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Hitchin in Hertford County England History and GeographyHITCHIN, a market town and parish, in the hundred of HITCHIN, and PIRTON, county of HERTFORD, 15½ miles (N.W.) from Hertford, and 34 (N.N.W.) from London, containing, with the hamlets of Missenden, Preston, and Temple-Dinsley, 4486 inhabitants. This place, which, during the Saxon Heptarchy, formed part of the royal demesne of the King of Mercia, was given by Edward the Confessor to Harold, after whose death, at the battle of Hastings, it was retained by William the Conqueror, and is noticed in Domesday-book under the name of Hiz, a probable modification of its Saxon name, Hicce, or Hitche, from which its present appellation is deduced. It was granted by William Rufus to Bernard de Balliol, on the accession of whose descendant, John Balliol, to the throne of Scotland, it reverted to the crown of England, and was given by Edward III to his fifth son, Edmund de Langley. The town is situated on a level spot of land environed on every side except the north by rising grounds, and intersected by the small river Hiz, which has its source at the distance of about a mile to the south-west: the streets, with the exception of that which forms the principal thoroughfare to Bedford, are spacious, and partially paved and lighted by subscription: the houses are in general neatly built of brick, but occasionally interspersed with some of less respectable appearance, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water. The environs are pleasant, a considerable portion of the adjacent grounds being culti vated by market-gardeners, who supply the neighbouring towns with fruit and vegetables. A public subscription library, with a museum in which is a good collection of antiquities and natural curiosities, has been established: there are also several book societies; and assemblies take place periodically during the winter, in a suite of rooms at the Sun Inn. Hitchin was celebrated at a very early period for its manufacture of woollen goods, and many of the merchants of Calais resided in the town prior to the removal of that branch of business from the towns on the continent. The trade at present is principally in corn and malt, for the latter of which it had obtained a high reputation in the reign of Elizabeth, who used to boast of 'the juice of the Hitchin grape.' The soil in the vicinity is favourable to the growth of barley and other grain, of which great quanties are sold at the market. The manufacture of strawplat affords employment to a considerable portion of the female inhabitants: a silk-mill, in which about three hundred persons are engaged, has been recently established, and there are some extensive breweries in the town and neighbourhood. The market, which is toll free, is held on Tuesday, and is well supplied with corn: the fairs are on the Tuesdays in Easter and Whitsun-weeks, which are pleasure fairs. The town is divided into Bancroft, Tilehouse, and Bridge wards, for each of which two constables and two headboroughs are appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor, held at Michaelmas. The county magistrates hold here a petty session every Tuesday. The bridewell, situated at the extremity of Bancroft-street, is a small brick building, comprising two wards for the classification only of prisoners committed for misdemeanours: the average number of committals is about eighty annually. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Huntingdon, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £25. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. The church, originally dedicated to St. Andrew, was, on being rebuilt prior to the reign of Henry VIII., dedicated to the Virgin Mary: it is a spacious structure, principally in the later style of English architecture, with a low massive embattled tower, surmounted by a small spire, and having a turret at one of the angles: the south porch is a beautifully enriched specimen of that style; and over the entrance is a room which is used as a register office for that part of the archdeaconry of Huntingdon which is in the county of Herts. The interior of the church is very richly ornamented, and on each side of the chancel is a large chapel, separated from it by a handsome screen of carved oak; over the altar is a fine painting of the Offering of the Wise Men of the East, by Rubens: there are numerous interesting monuments, and a font of singular beauty, with carvings of the twelve Apostles: underneath the eastern part of the chancel is a crypt, communicating by a staircase with the chapel on the north side, which was used by Cromwell as a prison for the royalists. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, those in the late Countess of Huntingdon's connexion, and Independents. The free school was principally founded by John Mattocke, Esq., of Coventry, who, in 1639, endowed it with land in Hitchin for the maintenance of a master: its present endowment, arising from that and subsequent benefactions, consists of nearly fifty-seven acres of land in this and other parishes, a rent-charge of £5, and the school-house, which is a commodious building at the west end of Tylehouse-street: this school has a contingent right to an exhibition to Christ Church College, Oxford, on failure of a candidate from the school at Buntingford. A school for the clothing and instruction of girls is supported partly by the dividends on nearly £1000, the amount of several benefactions vested in the funds, and by subscription. There are also British and foreign schools, in which two hundred boys and one hundred girls are instructed; and an infant school is supported by subscription. Almshouses for eight poor persons were founded and endowed by Mr. Skinner, in 1668: there are also almshouses for six poor persons, and others for eighteen women, in a house called the Biggin, said to have been formerly a religious establishment. Various benefactions have also been made for apprenticing poor boys and for other charitable purposes. Near the church was a small priory of Gilbertine nuns, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £15. 1. 11.; it was subsequently devised to the free school by the Rev. Joseph Kemp, A.M.: there are still some remains, which have been converted into dwelling-houses. Towards the western extremity of the town was a house of Carmelite friars, founded by Edward II., and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £4. 9. 4.: the cloisters and a small part of the buildings are still existing, and a handsome mansion, called the Priory, has been erected on the site. There was formerly a chapel at Missenden, now nearly demolished, and another at Temple-Dinsley, in this parish, the latter belonging to a preceptory of the Knights Templars, of which there are no vestiges. At Wildberry hill, over which passes the Iknield-street, within a mile of the town, was a Roman exploratory camp, occupying an area of seven acres and a half, and surrounded by a vallum, in which a fine silver coin of Faustina, Consort of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, was discovered a few years since. Dr. Mark Hildesley, Bishop of Sodor and Man, was formerly vicar of this parish, and a great benefactor to the town. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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