Hertfordshire :: 19. Communications Past and Present. Roads, Railways, Canals.

19. Communications Past and Present. Roads, Railways, Canals.

Lying as it does on the direct route from the metropolis to the north and north-west of England, and containing in its western portion the formerly important city of Verulam, Hertfordshire, as might be expected, is traversed by several trunk roads leading in those directions, two of which date from Roman times. What these lines of communication were in pre-Roman days we have no means of knowing, although it is probable that they were little more than rude tracks through the great forest, or “weald,” which in those days extended some forty miles to the north of London, and afforded shelter to the great wild ox, red deer, wild boars, bears, and wolves. Road-making was a special attribute of the ancient Romans; and after they had constructed highways from their early stations in Kent, they probably set to work on those in the counties to the northward of London. So well made and so straight were these ancient Roman roads that many of them (with in some cases a certain amount of local deviation) have remained the main highways of the country down to the present day. Immediately before the introduction of railways, when the coaching traffic was brought to its highest pitch of development, these main trunk roads—thanks to the invention of Macadam—were maintained in superb condition, though with the extension of the railway system some of them were allowed to deteriorate.

The Ermine Street at Hertford Heath

There are three great Roman roads traversing Hertfordshire—Watling Street, the Icknield Way, and Ermine Street. Watling Street starts from Dover, and after passing through London, enters the county to the south of Elstree, whence it is continued through Colney Street, Park Street and St Stephens to St Albans, and thence on through Redbourn and Markyate Street, and so to Dunstable whence it eventually reached Chester and Holyhead. Although frequently miscalled the North Road, the modern representative of Watling Street is known as the Chester and Holyhead road. Originally the Roman road in the neighbourhood of St Albans ran altogether to the west of the Ver, from Gorham Block to the Pondyards; this section of the modern road, which crosses the river to enter the city, having been constructed during the years 1826–1834.

The Icknield Way

The Icknield Way, showing a Ford between Ickleford and Wilbury Hill

The Icknield Way (taking its name apparently from the British tribe of the Iceni) may be the oldest of the three great tracks, and originally of pre-Roman age, as, like the Pilgrims’ Way in Kent, it mainly follows the line of the chalk downs. It may be called a cross-country road from the west of England, cutting the Watling Street at Dunstable, and thence extending in a north-easterly direction across Hertfordshire through Little Offley, Ickleford, and Baldock, and thence by way of Royston, where it crosses the Ermine Street, to Newmarket and Yarmouth.

The Ermine Street, the third great Roman road, takes, on the other hand, a northern direction, passing through Cheshunt, Wormley, Broxbourne, and Wadesmill, and so by way of Buntingford to Royston. There is however some difference of opinion about its course.

High Street, Stevenage

Of modern roads, the Chester and Holyhead road has been already mentioned as following in the main the line of the Old Watling Street. Of equal importance is the Great North Road to York, passing through Barnet, Hatfield, Welwyn, Codicote, Stevenage, and Hitchin. Of other highways it must suffice to mention that the Bedford road branches off from the Chester and Holyhead at St Albans to run through Harpenden, and so on to Luton, in Bedfordshire; while the main road from London to Cambridge and Norwich takes the line of the Lea valley on the eastern side of the county, which it leaves a short distance to the northward of Bishop’s Stortford.

Great North Road

View on the ‘Great North Road,’ Codicote Village

In coaching days St Albans was a far more bustling and busy town than it is at the present day; a very large number of coaches passing daily through the city each way, the majority running on the Holyhead and Chester road, but a certain number taking the Bedford line. The two chief coaching and posting inns were the Peahen and the White Hart, both of which are still in existence.

The speed and smartness with which the mail-coaches were run in the days immediately preceding their abolition was little short of marvellous.

Watford

The first half of the nineteenth century saw the introduction of railways, which gradually but surely killed the old coaching traffic. One of the first lines to be opened was the London and North-Western—in 1838—which traverses the south-western side of the county, passing through Watford, Boxmoor, Berkhampstead, and the outskirts of Tring. In 1853 a branch line was opened from Watford to St Albans, and another to Rickmansworth in 1862. With a short break between Boxmoor and Hemel Hempstead, the North-Western system is connected with the Midland by means of a branch line from the last-named town to Harpenden. The main line of the Midland, which traverses the western half of the county by way of Elstree, St Albans, and Harpenden, was opened in 1868. Both St Albans and Harpenden have branches of the Great Northern Railway to Hatfield, which is on the main line; the latter continuing through Welwyn, Stevenage, and Hitchin. By means of a branch line of the Great Northern from Hatfield to Hertford, we reach the Great Eastern, the fourth great railway in the county, the main line of which runs through Broxbourne, Sawbridgeworth, and Bishop’s Stortford, but connected also with Ware and Hertford, and having a branch from St Margaret’s to Buntingford.

With such a multiplicity of lines, it might well be imagined that railway communication between nearly all parts of the county would be well-nigh perfect. As a matter of fact, this is by no means the case; and the journey by rail from the western to the eastern side, owing to changes and delays, is so slow and tedious, that it is frequently found convenient to hold important Hertfordshire meetings, like those of the County Council, in London.

As regards water-communication, the western side of the county is served by the Grand Junction Canal, which, after leaving Leighton Buzzard, enters the county near Tring, and thence runs by way of Berkhampstead, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Runton Bridge, Watford and Rickmansworth in a south-easterly and southerly direction to London. A considerable amount of barge-traffic is still carried on this canal, although nothing approaching that in pre-railway times. In those days the whole of the coal-supply for north-western Herts came by canal to Boxmoor, whence it had to be carted for long distances—some 14 miles to Harpenden, for instance. As there are at least two very steep hills—which become impossible for heavily laden teams when the roads are slippery—between Boxmoor and Harpenden, the inhabitants of the latter picturesque village were apt to run short of firing at Christmas.

The Grand Junction Canal near Hemel Hempstead

On the other side of the county the Lea is navigable for barges as far up as Ware and Hertford; and here too a considerable amount of heavy traffic is still carried on by water.

Haileybury College

In this place mention may conveniently be made of the New River, running from the valley of the Lea near the Rye House, at a gradually increasing distance from that river, to the metropolis. The New River, or Middleton’s Waters, as it used also to be called, was constructed in the reign of James I, at first almost entirely by Sir Hugh Middleton, but later on by a company with a special charter, for the purpose of supplying north London with drinking-water. The chief sources of the New River are the springs at Chadwell and Amwell. At the present time an original £100 share in the New River Company is worth an almost fabulous price.

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