OUR MOST HISTORIC SITES
by Ron Dale
We live in a village with a long and interesting history and if I were asked, as I was last year, which are the most interesting sites in the village of Stanstead Abbotts, it was an easy question to answer. To put them in the order of importance, however, is mainly a matter of individual preference, but the following are my top three choices. Rye House is famous for three different reasons from different centuries. Unfortunately, at my number one choice, there is nothing to see and you may need to use your powers of imagination, but you will know why when you read the following:
SAXON ALWINE’S THRIFT
In 2014 I made a study of the 12th ce1.ntury charters of Waltham Abbey when it was
noticed on these property transfer documents that a site known as Alwine’s Frith
was occupied by Sir Simon de Stanstede, the manorial knight. The land was at this
time owned by the Norman lord of the manor, Roger de Wanchy who leased it to Sir
Simon. This property had been previously owned by the Saxon lord Alwine as it bears
his name and it is possible that he once lived there as property is mentioned in
the charters. For nearly 900 years it had just remained a name buried within the
Latin charters of the abbey. With some detective work it became possible to locate
the frith from an old map, although it was not marked under the name of Alwine’s
Frith. One summer’s day in 2014, the search was made on the ground. As I am no longer
mobile, a friend shared this memorable experience with me by driving me to the high
lands of our village. A frith wood is a pagan spiritual centre where tribal meetings
were held and where sanctuary prevailed, and in earlier times was the most important
part of any Saxon village. Once, primitive gods were worshipped there. Dick Dixon
and I located the site on the ground. On the latest map the site had been a ten-
Alwine was the Saxon lord of the manor mentioned in the Domesday Book. To stand
on the soil where the path entered the frith wood, once trodden by a known village
lord, and Sir Simon and possibly pagan Saxons from earlier centuries, was a very
humbling experience; it was as if just for a brief moment in time the hazy curtain
of the past had parted and allowed us to feel personal contact from centuries ago.
I felt very privileged to be standing next to a spring which supplied water for our
earlier Saxon lords. It was an experience never to be repeated. The Saxon lord Alwine
was a Christian, of course, and is believed to be responsible for the first building
of the parish church of St. James at Stanstead Bury, circa 1050. However, frith is
a pagan word and tells us that it was used long before Alwine’s time. It has a multi-
RYE HOUSE & KATHERINE PARR
When Sir Thomas Parr died in 1517 at his Blackfriars home, Lady Maud with her three
young children had just settled into their new rural home at Rye House Castle, Stanstead
Abbotts, leased from the cousin of Sir Thomas, Sir Andrew Ogard. He was the grandson
of the original builder of the house in 1443, Danish knight Sir Andrew Ogard. Sir
Thomas wanted his children reared in a more salubrious environment than London as
Rye House was then in a pleasant countryside area. At this time Katherine was only
five years old and she had a younger brother, William, and a younger sister, Anne.
She lived at Rye House until the first of her four marriages in 1529. The 12 years
she lived there were the most formative of her life as her mother was determined
her children should receive a good education. Lady Maud Parr was lady-
Katherine had a passionate interest in theology and her devotional books became
best-
Katherine Parr (1512-
RICHARD RUMBOLD & THE RYE HOUSE PLOT
Richard Rumbold, born about 1622, joined Cromwell’s army at 19, fought at Dunbar
and Worcester and was a guard on the scaffold at the execution of King Charles I
in 1649. He later married the widow of a maltster living in Rye House which had its
own malt-
There was talk of secret meetings amongst the aristocracy as many were disaffected
with the Catholic leanings of the royal brothers. But it seems unlikely that men
in high positions would consort with a humble retired soldier working in a malt-
When news of the alleged plot was out, many arrests and executions followed.
Most were innocent, but some historians believe that Charles and James used the plot
to rid themselves of their Republican enemies. Rumbold had fled to Holland where
in 1685 he returned under the Duke of Argyll who tried to raise an army against the
newly-
Rumbold’s scaffold speech is included in The World of Famous Orations, and was obviously spontaneous. A brief snippet ‘..... this is a deluded generation, veiled with ignorance, that tho popery and slavery be riding in upon them, do not perceive it; tho I am sure that no man born marked to God above another, none comes into the world with a saddle on his back, neither any born booted and spurred to ride him .....’ These words were spoken as he waited for his death on the scaffold, wounded from the recent battle and near death from this. He was a simple man, but a brave one.
For further details of the Rye House Plot see elsewhere on this web-
In the 19th century, Rye House once again became famous as the most popular
outdoor day excursion in the South-
STANSTEAD BURY
Stanstead Bury is a site which contains today a house bearing this name and the nearby
ancient church of St. James. The house is without doubt the most magnificent house
in the village. However, you will not find it in the modern village as it is situated
next to the old parish church of St. James, about a mile away, built on a strategic
site overlooking the valleys of the rivers Stort and Lea. Evidence proves that the
Romans and Saxons had also made use of this site. Roman tiles of the 4th century
have been re-
English Heritage state that the oldest part of the house was built in the late
15th century when the house and the manor were owned by the abbot of Waltham. In
1531 the abbot returned the manor to Henry VIII. The first recorded private occupant
was Edward Baesh, in 1559. He had served under several monarchs from 1550 to his
death in 1587 as General Surveyor of Victuals for the Royal Navy. Queen Eizabeth
I granted him the manor on his retirement, but he continued working up to his death.
His descendants inherited and his grandson, another Edward (1584-
Until 1783 Stanstead Bury served as the village manor house where regular manorial
meetings were held to conduct village matters. Queen Elizabeth I visited there three
times during her summer trips, staying at Stanstead Bury for several days. Much
of the latter time the house and manor were held by Sir Thomas Feilde and his descendants.
After 1783 the house was sold out of the manor and leased out to a variety of tenants.
Today it has been the family home of the Trower family since the 1850s. Mr. Jonathan
Trower was appointed High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 2015. Although it is a private
family home, it does have open days by appointment only, in summer. See details on
Stanstead Bury web-
Whilst there are other parts of Stanstead Abbotts which are of interest, these three certainly contain the most history. Other places are Easneye, the historic maltings, even parts of the High Street are far more ancient than their modern frontages reflect. In Stanstead Abbotts you are surrounded by history, if you know where to look...
Ron Dale, November, 2017
STANSTEAD BURY