Things to See Round London page 2

Turning right at Harlow by Route 183, he should cross Route 414 and visit the "Hatfields" - Hatfield Heath, Hatfield Broad Oak, and Hatfield Forest. Hatfield Broad Oak obtained its name from a large oak supposed to have flourished here in the Saxon times. Arthur Young noted that a portion of this tree was yet remaining in Hatfield Forest when he published his agricultural survey of Essex. There was a Benedictine priory here founded by Aubrey de Vere in 1135. The church has a western tower and a large porch in the Perpendicular style, other portions of it being of a more ancient date.

Disentangling himself from the Hatfields, the explorer can make his way to the pleasant town of Bishop's Stortford, the birthplace of Cecil Rhodes, which derives its name from the fact that it stands on the river Stort and was connected with the Bishops of London from Saxon times. There are some remains of the small castle called Waytemore, which was given by William the Conqueror to Maurice, Bishop of London.

Turning eastward along Route 120 the pilgrim can visit Great Dunmow and soak himself in the delightful history of the flitch, and then make his way back to London through the Rodings - the route (184) follows the Roding to Woodford, pausing awhile at Chipping Ongar, which must not be confused with High Ongar, a mile to the north. It stands on the bank of the Roding and the Cripsey brook just above the junction of these two streams. Here there was a castle built by Richard de Lucy in the days of Henry VII. The castle has disappeared, together with the Elizabethan house that succeeded it, but the artificial mound on which it was erected and the moat which surrounded it are still in existence.

The traveller is now on Route 113, and he can slip comfortably back to London, joining the road on which he set out near Wanstead

Of all the pilgrimages in this area, that to be made by the Roman Road which is numbered 12 on the map is perhaps the most interesting. It takes us through Romford and Brentwood and so on to Chelmsford, the old county town of Essex and its episcopal see.

After passing through Brentwood and Shenfield we reach the village of Mountnessing, and turn here to the right along a road leading to Mountnessing church, which is remarkable for its timber tower and broach spire and its wonderful thirteenth-century nave. Through lanes covered in some places with grass and crossing the Wid by a ford, we carry on to Buttsbury, with its charming wayside church, and so to the right to the lovely little village of Stock. The country round here once belonged to the nunnery at Barking, but was given by Henry VIII to Sir William Petre, who distinguished himself by the violence of his Protestantism.

Following Route 1007, a good broad road, we reach Galleywood common, where things temporal and things eternal are curiously blended by the existence of a church built practically on the local racecourse. Turning here to the right down a by-road the explorer reaches Great Baddow, where in the church there is a remarkable Jacobean brass to Jane Paschall. He is practically in Chelmsford, already a town which is renewing its importance in the county since it was made an episcopal see. The church of S. Mary the Virgin, which is now a cathedral, was built in the reign of Henry VI. Anthony Trollope painted the ancient inn of the Saracen's Head in many of his novels. He used to stay there when hunting with the Essex and the Essex Union.

Writtle is worth visiting, and it can be reached by taking the first turn to the right on the way back to London. Its importance was long ago sapped by the growth of Chelmsford, but at one time King John is supposed to have had a palace here, the site of which can still be traced. There was also a hermitage in the parish attached to S. John's Abbey, Colchester. The church is interesting from the variety of its monuments. Doubling back, the motorist reaches the village of Widford. A mile farther on, if he leaves the car browsing outside a small inn, he can take the field-path to the beautiful church of Margaretting. Here, as is the case in so many Essex churches, there are Roman tiles built into the walls. The east window and the font are both beautiful specimens of fifteenth-century art. At Ingatestone, farther on, there is a memorial to that Lord Petre who died in the Tower as a result of the Popish Plot. Here the motorist had best end his jaunt for the day and return to London.

When he next sets out again he can vary his exit by picking up Route 106 near Leyton and, avoiding Romford, cross the Roman road to Gidea Park. Route 127 will carry him towards Southend. Rayleigh is a little bit off the main route, but the detour is justified on a run whose chief charm must be the final glimpse of the sea. The Doomsday book allots the lordship of the place to one Suene, who, having joined the cause of the Conqueror at an early period, was permitted to retain his possessions. Some of the earthworks of the castle he built are still to be seen. At the upper end of the town, which stands on an eminence, there is a church built principally in the Perpendicular style, but with some earlier portions. Without again pausing, the pilgrim can make his way to Southend. Returning by Route 13, he can pause for a moment at Hadleigh to inspect the interesting Norman church there, turn right, by Route 129, through Rayleigh again, and reach Billericay. The name is a corruption of the French Banlieue, the territory or precinct round a manor or borough. In the time of Camden, the antiquarian, a famous market was held here. The church was founded in the fourteenth century, but only the tower is of that date. Roman pottery and coins have been found in the neighbourhood, and at Blunts Walls there were some earthworks, the remains of a ditch. Gaining Route 12 again, the pilgrim can close his run round the north-east area of London by passing homewards through Brentwood and Romford.

III. - the south-west

To explore the south-west London area, one cannot do better than take the Bath Road to Hounslow. The tourist is now close to the scene where those picturesque rogues, the highwaymen, practised their business with such success in the olden days. Turning to the right, he can visit the village of Cranford, Route 4 - not Mrs. Gaskell's Cheshire village of that name - and inspect the interesting monuments in the church. There are several to the Berkeley family, who have been Lords of the Manor since the reign of James I, a remarkable one to Sir Roger Aston, and a still more charming one to Thomas Fuller, the topographical writer and author of "The Worthies," who was rector here in 1658. Cranford House, which stands in glorious grounds, was the home of that Grantley Berkeley whom George Meredith painted in his novel "Beauchamp's Career." He was noted for the thrashing he gave the proprietor of "Fraser's Magazine," and the duel he fought with that Maggin whom Thackeray immortalised as Captain Shandon.

The tour, so tar, is through Middlesex, where the country-side is covered with factories, but there are still one or two spots which are worthy of inspection in this growing sea of bricks. Crossing the Crane, the tourist can make his way to Harlington. The church here is said to be one of the two best in the country. Some of the windows are Saxon. The Norman doorway with its wonderful beak-heads should be noted. There is a brass in the church with the date 1419 which is unique of its kind. Henry Bennett, who provided the A in Charles II's Cabal, when he was raised to the peerage took his title from the village, of which he was the Lord of the Manor. It must have been a Cockney who drew up his patent, for he omitted the aspirate, and so Henry Bennett became Lord Arlington. Owing to this mistake Arlington Street off Piccadilly is not "Harlington" Street. Near Harlington was once Dawley Court. Turning to the right the tourist should visit Sipson, and so come to the pretty village of Harmondsworth. We are now on Hounslow Heath proper, though of course it has long since been enclosed. Besides a Norman church the most interesting object in the village is the magnificent tithe barn, 191 feet long and 38 feet broad.

Getting back into the Bath Road, Route 4, we go, without pausing, through Slough and Maidenhead and take Route 308 from the latter place into Hurley, one of the most charming of the riverside villages. In spite of the motor cars that throng here the spirit of the old abbey still seems to brood over the spot. The old Bell is one of the most delightful inns in the country.

Doubling back to Maidenhead, by Route 415, we take Route 308 through Windsor and on to Staines. Staines is mentioned in Doomsday Book, but the origin of its name is much disputed. The otherwise uninteresting church has a brick tower by Inigo Jones. Crossing the river, the tourist takes Route 376 to Laleham. Laleham is associated with the family of Arnold, of whom that eccentric genius the Rev. H. R. Haweis once said that "God had made a very, very wicked world, and put the Arnolds into it to set it right."

Thomas Arnold, the famous headmaster of Rugby, when he left Oxford, started a scholastic establishment here. He always loved the neighbourhood, and his passion was shared by his son Matthew, the poet, who lies buried in the church. The pretty little church, which still retains its Norman atmosphere, contains a tablet to Dr. Arnold, put up in 1898. There is also buried here that Lord Lucan who ordered the famous "Charge of the Light Brigade" at Balaclava. From here, after a visit to the charming village of Littleton, our pilgrim should take the same road on to Shepperton, where a century of literary associations are enshrined.

From Shepperton the explorer, having spent so much time in a literary atmosphere, cannot do better than follow the footsteps of poor little Oliver Twist and Bill Sikes - they stopped at a house in Shepperton, you will remember - into Chertsey. This town was once the site of a mitred Benedictine abbey, founded in Saxon times, the yearly revenues of which, at the Dissolution, were £744 18s. 6¾d. - so precise was Thomas Cromwell!

The explorer can now either take Route 388, northwestwards, past Fox's home, visit Virginia Water and so reach Egham, close to Runnymede, and from thence travel back to London by Route 30, or make a detour through Weybridge and Walton. Our pilgrim can now recross the Thames and by Route 244 make his way homewards by the same road as he set out.

For his next excursion he had better take Route 3, through Kingston. Near Esher is Sandown Park, the racecourse, whose name enshrines an historical tragedy. There was a medieval hospital here called Sandon, the members of which were exterminated by the Black Death in 1439. The race-meeting which now bears its name has been in existence for a little over half a century. The town of Esher is full of historical associations. The most interesting place in the neighbourhood is Claremont. Sir John Vanbrugh erected the original house.

It is worth while making a detour and, passing southwards through Oxshott by Route 244, double backwards by 243 and visit the little village of Chessington. Here is Chessington Hall, where Samuel Crisp once lived who was a friend of Fanny Burney. Crisp's tomb is in the over-restored church. Leaving Chessington, the explorer should run into the little town of Ewell. Here are the remains of Nonsuch Palace, in the construction of which Henry VIII destroyed the parish church and the whole village of Cuddington. Elizabeth and James I stayed here, and Charles II made it over in 1676 to his mistress, Barbara Villiers. She promptly sold it to a builder, and out of it were quarried the materials for constructing the "Durdans," Lord Rosebery's famous Epsom residence. Some remains of the original building can still be traced in the grounds. Bishop Corbet, the jovial ecclesiastic of Charles I's reign, was born in Ewell, his father being a gardener.

Passing through Epsom, the traveller can take Route 24 via Leatherhead and Dorking, where the old King's Head is worth a visit, and so to Guildford. It used to be said that the particular breed of poultry reared in Dorking was first introduced into the country by the Romans.

His next journey afield will take him by Routes 22 and 23 due south to Croydon. Whitgift's Hospital, founded by Elizabeth's archbishop, stands out amidst the forest, of bricks in its sombre dignity and beauty. Wandering off the main road he should make for Addington, where the park of this name was once the seat of the Archbishops of Canterbury.

Strictly speaking, this detour to the homes of the archbishops has taken our pilgrim a little too far west, and he should return by Route 268 and 269 to the neighbourhood of Sanderstead station. There, turning to the left, he will find himself presently on Route 23. Just before reaching Merstham, if he turns to the right, he will make Gatton. Gatton Park, which he will skirt, is a very beautiful estate. Until the days of the Reform Bill the village returned, incredible though it may seem, two members to Parliament.

Travelling south, he will find himself in Route 217, and presently in the town of Reigate. Once a Royal demesne, it bore the name of Cherchefelle, in Doomsday, only acquiring its present name in the following century. Earthworks mark the site of an old castle which was taken by Louis of France in 1216. In the church at the east end of the town there lies buried under the chancel that Lord Howard of Effingham who commanded the English fleet against the Spanish Armada.

By Route 217 he can journey as far south as Crawley, which is comfortably within the area of his rambles. Here, after inspecting the interesting fourteenth century church, he can run homewards again by Route 23 through Redhill.