278 | B E R | |
Bennet's court. 1. Beggars hill, South-
wark.† 2. Canon row.† 3. Drury
lane.† 4. Limehouse causeway.†
5. Long lane, Southwark.† 6. The
Strand.† 7. White street.†
Bennet's hill, Thames street, thus named
from the church of St. Bennet's Paul's
Wharf.
Bennet's street. 1. Longditch.† 2. Near
the Upper ground, Southwark.† 3. St.
James's street.†
Bennet's yard, near Tufton street.†
Benson's alley, Shoreditch.†
Bentinck street, Berwick street.
Berkhamsted, an ancient town in Hert-
fordshire, situated 30 miles to the N.W.
of London. It was anciently a Roman
town, and here some of the Saxon kings
kept their court. William the Conque-
ror here swore to the nobility to preserve
the laws made by his predecessors; and
here Henry II. kept his court, and grant-
ed the town all the laws and liberties it
had enjoyed under Edward the Confessor.
It was a borough in the reign of Henry
III. and James I. to whose children this
place was a nursery, made it a corporation,
by the name of the Bailiff and Burgesses
of Berkhamsted St. Peter; the Burgesses
|
| | to |
|
| B E R | 279 |
to be twelve, to chuse a Recorder, and
Town Clerk, to have a prison, &c. but
in the next reign it was so impoverished
by the civil wars, that the government
was dropp'd, and has not been since re-
newed. Its market is also much decayed.
The town, though situated on the south
side of a marsh, extends itself far in a
broad street, and handsome buildings,
and is pleasantly surrounded with high
and hard ground, full of pastures, hedge-
rows, and arable land. What remains
of the castle, which is but one third of
it, was not long ago the seat of the
Careys, and is now the seat of the
family of the Ropers. Here is a spacious
church dedicated to St. Peter, which has
eleven of the Apostles on its pillars, with
a sentence of the creed on each, and on
the twelfth pillar is St. George killing
the dragon. The other public buildings
are, a free school, which is a handsome
brick structure, well endowed, the King
being patron, and the Warden of All
Souls College in Oxford, Visitor; and a
handsome almshouse, built and endowed
by Mr. John Sayer and his wife, who
gave 1300l. for that purpose.
Berkley Square, near Hyde Park road,
|
| T 4 | contains |
|