The Tunnels of Hertford - the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail

I am not suggesting this as a definitive answer as there is a fourth side to the equation – Shire Hall. As stated this was built in 1627 following a charter from Charles 1 and subsequently rebuilt in 1767 and restored in 1989. There are no reports of underground passages except in Raymond Brown’s article of 2004 in which photographer Mike Poultney recalls such a tunnel being bricked up.

The occasion is recalled in Hertfordshire County Council’s commemorative brochure published in 1990 concerning the condition of the building: ‘Brickwork was badly cracked in many places and settlement had taken place in foundations on the south-west corner’.

This is the corner opposite the Salisbury Arms and most probably close to its cellars and why there are no longer any traces of the medieval cellar and all remedial work is very twentieth century.

There may not have been a tunnel at all; just deterioration or subsidence in the foundations of two properties very close to each other that had undergone serious reconstruction and remedial work over four centuries. On the other hand such a tunnel may have collapsed because of the continuous strain put on it from above.

This does bring into focus the need for a tunnel. Local history books state that at one time or another the justices and magistrates were lodged at various places throughout the town. Bayley Hall has been mentioned; also Lombard House at the end of Bull Plain near to the River Lea and the Salisbury Arms Hotel might also have hosted such guests.

All of these places are a short walk to the new Shire Hall; prior to this both Assizes and Quarter Sessions were held at the castle. Would the justices have required a tunnel for safety? Hertford has been on the whole a fairly safe place over the centuries; even now this is still the case.

The Swing era of agricultural unrest hardly touched Hertford. E J Hobsbawn and George Rude in their book on Captain Swing (Lawrence & Wishart 1969) draw a line almost on the Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire border as the boundaries of the troubles. It was only during the elections of the 1830’s that Hertford experienced anything akin to mob rule.

Unlike other towns Hertford did not appear to have to escort justices to the courts or offer protection on the road once they had crossed the county boundary. What was once an armed escort became in many counties a part of civic life and a colourful tradition.

The Tunnels of Hertford - Part Four

As the seventeenth century dawned what purpose did any tunnel fulfil? Apart from a possible small underground network around the Shire Hall/Salisbury Arms axis do the tunnels really stretch further into Market Place under the Tourist Information Office and Monsoon/Accessorize? These properties were once held by Quaker families who were not of the established social scene.

There was no other purpose of these properties and the tunnel would have to take a dog leg at what is now Charlottes Florist. See previous page for photo showing direct line of sight to Charlottes. Why end at Monsoon/Accessorize as the Achesons’ suggest? I do not know.

The tunnels are said to stretch the whole length of Fore Street and reach Bluecoats Yard. As we have seen this  was not built until late in the seventeenth century and was until that time a field. One has to ask why anyone would want to dig a tunnel with all the labour and material costs, using bricks which were then a new commodity, almost half a mile long to end up in an empty field (see larger photo of Fore Street  left which opens in new window).

According to the reports the tunnels linked numerous chambers along Fore Street.

Hertford’s prosperity was founded on the malting industry. Around the town are some of the best barley fields; after the malting process the malt was transported to London by barge and until the coming of the railways Hertford’s wealth increased.

It should not be surprising to learn then that Hertford had more than its fair share of inns. Almost every house along Fore Street has at one time of another been a brewhouse or inn. And inns usually have cellars.

Many of these cellars are now basements and used by some restaurant proprietors as an extension of their business – such as Lussmans. Sheffield Pharmacy is just one property that has its own ghost in its cellar and Messages cellar extends under Fore Street as the owner is allowed to stock goods on the pavement to the extent of the cellar.

We are aware of the Salisbury Arms cellar and in 2004 I was contacted by a gentleman who had read my article on the brewing industry and sent me a long and interesting note on his recollections of the Talbot Arms (see left) now the Decorated Room although the old name is still visible on the stonework.

‘A few years back I visited the scented-candle gift shoppe that has now occupied the front of the old Talbot. They have a basement section which used to be the cellar, and there is an alcove or storage area close to the steps which used to be the gents toilet and which doubled as our frequently visited air-raid shelter back in 1944-45. It had retained a detectable characteristic odour of stale, beery urine which brought back memories of my family huddled together in fear and listening for flying bombs and rocket explosions.

I would surmise that there are many more similar stories abounding about the cellars in Fore Street. If there is a tunnel along its total length then it has to have been built early in the seventeenth century or earlier and has survived the centuries well.

The present Corn Exchange (bottom left) was built on the site of the old County Gaol which was moved opposite Bluecoats following an outbreak of cholera and no doubt had its fair share of underground cellars, cells and passages.

In his book Lewis Turnor is able to state that in 1830 the town centre is well lit, paved and supplied with water from works at Hartham and gas from a site just north east of the town. To achieve this would have entailed major engineering work.

Fore Street has been dug up so many times even in the last decade as local traders know only too well having seen trade suffer as a result. In such excavations any tunnels only as deep as the basement of local shops would have suffered some serious damage or at least been exposed by new drains, power cables, road markings, paving and the host of modern street furniture and accessories that Hertfordshire Highways have inflicted on it.

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Tunnels 3    The Freemasons