of the country. Having, of course, broken his oath, he bestowed
the castle on his half-brother, Robert Moreton, Earl of Cornwall. King John
strengthened the castle, which was afterwards besieged by the Dauphin of
France. When Edward III. created the Black Prince Duke of Cornwall, the
castle and manor of Berkhamsted were bestowed upon him "to hold to him, and
the heirs of him, and the eldest sons of the kings of England, and the dukes
of the said place;" and under these words through civil wars and revolutions,
and changes from Plantagenet to Tudor, from Tudor to Stuart, with the
interregnum of a republic, an abdication, and the installation of the
Brunswick dynasty. The castle is now vested in Albert Prince of Wales.

[BERKHAMSTED STATION: ill5.jpg]

The Chiltern Hills, including the Chiltern Hundreds, the only office under
the crown always open to the acceptance of all without distinction of
parties, lies within a short distance of Berkhamsted. Ashdridge Park,
formerly the seat of the Duke of Bridgewater, the originator and author, with
the aid of Brindley and Telford, of our great canal system, lies about a mile
to the eastward. The scenery of the park and gardens are fine. The house is
modern.

Tring station, a mile and a half from the town, may be reached from London,
31.5 miles, in less than an hour by the express train, and the traveller
arrives in as wild a district as any in England. Three miles north of Tring
lies the town of Ivinghoe, possessing a large cruciform church, worthy of a
visit from the students of "Christian architecture," with an old sculptured
timber roof, and containing a tomb with a Norman French
inscription,--according to some the tomb of Henry de Blois, Bishop of
Winchester, brother of King Stephen. At the Rose and Crown we are informed
venison is to be had in perfection at moderate charges during the season. The
station is the highest point on the line, being 420 feet above the sea, 300
above Camden Town, and 52 above Birmingham.

In the course of the Tring excavation in the gravel deposits above the chalk,
the tusk and teeth of an elephant were found, and in crossing the Icknield or
Roman Way, about thirty-three miles, were sixteen human skeletons, and
several specimens of Roman pottery: two unique urns are now in the possession
of the Antiquarian Society.

Two miles from Tring we pass from Hertfordshire into Buckinghamshire. It
remains a disputed point whether the name of th