mead, and two water-mills to Sir Thomas Benger for fifty years. This lease seems to have been surrendered and a fresh one made in 1580 to Sir Edward Carey and his wife, 1610- Sir Edward Carey who built the house now known as Berkhampstead Place, and when in 1610 the castle, manor, and lordship were granted to Henry, prince of Wales, eldest son of James I, the prince paid Sir Henry Carey, son of Sir Edward, £4,000 for the newly erected house. 1612- Prince Henry died, and in 1615 the honour was granted to his brother Prince Charles, afterwards Charles I, who leased Berkhampstead Place to Thomas Murray. 1627 the grounds of the castle were disparked and reduced from 1,132 to 376 acres and were leased to Jane Murray. The unexpired term of the lease to Murray was in 1650 assigned to Major John Alford, in which yeare minute surveys were taken by the Parliamentary Commissioners. 1651 the trustees for the sale of the king's, queen's, and prince's lands sold to Henry Murray, son of Jane Murray, before referred to, the house and park containing 253 acres of land with the site of the castle, and in 1656, since it was found that the sale to Henry Murray was in reversion after the expiry of the lease, and that Murray had assigned his interest to Thomas Aldridge and Mordecai Herne, the premises were confirmed by Cromwell to Aldridge and Herne, whose under-tenant, Colonel Axtel, was at the Restoration hanged as a regicide. The honour and manor were sold by the same parliamentary trustees in 1652 to Godfrey Ellis and Griffin Phillips.

The manor of Berkhampstead, which includes the parishes of Berkhampstead and Northchurch, was a liberty outside the jurisdiction of the sheriff. (fn. The bailiff of Berkhampstead went before the justices at each circuit and demanded the liberties of this honour, whereupon the justices sent one of their number to hear all pleas within the honour. There were two coroners, one for the liberty and the other for the borough. The lord had all waifs, strays, goods of felons and treasure-trove. The lord of the manor appears to have had the fishery in any brook, water, or river within the manor from a place called Bulbourne Head and so along the river within the manor to King's Langley Park, without the bounds of the manor but within the honour. (fn. 89) Two mills are mentioned in Domesday, and in 1357 we have reference to the Castle mill, 'Sisethemulle' and 'Bankmulle,' but in 1559 and 1627 we have mention of only two water-mills, which were called the Upper and the Lower mills.

Westward is Egerton House, a fine example of a sixteenth-century house, now occupied by Mr. Llewellyn Davis, and farther on the same side is the Red House, a large, comfortable house of red brick, with an exceptionally fine garden at the back. Almost opposite is the Manor House, or Pilkington Manor, a large plain house covered with plaster, now divided into three, the greater part of which is occupied by Mr. F. Farren. It is mentioned in Norden's survey (1616) as a capital messuage, called Pilkington's, in tenure of Francis Barkes. The grounds of this house, inclosed within high walls, formerly extended eastward to Ravens Lane, but were cut up and built over in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Opposite the church is an old sixteenth-century half-timber house recently restored, which is said to have been the residence of John Incent, dean of St. Paul's, a native of the town.

To the north-west of the church is the court-house, where the port-mote or borough court was held. It is a half-timbered house with a fine open roof probably of sixteenth-century date. It seems afterwards to have passed with the manor, and in that way came into the possession of Earl Brownlow, who in turn granted it to trustees at a nominal rent to be used as a national school. To adapt it to this purpose the floor of the upper story or loft has been taken away, and additional school accommodation has been built on at the back.

Berkhampstead was visited in 1643 by a violent pestilential fever. Twenty families, consisting of eighty persons, had to be cared for at the parish expense, and though the collection had been doubled, the parishioners were unable to meet the additional expense and begged for help from neighbouring towns. In 1569, on the invitation of William Allen, founder of the English college at Douay, he settled there, and for a while 'assisted both with his purse and learning towards that establishment.' Henry Johnson, the traveller, resided towards the end of his life at Berkhampstead, where he died in 1760. Around the market-place are the principal inns, all eighteenth-century houses—on the south side the 'Swan,' the 'Crown' and the 'King's Arms,' and on the north the 'Bell'—remains of the time when Berkhampstead was an important posting town. Berkhampstead is said to have been built on the waste of the manor, and therefore claimed by the lord, while on the other hand it was alleged that it was built by the inhabitants for their own use. In the middle of the sixteenth century the court-house is stated to have belonged to the churchwardens, but in 1591 the crown granted it to Edward Stanley. In Sir John Dodderidge's survey of the manor, made in 1607, this house is again stated to have been in the hands of the churchwardens for the use of the inhabitants, and was from time to time leased by them, provision being made in the leases for the use by the churchwardens of part of the house called the church loft. It seems to have remained in the possession of the churchwardens till about 1673, when an information was filed by the Attorney-General against the churchwardens as to their right, and judgement was given for the crown.

The north side of the market-place is formed by a long narrow island of shops called Middle Row, behind which is a narrow lane called Back Lane. At the west end of Middle Row stood the market-house, built by the townspeople in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, which contained the corn and butter market and the butchers' stalls. It stood upon oak posts, was open on the ground story, and had a loft or room above. In the front of it were the stocks, pillory, and whippingpost. It was burnt down in 1854, it is supposed by incendiaries. At the west end of Back Lane is a good sixteenth-century half-timbered house, now converted into a shop. On the opposite side stands the new police-station, on the site of which stood the 'cage' or place for the detention of prisoners, of which we have mention in 1616. This was succeeded by the Bridewell, built about 1763, a building constantly out of repair, and from which the prisoners frequently escaped even when fettered. It is minutely described in a report of 1824, and consisted of a dwelling-house for the keeper and four bedrooms upstairs.

All these grants made during the Commonwealth became void at the Restoration, and the honour, castle, and manor returned to the crown, and, as parcel of the duchy of Cornwall, remained in the crown or the eldest son of the reigning sovereign till 19 March, 1862, when the manor was purchased by the trustees for John second Earl Brownlow, then a minor, whose brother now holds it.

The old parish church of BRAMPTON was situated on an eminence overlooking the vale of the Irthing, about a mile and a half from the town. What caprice led to the selection of such an inconvenient site it is impossible to say. It was in existance as early as 1169 AD about which time it was given by Robert de Vallibus to the Abbey of Lanercost. Naworth Castle and Lanercost Priory are each about 2 miles from this town. Eastward of Brampton is a lofty conical mount, called the Mote, or the Castle Hill, at the foot of which are traces of an ancient camp, and the summit of which commands a very wide prospect-westward over Carlisle and the flat country to the Solway Frith, northwards towards Bewcastle and the Scottish mountains, and eastward to the Cheviot Hills and Tynedale Fell. NAWURTH, a township in the parish of Brampton, ward of Eskdale, county Cumberland, 2½ miles N.E. of Brampton, and 11 E. of Carlisle. The township, which is of small extent, is situated on the Newcastle railway and river Irthing, near Lanercost Priory.

 

Naworth Castle and Lanercost Priory are each about 2 miles from this town. Eastward of Brampton is a lofty conical mount, called the Mote, or the Castle Hill, at the foot of which are traces of an ancient camp, and the summit of which commands a very wide prospect-westward over Carlisle and the flat country to the Solway Frith, northwards towards Bewcastle and the Scottish mountains, and eastward to the Cheviot Hills and Tynedale Fell. NAWURTH, a township in the parish of Brampton, ward of Eskdale, county Cumberland, 2½ miles N.E. of Brampton, and 11 E. of Carlisle. The township, which is of small extent, is situated on the Newcastle railway and river Irthing, near Lanercost Priory. The township includes the hamlet of Boothby. Naworth Castle, formerly the seate of the lords of Gilsland, was built for a stronghold in the reign of Edward III. by Ranulph Dacre. It consisted of a spacious quadrangular structure with two lofty towers, but was almost destroyed by a fire in 1844.