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Ware in Hertford County England History and GeographyWARE, a market town and parish in the hundred of BRAUGHIN, county of HERTFORD, 2¼ miles (E.N.E.) from Hertford, and 21 (N.) from London, containing 3844 inhabitants. This place, anciently called Guare, derived both its origin and name from a weare, or dam, constructed on the river Lea, and strongly fortified by the Danes in 894, in order to defend their vessels; but Alfred is said to have drained the bed of the river, thereby stranding them, and destroying the fort. After this, his son Edward built a town here, which continued of no importance till the reign of John, when Sayer de Quincy forced the thoroughfare of the bridge over the river Lea, by breaking the chain placed there until toll was paid to the king's bailiff at Hertford. This led to the diversion of the northern road through this town, instead of Hertford, which essentially conduced to its prosperity. In the reign of Henry III., a tournament was held here by Gilbert Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, in which he was slain; and, in the same reign, a Benedictine priory was founded by Margaret, Countess of Leicester, as a cell to the monastery of Ebralf, at Uttica in Normandy, which was eventually bestowed by Henry V. on the Carthusian monastery of Sheen in Surrey: here was also a house of Franciscan friars. The town is situated in a valley, on the east side of the navigable river Lea, and consists of several streets, the principal extending about a mile along the high road from London to Cambridge: it is lighted, well supplied with both river and spring water, and is in a state of general improvement. A public library was established in 1795. The place was formerly subject to floods, but, from diverting into the river the water that flowed through Baldock-street to near the centre of the town, the inconvenience has been removed. The trade is chiefly in malt, which is made to a very great extent, and most of the London breweries are supplied from this town: there are seventy malting establishments in the town, and others are in progress of erection. The river Lea is navigable hence to hertford and London, furnishing ample facilities for the conveyance of malt and corn to the metropolis, and for bringing back coal and manure. The market is on Tuesday; and fairs are held on the last Tuesday in April, and on the Tuesday before September 21st, for cattle. A market-house, erected by subscription, supported on sixteen arches, and containing an elegant assembly-room, was completed in 1827: the site was given by the lord of the manor. The town is under the superintendence of four constables and three head-boroughs: the county magistrates hold a petty session every alternate Tuesday, and a court baron is held annually. The living is a vicarage, with that of Thundridge annexed, in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese of London, rated in the king's books at £20. 10., and in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. The church, situated in the centre of the town, is dedicated to St. Mary; it is an ancient cruciform edifice, with two sepulchral chapels and a west tower, surmounted by a low spire; in the interior is an antique font, in the later style of English architecture. In the churchyard is an ancient tombstone, bearing the following inscription;''To the memory of William Mead, M.D., who departed this life on the 28th day of October, 1652, aged one hundred and forty-eight years, nine months, three weeks, and four days.' There are two places of worship each for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists, and one for the Society of Friends. Humphrey Spencer gave a schoolhouse, and funds for keeping it in repair, and for the salary of the master, to which additions have since been made. A National school, in which one hundred boys are educated, is supported by voluntary contributions; a British school, in which eighty are instructed, is supported by the Independents; and a free school, for one hundred girls, is chiefly maintained by two ladies, aided by private subscriptions. Here is an old school-house belonging to the Governors of Christ's Hospital, also a range of buildings, for the accommodation of the nurses and children. There are seventeen almshouses for widows and other poor persons, some of which have small endowments: bequests to the amount of about £300 per annum have been left for the poor, for whose further relief a Lying-in-Society and a Friendly Institution have been established. Near the town are two springs of excellent water, of which one, called 'the Chadwell Spring,' is also denominated the 'New River Head,' and the other the 'Amwell Spring;' these, under the superintendence of the New River Company, supply the metropolis. In the grounds of Amwell House is a beautiful grotto. The great bed of Ware, sufficiently capacious to accommodate six couple, is of uncertain and conjectural origin: at the head is carved the date 1453. Four stone coffins were found in a field, called Bury Field, at the south-west corner of the town, in 1802, supposed to have been the burial-place of the priory. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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