With the advent of less troublous times at the close of the Wars of the Roses a marked change is noticeable in the plan and architecture of the residences of the great noblemen and country gentlemen. The need for castles or fortified houses ceased to exist; and attention was consequently directed to comfort rather than strength in the construction of country mansions. Fortunately a number of these fine old Tudor residences have survived in different parts of the country; but many have been replaced by other later structures built on the old foundations.

These Tudor mansions usually took the form of a large house built round a quadrangle, the hall occupying the middle portion of the building, with flanking wings on both sides. The building material depended upon the locality and on the taste and means of the owner; but in this county brick was extensively employed by the Tudor, and still more so by the Stuart builders.

In lordly country seats, as well as in mansions of a less pretentious type, dating from the Tudor period downward, Hertfordshire, owing doubtless to its well-wooded and picturesque scenery, its good soil, bracing climate, and proximity to the metropolis, is especially rich, and in this respect presents a marked contrast to the neighbouring county of Essex. The majority of these houses, however, have been either completely rebuilt or more or less extensively altered at later epochs.

Among the few of these noble residences that can be mentioned here, Hatfield House, which was built between the years 1605 and 1611 by the first Earl of Salisbury, presents a magnificent specimen of early Jacobean architecture in brick and stone, mellowed by time to exquisitely soft tints. The original palace, where Edward VI lived, and where Elizabeth was kept in captivity, now forms the stables. The mention of the virgin queen naturally leads on to Ashridge, near Berkhampstead, formerly the seat of the Dukes of Bridgewater, where Elizabeth also spent a considerable time in her early days. Although the present building, which stands partly in Hertfordshire and partly in Buckinghamshire, is mostly modern Gothic, the fine vaulted cellar is a remnant of the old monastery and college which formerly occupied the site. Knebworth, near Stevenage, the home of the Earls of Lytton, although now a comparatively modern Gothic building, was originally a Tudor mansion, dating from the reign of Henry VII, the present house occupying the position of one of the four wings of the original building. Tittenhanger, between St Albans and Colney, occupies the site of a royal residence dating from the fourteenth and early part of the fifteenth century; the present mansion, notable for its grand oak staircase, is stated to have been built in 1654, although the style of the brickwork suggests the early part of the eighteenth century. Little Hadham Hall, at the village of that name, is a splendid example of Elizabethan architecture in red brick.

A very interesting mansion is Salisbury House, Shenley, built some time before 1669; much of the original brick building still remaining as an excellent example of Stuart architecture. The house is surrounded by a broad moat, and is approached by a bridge. Mackery End, near Wheathampstead, contains some fine examples of sixteenth century architecture; and Rothamsted, near Harpenden, is in the main a seventeenth century brick mansion, dating from between 1630 and 1650, although it has older portions, and the hall belonged to a house constructed of timber on a flint base.

Of fine old houses now forming farm-homesteads there are many examples on the western side of the county. Among these is Turner’s Hall, to the north-west of Harpenden, now considerably modernised.

Another very interesting building of this type is Water End Farm, in the parish of Sandridge, situated on the banks of the Lea about two miles from Wheathampstead, and stated to have been built about 1610. It is constructed of brick and has the straight-gabled, mullioned style characteristic of the later part of the reign of Elizabeth and the commencement of that of James I. Like many other houses of Elizabethan times it is constructed in the form of the letter E, and its three stacks of brick chimneys, with octagonal shafts and moulded brick caps and bases, are especially characteristic of the style of this period.

Of later date are the Marlborough Buildings, or Almshouses, St Albans, erected by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough in 1736, and affording a fine example of the brick architecture of that period in an excellent state of preservation. Here also may be mentioned the Blue-Coat School at Hertford, and the Boys’ Grammar School at Hitchin.

Forty years ago the county abounded in picturesque brick-and-timber cottages, roofed with either tiles or thatch; but these are disappearing yearly under the hand of the speculative builder, to be replaced by hideous box-like buildings of brick and slate. Some, however, still survive, either in the towns or the smaller hamlets, such as picturesque Amswell, near Wheathampstead, which may be cited as an ideal example of one of the smaller Hertfordshire villages.

As has been well remarked in another volume of the present series, the great difference between these ancient cottages and houses and the great majority of their modern successors is that while the former harmonise with their surroundings, reflect not a little of the spirit of the builder, and improve, like good wine, with age, the latter are altogether out of keeping, and are likely to become, if possible, still more offensive and objectionable with the advance of time.

While most of the old Hertfordshire cottages were of brick and timber, others were built of flint with brick facings, or more rarely of rounded pebbles from the Woolwich and Reading beds, or with brick courses and window-mullions; some were of feather-edge boarding, and others again of rubble and plaster.

In Hemel Hempstead High Street is a building, now converted into cottages, which contains above the fireplaces on the ground and first floors the Tudor rose and fleur-de-lys in plaster-work; while the back of a neighbouring building probably dates from the time of Henry VIII. Excellent examples of the old brick-and-timber cottages are to be seen in the village of Northchurch, and also at Aldbury, east of Tring, where the old parish stocks are likewise preserved. Most of these Aldbury cottages are tiled, although a few are covered with thatch, a style of roofing much less common in that district than in many parts of the county. Watford has still a number of old cottages, notably in Farthing Lane and Chequer’s Yard, and in St Albans, especially in the market-place and French Row, there are several dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There is also a very remarkable old hexagonal wooden house near the ford across the Ver at St Michael’s silk-mills, said to be one of the oldest licensed houses in England.

Did space permit, reference might be made to old houses in Hertford, Berkhampstead, and other towns and villages, but the facts mentioned are sufficient to indicate the interest of the county to antiquarians in the matter of ancient buildings, and before concluding this section we must not omit to mention what is certainly not the least interesting of all Hertfordshire antiquities—the Cross at Waltham which Edward erected to his beloved Queen Eleanor; the last before arriving in London of the fifteen commemorating the resting-place of her body on its journey from Grantham to Westminster Abbey in 1290.