This town in antient records is called Rickmearesworth, and was given by king Offa, with other manors, to his newly erected abbey of St. Alban's; the grant was confirmed by king Ethelred, and the abbot and monks held it at the Conquest, according to Domesday Book, for fifteen hides. Henry I. and John confirmed all the grants, and Henry III. further granted that a market should be held here every Wednesday. These privileges were enjoyed by the abbey till its dissolution, when Rickmersworth came to the crown, in which it remained till Edward VI. in 1552, by charter granted the manor, rectory, and church, to Dr. Ridley, bishop of London, with the right of presentation to the vicarage; and though bishop Ridley was deprived by queen Mary, she continued this donation to the see in the person of Bonner. Rickmersworth reverted to the crown during the reign of queen Elizabeth; and was granted by patent in the third year of the reign of Charles I. as a security for money borrowed of the six clerks in Chancery. That corporation jointly with the king, conveyed it to Mr. Hewit, who sold it to Sir Thomas Fotherley, whose son John was high sheriff of the county, in the next reign. Of the two sons of John, Thomas died without issue; John and his only daughter, were unhappily swallowed up in the great earthquake at Jamaica, in 1694. The consequence though, in common ecchoes, the repetition is not heard till after the sound is propagated, in this the person who speaks, or sings, is scarcely heard, but the repetition most clearly, and always in surprizing varieties, the eccho seeming sometimes to approach nearer, and sometimes afar off. Sometimes the voice is heard distinctly, and sometimes not at all: one hears only one voice, and another several; one hears the eccho on the right, the other on the left, &c. Mr. Addison, in his Travels into Italy, mentions an eccho in that country more extraordinary, which will return the sound of a pistol fifty-six times, even though the air be very foggy. Of artificial ecchoes, that reverberated from the first recess of Westminster Bridge, on the Westminster side, is very perfect. An eccho is caused by the reflection or reverberation of sound from a solid body; and, in order to its being heard, it is necessary that the ear be in the line of reflection: for the person who made the sound, it is necessary to be perpendicular to the place which reflects it. was was that the father gave this estate to his widow for life, and to her assigns for one year following, then to her nephew Temple Whitfield, Esq. whose descendant Henry Fotherley Whitfield, Esq. is the present owner. The mansion is called THE BURY, and situated on the west side of the churchyard. The market is kept on Saturday, but has not much resort, and the market house is a mean wooden building. There are also two fairs, on the 2d of July, and the 15th of August. The town is under the jurisdiction of two headboroughs. It stands very low, in a swampy and barren soil; but is very convenient for trades that require the use of water, and several mills have been erected, for cotton, flour, silk, paper, &c. Here is also a manufacture for straw-plat. The CHURCH, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is a spacious structure, and contains many handsome monuments; particularly for HENRY CARY, carl of Monmouth, who died 1661; Sir THOMAS FOTHERLEY, knt. and family; the families of COLTE, SALTER, and WHITFIELD; a mural * Of this nobleman, we are informed, that he "was grandson to Henry lord Hunsdon, cousin-german to queen Elizabeth. He was in his tender age, educated with the duke of York, afterwards Charles the First. Before he entered upon his travels, he received this admonition from Charles: Be always doing something while you are abroad.' It appears that he acted in conformity to that prince's advice, as he returned home a complete master of the languages of those countries through he travelled. He was a great sufferer by the Civil War, particularly by the death of his son, a young gentleman of great hopes, who was killed at Marston Moor. But while some of the nobility were actually embroiled in this war, and others were miserable from the effects of it, the earl of Monmouth enjoyed the calm pleasures of a studious retirement. He composed nothing of his own; but translated from Malvezzi, Bentivoglio, Paruta, Biondi, &c. no less than seven folios, two octavos, and a duode-cimo." His tomb formerly stood against the south wall of the chancel; but being thought to disfigure the place, it was removed, and the beautiful slab of marble that covered it, is now appropriated as the altar table. A second slab of black marble, that was affixed on the north side of the tomb, was let into the south wall, on which a long inscription has been cut, descriptive of his lordship's family and alliances.-Granger, Vol. III. p. 112. Beauties of England, &c. Vol. VII. p. 305. monument monument for TIMOTHY EARLE, Esq. of Moor House, who died in 1787, and of Dorothy his wife; a marble tablet for admiral WILLIAM BLADWELL, who died in 1783. In the middle of the nave is a stone, formerly inlaid with brasses, of a man standing between his two wives; but one of the latter was stolen during the late repairs; beneath is the following inscription: "Here lyeth bvried vnder this stone The Body of Thomas Day And his two wives Alice and Joane; Alice Thomas the 10th of July, 1585 Deceased the 6th of Avgvst, 1598 These three, no doubt, had faith in Christ, their sins for to forgive, And they can tell, that knew them well, ye poore they did relieve." The church was repaired in 1677, and in 1802 and 1803, in a very substantial manner. Rickmersworth gave birth to the liberal and benevolent Sir THOMAS WHITE, lord mayor of London, 1553, of whom more particular mention is made, Vol. II. p. 26. The lesser manors in Rickmersworth, are, CROSSELEY, the MORE, MICHELFELD, LINSTERS, the RECTORY, and PYNESFIELD. CROSSELEY belonged to the abbey of St. Alban's, and after its dissolution reverted to the crown; queen Elizabeth gave it to her physician, the famous Dr. KEY, or CAIUS, who having made considerable additions to Gonvile Hall, Cambridge, formed the whole into a college, called Gonvile and Caius College, and gave the above manor, as part of its endowment, for ever. THE MORE, was part of the possessions of George, archbishop of York, youngest son of Richard Nevil, carl of Salisbury, and brother to the stout earl of Warwick, in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV. It reverted to the crown, and was given by Henry VII. (by the name of De LA MORE) to John de Vere, earl of Oxford, and Margaret VOL, VI. No. 122. B his his wife, daughter of Richard, earl of Salisbury, and to her heirs. The earl of Oxford had led the vauntguard of the army of Henry, and performed great services at the battle of Bosworth Field. The manor again reverting to the crown, James I. granted it to two gentlemen of the names of Woodward and Lucy, and their heirs; who levied a fine for the use of the earl of Bedford for life, with remainder to their heirs. They ultimately sold the More to the earl of Pembroke, who conveyed it in trust to Sir Charles Harbord; he, with others, in 1655, passed it to Sir Richard Franklyn, knight of the shire in 1661; Sir Richard sold off the manor from the estate to Sir William Bucknell; but the MORE HOUSE estate, was given by lady Ann Franklyn to her grandson, Richard Shales, Esq.; it afterwards belonged to the family of Earle, and has been lately purchased by Robert Williams, Esq. of More Park. MORE PARK, the seat of Robert Williams, Esq. is extensive and beautiful. The house was originally built by cardinal Wolsey, and was afterward in the possession of the unfortu nate duke of Monmouth; it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren; being esteemed one of the most perfect of his brick structures. In 1720, it came into the hands of Mr. Styles, who enlarged and beautified it, under the direction of Sir James Thornhill and Giacomo Leoni. From the south, or principal front, he made a vista through the hill, that once obstructed its view towards Uxbridge. He erected also a north front, and cut through the hill toward Watford, for a vista. This circumstance did not escape the censure of Pope: Or cut wide views through mountains to the plain, This he thus explains in a note: "This was done in Hertfordshire, by a wealthy citizen, at the expence of above 5000l. by which means (merely to overlook a dead plain) he let in the north wind upon his house and parterre, which were before adorned and defended by beautiful woods." The house is built of stone, of the Corinthian order. The principal front has a portico and pediment of four columns. The offices are joined to the house by a beautiful 4. beautiful circular colonnade of the Ionic order. Great improvements were made in the house and gardens by George Adams, Esq. to whom the united fortunes of his uncles de, volving, assumed the name of Anson. The carriage of the stone from London alone cost 10,000l. Mr. Anson soon after sold it, for 20,000l. to the late Sir Lawrence Dundas, bart. whose son, Sir Thomas, completed it, and sold it in 1787 to Thomas Bates Rous, Esq. upon whose death, in 1799, it was purchased of his executors by the present possessor. The manor of LINSTERS belongs to St. Thomas's Hospital. The Grand Junction Canal passes through More Park. Three miles and a half from Rickmersworth, and fourteen from Tyburn turnpike, lies WATFORD. This town, as part of Caishoe, was given by king Offa to the abbey of St. Alban's. Henry I. granted the market, and Edward I. two fairs; upon the dissolution of the abbey, Watford remained in the crown, till James I. granted it to lord chancellor Egerton, lord Ellesmere, with whose descendants it continued till the late duke of Bridgewater, in 1760, sold it to the earl of Essex, with whose descendant it still remains. Watford contains the following manors: CASHIOBURY, the GROVE, GARSTON, MERIDEN, CAROLAND, BYRSTON, and OXEY. CASHIOBURY, is said to have been the residence of Mercian kings during the Saxon heptarchy, till Offa gave it to the After the Dissolution it was monastery of St. Alban's. granted by Henry VIII. to Richard Moryson, Esq. with the same privileges enjoyed by the abbots. This gentleman held several important employments, under Henry and his successor, and was his ambassador to the emperor Charles V. Mr. Moryson began to rebuild the fabric, which was finished by his son and heir, Sir Charles Moryson, who died in 1599, part of which remains. His son, Sir Charles Moryson, was created a baronet in 1611, and knight of the Bath, at the coronation of Charles I. and was successively B 2 knight " |