Heordshire | Page 2

Ashwell Common to a point just S. of Totteridge
Green, about 30 miles; but a longer line, 36 miles in length, may be
drawn from Mobb's Hole to Troy Farm in the S.W. Its boundaries are
very irregular; the neighbourhood of Long Marston is almost
surrounded by Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, that of Hinxworth
by Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, and that of Barnet by Middlesex.
Its extreme points are:--
N. Lat. 52° 5´ (N.) E. Long. 0° 13´ (E.) W. Long. 0° 45´ (W.) S. Lat.
51° 36´ (N.)
Its area is 404,523 acres or 632 square miles. It is one of the smallest
counties in England, the still smaller counties being Rutland,
Middlesex, Huntingdon, Bedford and Monmouth. Hertfordshire is one
of the six home counties.
[Illustration: LEAFLESS BEECHES IN NOVEMBER, ASHRIDGE
WOODS]

II. PHYSICAL FEATURES
Hertfordshire, being an inland county, is naturally devoid of many
charms to be found in those counties which have a sea-coast. But it has
beauties of its own, being particularly varied and undulating. Its
scenery is pleasantly diversified by many woods, which however are
mostly of but small extent, by swelling cornfields, and by several small
and winding streams. There is much rich loam in the many little
valley-bottoms traversed by these streams, and other loams of inferior
quality are found in abundance on the higher levels of the arable
districts. The soil in many parts, owing to the preponderance of chalk,
is specially adapted to the cultivation of wheat. Its trees have elicited
the admiration of many, particularly its oaks and elms, of which
colossal specimens are found here and there throughout the county, and
its beeches, of which the beautiful woods on the Chiltern slopes and
elsewhere in the W. are largely composed. The hornbeam is almost
restricted to Essex and Hertfordshire. The woods of Hertfordshire form
indeed its sweetest attraction in the eyes of many. The districts of
Rickmansworth, Radlett, Wheathampstead and Breachwood Green,
among others, are dotted with coppices of ideal loveliness, and larger
woods such as Batch Wood near St. Albans and Bricket Wood near
Watford are carpeted with flowers in their season, interspersed with
glades, and haunted by jays and doves, by ringlets and brimstones.
Hazel woods abound, and parties of village children busily "a-nutting"
in the autumn are one of the commonest sights of the county. It
abounds, too, in quiet park-like spots which are the delight of artists,
and contains many villages and hamlets picturesquely situated upon
slopes and embowered among trees. A large proportion of the birds
known to English observers are found in the county either regularly or
as chance visitors, and will be treated more fully in a separate section.
The many narrow, winding, flower-scented lanes are one of the chief
beauties of Hertfordshire. The eastern part of the county, though, on the
whole, less charming to the eye than the rest, contains some fine manor
houses and interesting old parish churches. Its most beautiful part is
unquestionably the W., near the Buckinghamshire border; its greatest
historic interest centres around St. Albans, with its wonderful old abbey
church now largely restored; Berkhampstead, Hertford, Hatfield and

Hitchin. The county contains rather less than the average of waste or
common land; the stretches of heath used for grazing purposes only
aggregating 1,200 acres.
Among the finest panoramic views may be mentioned:--
(1) From the hill near Boxmoor Station.
(2) From the village of Wigginton, looking S.
(3) From the high-road between Graveley and Baldock.
(4) From Windmill Hill, Hitchin, looking W.
There were medicinal waters at Barnet, Northaw, Hemel Hempstead
and Welwyn, but these are now disused. Many other details touching
physiographical characteristics are mentioned as occasion arises in the
Alphabetical Gazetteer which follows this Introduction.
The Geology of Hertfordshire must be here summarised in few words.
The predominant formations are the Cretaceous and the Tertiary.
CRETACEOUS.--Ignoring the Gault, which barely touches the county,
this formation consists chiefly of Chalk-marl, Lower, Middle and
Upper Chalk. A series of Chalk Downs, an extension of the Chiltern
Hills, stretches, roughly speaking, from Tring to Royston, forming by
far the most prominent natural feature of Hertfordshire. The oldest
rocks are in the N.W.
The Chalk Marl is superimposed upon the Gault and Upper Greensand
beds, which are confined to the western portion of the county. Its upper
layer passes into a sandy limestone, known as Totternhoe stone, which
has furnished materials for many churches in the shire. Ashwell, Pirton
and Tring may be named as neighbourhoods where this stratum may be
traced.
The Lower Chalk is devoid of flints, and rests, in somewhat steeply
sloping beds, upon the Totternhoe stone. It forms the western slopes of

the Dunstable Downs, and of the Chiltern Hills. It is fossiliferous, one
of the commonest of its shells being the Terebratula.
The Middle Chalk, of resonant hardness,