Tring, Urban and Rural (with Long Marston)

134. TRING, Urban and Rural (with Long Marston).

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)xxv. N.W. ^(b)xxv. S.W. ^(c)xxxii. N.W.)

Ecclesiastical

^b(1). Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, stands on high ground at the N.E. end of the village, opposite the main entrance to Tring Park. It is built of flint, with random blocks of stone; the roofs are covered with lead. Little remains of the 13th-century church on the site but the N. wall of the Chancel. Early in the 14th century the South Aisle was widened, the Porch was added, and later in the same century the West Tower was apparently begun. In the 15th century the Nave arcades were re-built, the clearstorey added, and the tower finished. In the 16th century the chancel and North Aisle were partly re-built. In the 19th century the bases and shafts of the arcade were replaced by larger ones, most of the external stonework of the windows was renewed, the North Vestry and Chapel were added, and the church generally repaired.

Architectural Description—The Chancel (43½ ft. by 19 ft.) has a modern E. window, and near the E. end of the N. wall is a 13th-century lancet window, which is partly blocked by the vestry. In the S. wall are three early 16th-century windows, each of three cinque-foiled lights. The chancel arch is of the 15th century, and is of two deeply-moulded orders; the 15th-century responds have engaged shafts, moulded bases and capitals. In the N. wall of the modern North Chapel is a window of the same type as the S. windows of the chancel, and in the E. wall is a two-light window with modern tracery, and a 14th-century rear arch; they are both probably from the former chancel. The Nave (71 ft. by 21 ft.) has N. and S. arcades of six bays, with capitals and arches of the same date and character as the chancel arch; the shafts and bases are modern. The clearstorey has six windows of three cinque-foiled lights on each side under flat arched heads, the central foils being larger than the others. The bays of the clearstorey and the spandrels of the nave arcades are separated by slender shafts resting on large carved figures of beasts, etc. The North Aisle (15½ ft. wide) has a large 15th-century E. window of five lights, with tracery, now without glass and opening into the vestry. Adjoining this window on the S. are the rood-loft stairs. In the N. wall are four modern windows, and high up in the wall is a small blocked doorway of the 15th century, which may have opened into a room over a N. porch, now destroyed. The W. window has a 14th-century rear arch, but the tracery is modern. The South Aisle (14½ ft. wide) has an E. window resembling that in the N. aisle, but with modern tracery; the sill is cut down to admit a reredos, and the bonding of canopies or brackets remains in each jamb. In the S. wall are four windows, each of three cinque-foiled lights; the first two from the E. resemble those in the chancel, the other two have a wide central foil like the clearstorey windows. The S. doorway has a 13th-century rear arch, but is otherwise modern. The W. window is also of three cinque-foiled lights. The South Porch has plain 14th-century detail, but most of the stonework is modern. The West Tower (16 ft. square) is of three stages, and has massive buttresses at the W. angles, an embattled parapet with short leaded spirelet, and a S.E. stair-turret. The tower arch is of c. 1380, and is sharply pointed, of four orders, with engaged shafts to the second and third orders. Above it is a plain unglazed opening set within the lines of the former high-pitched roof of the nave. The ground stage has a vaulted ceiling of the same date as the arch, c. 1380, with plain ribs and a central bell-way. The W. doorway and window are of modern masonry. The bell-chamber windows are of three cinque-foiled lights under square heads, the outer lights only being pierced. The Roof of the nave has old carved figures at the feet of the trusses. The roof of the N. aisle is of the 15th or 16th century, and parts of the roof of the S. aisle may be of the same date.

Fittings—Bells: eight; 3rd by Ellis Knight, 1636, 5th 1622, 6th and 7th 1624, by Robert Oldfeild, 8th by Chandler, 1695. Floor Slabs: in the chancel floor, slab to Mary Anderson, 1638, and others partly hidden, to members of the same family, 17th-century: slab to Richard Warren, 1640: in the floor of N. aisle, large coffin lid with foliated cross, 13th-century. Locker: in N. wall of chancel small recess. Piscina: in the S. aisle, with trefoiled head, 14th-century. Plate: includes a silver-gilt cup of 1565. Miscellanea: in the blocked doorway of the N. aisle, small pieces of worked stone, 13th-century, among them part of a fine gabled canopy.

Condition—Good, owing to extensive restorations.

^a(2). Old Church of All Saints, Long Marston, on the W. side of the village; only the west tower remains. The Nave, Chancel, and South Porch, probably partly of the 12th century, were pulled down in 1883. The Tower, of late 15th-century date, is of two stages. The walls are faced with chequer work of flint and stone, and there is a modern brick parapet. The W. window of the ground stage is of three cinque-foiled lights, the bell-chamber windows are single uncusped lights with four-centred heads, and below the S. window there is a small, square-headed light. The tower arch, now blocked, is of two chamfered orders; a stone in the N. jamb has two sundials incised on it, and must have been in the S. wall of the church. In the ground stage are some fragments of 15th-century woodwork, bench ends, roof timbers, panels, etc. Many of the fittings belonging to the old church have been re-used in the modern building.

Condition—Fairly good.

^a(3). New Church of All Saints, Long Marston, stands at the N.W. end of the village. It is a modern building, but contains many details, dating from the 12th to the 17th centuries, which were removed from the old church of All Saints and from the parish church at Tring. The Nave arcade of five bays has 15th-century clustered columns and moulded bases which came from Tring Church. In the Vestry is a large recess built with stones from the 14th-century chancel arch of the old Church of All Saints. Some of the stones in the S. doorway of the nave, and possibly some in the N. doorway are of the 14th century. In the N. wall of the North Aisle is a window of c. 1230 with two lancet lights, and further W. are two 14th-century windows, each of two trefoiled lights with tracery. In the W. wall is a window containing a fragment of 14th-century tracery. Roofs: the two eastern bays of the aisle are of the 15th century, and in the chancel is a beam with arched braces of the same date.

Fittings—Font: with octagonal bowl, cut back, necking and shaft, apparently 14th-century. Piscinae: in S. wall of chancel, with a shelf, 14th-century: in the vestry, 15th-century (see also Recesses). Plate: includes small cup of 1571. Pulpit: hexagonal, with two tiers of carved panels, early 17th-century. Recesses: in N. wall of chancel, pointed arch, with dog-tooth ornament, 13th-century: in the N. aisle, with small engaged shafts in the jambs and a semi-circular head enriched with dog-tooth ornament, late 12th-century: in the sill is a square piscina drain. Screen: at E. end of the aisle, partly 15th-century, with solid lower panels, and pierced tracery at the top. Miscellanea: built into the vestry wall, fragments of stonework, chiefly of the 12th century.

Condition—The old parts are in good condition on the whole.

Secular

Homestead Moats

^a(4). Near Chapel Farm, Long Marston.

^a(5). Half a mile W. of Marsworth.

^a(6). Loxley Farm House, in the middle of Long Marston village, is a 17th-century building of red brick; the roof is tiled. The plan is rectangular, with a slightly projecting wing at one end, and modern additions. Two-inch bricks are used in the old work, and there is a large original central chimney stack. A Barn in front of the house, and probably of the same date, is built of brick and timber.

Condition—Good.

^b(7). House, on the W. side of Frogmore Street, formerly the manor-house of Bunstreux, is apparently of the 16th century, and has been used as two cottages, but is now uninhabited. The walls are of brick and timber; the roofs are tiled. On one end of the house, which is faced with plaster, is a Latin cross raised about an inch from the surface and measuring about 3 ft. by 1 ft.

Condition—Very dilapidated; the timbers are decaying, and the plaster is falling off.

^c(8). Grim's Ditch (or Graeme's Dyke, or Gryme's Dike), Boundary Dyke (see also Great Berkhampstead, Northchurch and Wigginton), enters the parish at the county boundary by Longcroft, and, running in a slight curve to a point S. of Hastoe, continues in a straight line E.N.E. to another point S. of Wigginton bottom. The levels fall, on the whole, from 760 ft. at the W. end to 640 ft. above O.D. at the E. end. The dyke, in this parish, consists of a bank and ditch, the latter on the S. side, Height of bank from 5 to 7 ft., of counter-scarp 2 to 3 ft. above the ditch, which is from 18 to 35 ft. wide. Dimensions—Total length, including gaps, 1,320 yards.

Condition—Fairly good in parts; much denuded.