lets, one near Leverstock
Green (_q.v._) and the other near Hemel Hempstead (_q.v._).

BENNINGTON (41/2 miles N.E. from Knebworth Station, G.N.R.) was once the
residence of Mercian kings. The village and neighbourhood are
picturesque; the roads from Walkern, Hertford and Knebworth meet where
a tiny triangular green is shaded by fine elms. The river Beane is 1
mile to the W. The church is at the S. end of the village; it dates from
the fourteenth century. The nave is wide, with clerestory; the narrow
chancel has a chapel on the N. side. The tower is embattled, and
contains a ring of eight bells. There are triple sedilia, and stalls of
carved oak in the chancel; what was _once_ a holy water basin is in the
porch. Note also (1) the oaken rood-screen, surmounted by a large cross;
(2) the memorial to the Caesar family (1622-61); (3) the (supposed) tomb
of Sir John de Benstede (1432), a baron who sat in Parliament in the
time of Edward II., as we learn from Dugdale's _Monasticon_; (4) Carved
oak reredos. Near the churchyard a large house of red brick stands on
the site of the castle of the Benstedes, in ruins when Chauncy wrote two
centuries back. Bertulf, King of the Mercians, held a council here in
850. _Bennington Park_ (11/4 mile E.) is one of three deer parks in
Hertfordshire which figured in _Domesday Book_.

BERKHAMPSTEAD (Great) an interesting town in the W. of the county, is
situated on the little river Bulbourne, and is chiefly famous as the
birthplace of William Cowper, who was born in the rectory on 26th
November, 1731. The Grammar School was founded by Dr. John Incent in
1541. The castle, of which there are still ruins close to the L.&N.W.R.,
dates from before the Domesday Survey. Visitors must not expect to find
a castle here such as those at Carisbroke or Lewes. The ruins, although
of considerable extent, are fragmentary, and little more than the plan
of this stronghold can now be traced. The moats are double to the N.W.,
but triple elsewhere. Henry II. held a court here; and the castle was at
times the residence of many monarchs, particularly Edward III. The Black
Prince was a visitor here during his father's reign. The Church of St.
Peter, on the N. side of the High Street, is by local authorities
claimed to be larger than any parish church in the county, saving only
St. Albans Abbey; but this distinction is also claimed for St. Mary's,
Hitchin. The original structure was of great antiquity, dating from
pre-