highbury walks 1835 2

TThe two most ancient roads in the parish, there 
can be little doubt, were the Lower and Upper 
Streets; the former of which was the original high- 
way through Iseldone, and the latter a track from it 
to Tolentone, or Highbury. 

And to the British 
period we may also confidently refer the origin otsome 
ccnmunication between the Isel-don and Lun-don of 
that era ; a ccnnmunication upon which, in after times, 
the Romans might commence their grand northern 
miUtary way, the Ermin Street, In numerous in- 

stances, the Roman roads were constructed upon the 
lines of more ancient British tracks. The Ermin 
Street, it has been conunonly supposed by anti- 
quaries, left London by Cripplegate 

; and some have 

imagined that it took the way of the present high 
road through Islington towards Highbury. 

But Mr. 

Nelson more plausibly conjectured its route, after in- 
tersecting Aide Street (the Old Street of our times), 
to haye been *^ along the ancient bridle-way leading 
from Brick Lane, and, crossing the City Road,*' 
thence proceeding by the eastern side of the vil- 
lage.** Its track, as connected with Islington, would, 
according to this description, appear to have been that 
now marked by Frog Lane, which runs from the bot- 
tom of Britannia Row into the Lower Road by the end 

of Rotherfield Street. The line it then took, in order 
to " pass by Highbury and Hornsey Wood, and con- 

tiniie by way of the Green Lanes towards Enfield," 
Mr. Nelson does not attempt to determine. Indeed , 
as he yeiy properly adds, '' after all that can be said 
as to the course of the Roman military ways in this 
country, a great deal must be left in doubt, or 
founded on conjecture; in this sentiment agreeing 
with the learned author of the *' Britannia Romana,"* 
who, after enumerating the various speculations of 
preceding writers as to the direction of this celebrated 
road, modestly concludes with — " I shall leave eveiy 
man to his own opinion *." 

The road connecting Islington with London, next 
in antiquity to the Ermin Street, was undoubtedly 
St. John's Street Road, which became of consequence 

at an early Norman period, owing to its convenience 
as a way from the priories of St. Bartholomew in 
Smithfield, and St. John of Jerusalem, Clerkenwell, 

to their respective possessions in this parish. In the 
reign of Richard II. (about A.D. 1380,) a patent 

was granted for *' pavage for the highway from Smith- 
field Bars to 6ore*s Place, Iseldon :" the record is 

* With reference to the " ancient bridleway," spoken of by Mr. Nel- 
son, we are also told that it " used formerly to be much frequented by 
trayellers, pack-horses," &c. ; and that " some years ago a toll was 
collected upon it for the Highgate and Hampstead Trust, but persons 
now pass that way on horseback toll-free to the City. — ^The right of 
way by this road, over the west end of the Prebend-JSeld to Frog Lane, 

was, some years since, a matter of contest between the occupier of the 
field and Mr. Aubert, of Highbury. The latter gjentleman, on this 

occasion, caused a gate to be cut down, which had been put up by the 
former to prevent horses passing over. The way has since continued 
open, and the right undisputed."




still extant in the Tower of London. And by the 
tone that Stow wrote his well-known "Survey" of 
the metropolis, which first appeared in 1598, " many 
£ure houses," it seems, had been " builded by the 
highway leading from the priory of St. John's towards 
Is£ij>on/' 

GotweU Road constituted the way to Islington from 
the CSty outlet by Alders-gate. Strype's Survey makes 
the following curious mention of this road, and of our 
ancient town. " Beyond Aldersgate Bars, leaving 
the Charter-house on the left hand, stretches up to- 
wards IsELDON, commonly called Islington, a countiy 
town hard by, which in the former age was esteemed 
to be so pleasantly seated, that, in 1581, Queen 

Elizabeth (in one of the twelve days) on an evening 
rode that way to take the air, where, near the town, 

she was environed with a number of begging rogues, 
(as beggars usually haunt such places), which gave the 
Queen much disturbance. Whereupon Mr. Stone, 

one of her footmen, came in all haste to the Lord 
Mayor, and to Fleetwood, the Recorder, and told 
them the same. The same night did the Recorder 
send out warrants into the same quarters, and into 
Westminster, and the Dutchy ; and in the morning 
he went out himself, and took that day seventy-four 
rogues, whereof some were blind, and yet great 
usurers, and very rich. Upon Twelfth-day the Re- 
corder met the Governor of Bridewell ; and they ex- 
amined together all the abovesaid seventy-four rogues, 
and gave them substantial payment, and the strongest 
they bestowed in the milne, and the lighters : the rest 




were dismissed^ with a promise of double pajrment if 
they were met with again '•" 


Thomas Falconer, then Lord Mayor, '* caused the wall 
of the City to bee broken towards the Moore field, and 
builded the postern called Moore Gate, for ease of the 
citizens to walke that way upon causeys towards Isel- 
DON and HoxTON." The " causey towards Iseldon" 
was that which led from Moorgate to what used to be 
called the " Dog-house Bar," being a toll-gate near 
the end of Old Street, so named from its contiguity 
to the house where the City hounds were kept, at a 
time when to hunt in the " Forest of Middlesex" was 
still a £Etvourite amusement with the corporation. The 
road which took the place of the ** causey," was not 
continued beyond the Dog-house Bar till the year 
1761, when that excellent modern avenue, the City 
Road, having been carried over the intervening fields, 
was opened to the public, pursuant to an Act of Par- 
liament passed five years previously. — ^But works so 
recent as the last-mentioned, are scarce within the 
sphere of our present remarks. 

A very ancient way was that formerly called Long- 
wich Lane 9 now Maiden Lane; relative to which, and 

to the formation of the road over Highgate Hill, 
(partly in our parish), we find the following informa- 
tion in the ** Speculum Britanniae" of Norden. " The 
old and auncient highwaie to High Bemet, from Port 

1 Surv.ofLond. 11.59. 





Poole, now Grray's Inn, as also fix>m Clerkenwell, was 
through a lane on the East of Pancras Church, called 
Longufich' Lane; from thence leaving Highgate on 
the West, it passed through TalUngione Lane^ and 
80 to Crouch-ende ; and thence, through a parke, 
called Hamsey Great Parke, to Muswell Hill, to 
Coanie Hatch, Fryame Bamet, and so to Whetstone. 
This auncient highwaie was refused of wayfiEming men 
and earners, by reason of the deepness and dirtie pas- 
sage in the winter season. In regaxde whereof, it was 
agreed betweene the Bishop of London and the 
Countrie, that a newe waie shoulde be laide forth 
through the said Bishop's parke, bq;inning at High- 
gate HiU, to leade (as now is accustomed) directly to 
Whetstone : for which newe waie all cartes, carriers, 
packmen, and such like travellers, yeelde a certain 
tole unto the Bishop of London, which is now formed 
at 40/. per annum ; and for that purpose was the gate 
erected on the hill, that through the same all travel- 
lers shotdde passe, and be the more aptly staide for 
the same tole." According to Camden's account, this 
road must have been opened upwards of 500 years \ 
The Bishop of London continues to receive the profits 
of the tolls, which, at this period, of course, produce 
a much larger sum. The old gateway was taken 
down, and the thorough&re vridened, at the joint 
expense of the Islington and Whetstone Trust, in 
1769. The road described as leading to Tallingdone 
Lane, *' leaving Highgate on the west," must have 
branched off east about one-third of the way up the 

^ Britaniu p. 309. 



IS GENERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 

present Maiden Lane^ probably by the Tile-kilns near 
Copenhagen House, and have then fallen into Hag^ 
hush Lane^ which has eveiy appearance of an ancient 
road : thus proceeding by Tallingdone Lane, the hill 
of Highgate would be wholly avoided. Tallingdone 
Lane itself was what is now called Du VaVs^ and ori- 
ginally Tolentone Lane ; being the road from the old 
manor-house, named Tolentone House, towards Is- 
lington on the one hand, and to Crouch-End and 
Homsey on the other. This too must have been the 
only road in early times to Highgate from Islington ; 
the route over the hollow way between not having ex- 
isted till a pious hermit, who dwelt on the top of the 
hill, dug gravel from the height, (where is now the 
pond), and constructed a causeway therewith : " a 
two-handed charity," as said Dr. Fuller, " providing 
water on the hill, where it was wanting, and cleanness 
in the valley, which before, especially in winter, was 
passed with great difficulty.*' 

The Back Road (now Liverpool Road) leading 
from Islington turnpike to HoUoway, and uniting 
with the road to the same place from the Upper Street 
at the spot called Ring Cross, (probably from a cross 
there standing in the Catholic times ;) Hopping Lane, 
leading from the Upper Street to Ball's Pond Gate, 
and its continuation thence to Kingsland Green ; tlie 
road from Ball's Pond to Newington Green ; the 
old way to Homsey Lane from the Green Lanes, 
(formerly carried under now over the New River,) by 
Stroud Ghreen ; and a cross road from Stroud Green 
to Tallingdone, or Du Val's Lane, called Heame Lane; 
together with Hagbush Lane, before mentioned ; — are 



GSK£RAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 13 

all ways more or less ancient, with the origin and 
fonnation of which we of the present times are wholly 
unacquainted. 

Bat though the roads of former days in and ahout 
this pariah were thus numerous, it must not be sup- 
posed that they would bear comparison, in point of 
conyenience for traffic, either with themselyes in their 
existing state, or with the many newer cuts that now 
intersect and radiate fix>m them. The preamble to 
the Act of Parliament, passed not longer back than 
1714, for erecting turnpikes on the ways in and near 
Islington, Highgate, &c«, stated them to be '' very 
ruinous, and almost impassable for the space of five 
months in the year.** Even sixty years since, they 
were still in such a state, as we, in these days, should 
consider utterly disgracefuL In the winter season, 
and after nightfall, they were absolutely dangerous, 
from want of repair, the absence of lights, and the 
marauders who in consequence infested them. Rob- 
beries were committed in the very heart of the village ; 
it being not uncommon for both jcarriage and foot 
passengers to be stopped in the most daring manner. 
And persons journeying to London, who had safely 
arrived at any inn in the place, seldom ventured, if 
darkness were approaching, to proceed farther until 
morning. ** On the other hand, persons walking 
firom the city to Islington in the evening, waited 
near the end of St. John's Street, in what is now 
termed Northampton Street, (but was then a rural 
avenue, planted with trees, called Wood's Close) 
until a sufficient party had collected, who were then 



14 GENERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 

escorted by an anned patrole appointed for the pur- 
pose V 

The Manors into which Islington is divided, have 
been abready said to be six in number; called, re- 
spectively, the Prebend Manors and those of Highbury^ 
Canahbury^ Bamesbury^ St. John of Jerusalem^ and 
ClerkenweU. We have named the Prebend Manor 
first, not for its comparative importance, but its ap- 
parent priority of origin. 

William the Conqueror, in or about the year 1065, 
restored to the Canons of St. Paul's certain estates of 
which they had been unjustly deprived ; and among 
them were nine ccissate of land in Iseldon, the same, 
it is probable, with the four hides mentioned in 
Domesday-book. Yet the present manor compre- 
hends only about a hundred acres : being bounded by 
a part of Highbury manor on the north ; by a small 
detached portion of the same manor on the south ; by 
the parochial boundary line (from Macclesfield Street, 
City Road, to a little beyond the Rosemary Branch) 
on the east ; and by the Lower Street (from Fisher 
House to the Carved Red Lion) on the west. Origi- 
nally, perhaps, it included nearly the whole of Canon- 
bury, and the contiguous parts of Highbury and 
Barnesbury manors, together with a portion even of 
that of St. John of Jerusalem. Mr. Lysons thought 
it probable, that the greater part of the clerical estate 
fell into the hands of the Bemers family ; and they, 
it is known, held not only the manor which takes 

1 Hist. Clerkenwell, p. 33. 



OBNERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 15 

name from them, but that of Canonbuiyj and are 
supposed to have also possessed a share of that of 
St John. Supposing Mr. Lysons right, therefore, 
nothing can appear more likeij than that the St. 
Paul's demesne, when it extended to between four 
and five himdred acres, stretched over the various 
localities described. 

But, however this may have been, it is certain that 
the ancient ecclesiastical property has shrunk into a 
smaU manorial jurisdiction, to which no demesne is 
now attached \ As the corps of one of the prebends 
of St. Paul's, it is called, in old records, Iseldon extra 
Lond(m. The prebendal stall in the cathedral is the 
eleventh on the north side of the choir, and is in- 
scribed, " Islington. In Convertendo Dom CaptJ* 
It is rated in the King's books at 11/. lOs. 10c2., and 
is taxed at eight marks. In 1649, when a survey was 
taken of this manor by authority of the Parliament, 
it was found that " the rents of assize due to the lord 
of the said manno' by the several tenants, being copy- 
holders of inheritance at fines certain," were, per 
annum, 44. 14tf . M. There were " messuages, or tene- 
ments, in all fourty-sixe; and ninety-eight acres of 
pasture or meadow-ground, be it more or less." It 

> The only land at present belonging to the Dean and Chapter of 
St Paol'B, is the Broom Fields otherwise the Iveney or Even- Grove Field, 
a tract of rather more than six acres, situate on the east side of the 
Lower Road, within the boundary line of Highbury Manor. It was 
let, about twelTe years since, on a building lease. A short time pre- 

▼ioosly, the occupant paid a reserved rent of K St. 4d. to the dean and 

chapter. It had been formerly paid in half-yearly sums of 11«. id. 

with two capODBy or 6f. at Christmas. — MSS, Bib. Lands. Brit. Mus. 

No. 97% 



16 GENERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 

18 further recorded, that, " at the court4eet, the 
tenants of the Manor of Canbury doe service :** and 
** courts-haron and conrts-leet, fines and amercia- 
ments of courts, fines upon descent or alienation \ 
waiftes, strayes, and felons* goods, and all other profits 
and perquisites within the said manor, to the royaltie 
thereof belonging or appertaining," are estimated, 
<< commu'ibus annis," at IR, the before*mendoned 
42. 14tf. 6d. being included. The Parliament disposed 
of the manor to one of its tenants, Maurice Oething, 
citizen of London, for 87 5L ' In Dugdale*s History 
of St. Paul's', is a list of Prebendaries, commenc- 
ing, at a date not named, with " Algar, the son of 
Dereman/* — ^probably the Derman Lundonensis men- 
tioned in Domesday Book, — ^and ending with (67th,) 
Robert Nares, A.M. F.R.S. and F.A.S., collated in 
1798, and Archdeacon of Stafford in 1799. The 
intervening Prebendaries of most note, are the follow- 
ing:— 

5th. Jocelin, a native of Lombardy, Archdeacon of 
Westminster, and Bishop of Sarum. He was sus- 
pended, together with the Bishop of London and 
other Bishops, in the cause of Thomas a Becket, 
1170, and died in 1184, having first taken the habit 
of a Cistertian monk. 

6th« Robert Warelwast, Dean of Salisbury, and 
Bishop of Exeter, 1150—55. 



^ Six shilliDgs and eight pence for every messuage or tenement, and 
the same for every acre of land. 
" Parliamentary Surveys : St Paul's Cathedral. 
* By Ellis : folio, 1818. p. 266. 



GENERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 17 

7th. John de Greenford, Dean of Chichesterj and 
bishop of that see in 1 17S. 

14ch« William de Havershnlli who was high in 
&Toiir with Henry III. He was a Canon of St. 
Paul's, and the king's treasurer, at his death in 1S5S. 
15th. Fnlco LoveU; so great a pluralist, holding at 
one time more than twenty benefices, that he refused 
the bishopric of London in order that he might retain 
them. 

16th. Philip Lovell, Prebendary also of Caddington 
Major, and of Wildland: afterwards king's clerk, 
special counsellor, and treasurer. Falling into dis- 
grace with the king, through his alleged mal-practices, 
he died of grief at his church of Hamestable in 1S58. 
SOtfa. William de Montford, Dean of St. Paul's, 
Archdeacon of Salop, and incumbent of seven recto- 
ries ! He died suddenly in the king's chamber, in 1 S94. 
SSd. Kalph de Baldock, Prebendary also of Holbom 
and of Newington : Archdeacon of Middlesex, 1274; 
Dean of St. Paul's, 12£Nt ; Bishop of London, 1S04 ; 
and, for a short time, Lord Chancellor of England. 

24th« Richard de Newport, Archdeacon of Middle- 
sex, 1304*; Dean of St. Paul's, 1314; Bishop of 
Londcm, 1317 \ 

5Sd. Richard Fletcher, D.D., 1672; afterwards 
Dean of Peterborough : father of John Fletcher, the 
dramatic poet. He was with Mary, Queen of Scots, 
when she suffered death at Fotheringay castle in 

> Dugdale places Richard de Newport 23d., and Ralph de Baldock 
96ith, oo his lUt: tet acomparuon of dates will shew the above order, 
which agrees with Neweourt's Repertorium, to be the most correct. 

C 



18 GENERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 

1686, and disturbed her last moments by his persua- 
sions to renounce her religion. In 1589 he was made 
Bishop of Bristol, and, about the same time. Bishop 
Almoner ; thence he was translated to Worcester in 
1593, and to London in 1594. He fell under the 
displeasure of Queen Elizabeth, by marzying a second 
wife ; being forbidden to approach her majesty for a 
year, and suspended firom his episcopal functions for 
six months. His disgrace is supposed to have shortened 
his life. He died sitting in his chair, smoking tobacco, 
June 15, 1596, and was buried in his own cathedraL 

eist. Edward Stillingfleet, D.D., 1666-7; Arch- 
deacon of London, 1676 ; Dean of St Paul's, 1677 ; 
Bishop of Worcester, 1689. He was justly distin- 
guished for his writings, especially the ** Origines 
SacrsB, or, a Rational Account of the Grounds of 
Natural and Revealed Religion,** a work which con- 
tinues to be held in the highest estimation. He died 
March 27, 1699. 

The present Prebendary is the Rev. William Hale 
Hale, M. A., Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of 
London, and Preacher at the Charter-House : collated 
in 1829. He succeeded the Rev. Archdeacon Nares, 
and is author of ** An Essay on the Suppoied Existence 
of a Quadripartite and Tripartite Division of Tithes 
in England, for maintaining the Clergy, the Poor, 
and the Fabric of the Church," '' A Method of Pre- 
paration for Confirmation,'* &c. 

The Manor of Tolentone, at this time called 
that of Highbury, otherwise Newington Barrow, 
long preserved a memorial of its first appellation, it 
was noticed, in Tallinffdanef now Du Val's Lane; 



OBNKRAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 19 

as it yet does in the modern erections styled Tolling* 
ton Park, on the east side of the same lane. It con- 
siBts of two detached parts ; of which the northern, 
and by fiur the laiqgest, stretches down from the parish 
bouidary near Homsey Lane, to the manor of Canon* 
bury at Hopping Lane, and to an irregular line of 
junction with the prebend manor, of which the me- 
dium point may be the lower end of King Street. Its 
eastern boundary is that of the parish, from the Rose- 
mary Branch to Mount Pleasant, beyond Stroud 
Green ; its western, the whole of Du Val's Lane, the 
road leading thence to the bottom of Highbuiy Place 
and Hopping Lane, and the Lower Road and Street 
as fiir as f^her House. The southern part, in size 
so comparatively insignificant, is bounded by the high- 
way from the Carved Red Lion to the Blue-coat Boy^ 
(Sty Road; by the parish boundary from the Blue- 
coat Boy to the City Gardens; and from the City 
Gardens by the old Bridle-way, and the lank leading 
thenoe (called River Lane) to the back of the Carved 
lion. It will be readily supposed that it was the 
larger, or upper part, that bote the Domesday-book 
appellative of Tolbntoke. 

But many centuries have elapsed since any portion 
of this manor was distinguidied by that ancient name. 
Within two hundred years from the Conquest, the 
original manorial seat of Tolentone was abandoned^ 
and suffered to fall into decay; a new manor-house 
baring been erected, and called, with reference to the 
ate of the former one, Hioh-bury. From that pe- 
riod, the old house is only occasionally mentioned, in 
ancient records, as ** The Lower Place ;" while the 

c3 



90 GENERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 

manor itself began to be styled, from the new site, 
that of HiQHBURYi or Newington-Barrow. The 
signification of Nbwington, no doubt, was the same 
as of the modem words new town: and buty, and 
barrow, it is probable, were alike derived from burgh, 
more anciently burgtu, the low Latin for a fortified 
place, or other defensive position* It has been fiirther 
conjectured, that the appellation ** barrow,** points to 
the original occupation of the spot by a summer camp 
of the Roman garrison of London, supposed to have 
existed at Highbury, and which would naturally be 
placed upon, or contiguous to, the line of their Er- 
min Street. Again, it has been derived from the 
earliest recorded possessor of the manor, the Lady 
Alicia de Barowe ; though it would have been equaUy 
accordant with the custom of the times, for the lady 
to have taken name from the estate, as the estate from 
the lady. 

Alice, or Alicia de Barowe, in the year 1271, gave 
the entire lordship of Highbury and Newton to the 
Priory of St. John of Jerusalem ^ ; in other words, to 
the proud military-religious fraternity, whose chief 
seat was where St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, to 
this day marks the grand court of their conventual 
buildings. They had before obtained very considerable 
possessions in Islington* The Lords-Priors made the 
manor-house here their rejiige, or countiy-seat ; and 
probably added greatly both to its size and splendour, 
as the site was long afterwards traditionally called 
Highbury Ccutle. But evil days were in reserve for 

> Dugdale. Monast. IL 543. 



GENERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 21 

the haughty Knights of St. John ; as began to appear 
within rather more than a century from the date of 
Lady de Barowe's donation. A.D. 1381 , the discon- 
tents of the people being inflamed to desperation by 
the impolitic measures of their rulers, the celebrated 
insuirection conducted by Wat Tyler broke forth, 
and was attended by most disastrous consequences to 
this wealthy and powerful order, to whom, indeed, 
the mob avowed their special hatred. An impiense 
assembly attacked and fired the great priory in St. 
John's Square, '' causing it to bume the space of 
seven dayes after ;** while another party, estimated by 
Holinshed at twenty thousand strong, ^'tooke in 
hand to ruinate" the Prior's country-seat, and marched 
to Highbury. The mansion was of such strength and 
solidity, that they were obliged by manual labour to 
demolish many parts which the fire could not con- 
sume. Ere their arrival, the Lord Prior (Sir Robert 
Hales) had taken refuge in the Tower : but, acquiring 
possession of that fortress also, the rebels beheaded 
him, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
and others, on the adjoining hill. The leader of the 
detachment which proceeded to Highbury was one 
Jack Straw f and from him the late Highbury Castle 
was called, in derision, Jack Straw's Castle, an ap- 
pellation which the site retains to this day \ When 
the ascendancy of lawful authority liad been restored, 
the King bestowed titles of honour upon several of 

> In Bishop Oibaon's edition of Camden's Britannia, foL 1695, 
p. 3S7, a number of plants are described as growing about Jack 
Strom's CoMite, near Islikotom : and in Ogilby's " Itinerarium An- 
(^" 1008, the site is called by that name.- 



92 GENERAL HISTORICAL VIEW. 

his staunches t adherents; and, among the rest, " upon 
the sand-hill towards Iseldonne, were created the 
Earles Marshal) and Pembroke ^'* 

Whether or not Highbury Castle was restored by 
the Knights to its pristine grandeur, or whether .it 
ever again arose from its ashes, is unknown ; but we 
have it on record that the Priory was not entirely re- 
built until the year 1504, when the finishing hand 
was put to it by Prior Docwra. His successor. Sir 
William Weston, witnessed the destruction of his 
own, together with most of the other monastic estab- 
lishments in England, at the fiiat of the despotic 
Henry V III. ; when all this Priory's possessions being 
seized by the King, the manor of Highbury was be- 
stowed upon Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of 
Essex ; upon whose attainder and death, in 1540, it 
reverted to the crown. We find it vested in the Lady 
(afterwards Queen) Mary, during the life-time of Ed- 
ward VI. : also that Queen Elizabeth granted leases, 
to various persons, of the site of the manor, the de- 
mesne lands, and the profits of the manorial courts. 
James I. bestowed Highbury upon his eldest son, 
Henry, Prince of Wales ; by whose orders a survey 
and plan of the manor were executed, which are still 
in the possession of its owners. The title of the plan 
is, *' The Plot of the Mannor of Newington Barrowe, 
parcel of the possessions of the High and Mighty 
Prince Henry, Prince of Wales, Duke of ComewaU, 
and Earle of Chester, &c. taken in July, 1611, 
by Rocke Churche." The detached part of the 

> Howe*8 Chronicle. 



OENERAL HISTORICAL VlfiW. 23 

manor, at the south end of the parish, is not laid 
down, tkough described in the survey: probably 
it was the subject of a separate delineation, now 
lost. Highbury Wood appears a little to the north 
of where the mansion had formerly stood ; as, yet 
more northward, does IMtle St. John*s Wood; both 
which must be viewed as memorials of ancient To- 
LEMTONB. Both are also mentioned in the survey; 
which describes the premises as consisting of one yard, 
or dose, where anciently was a castle, or mansion- 
house, called Highbury Castle. The surveyors added, 
that ** there had been a capital mansion, as they had 
heard, standing within a mote yet remaining ; but the 
house was decaied beyond the memory of man.*' The 
DeviFs House;* in DeviFs (Du Yal's) Lane,** is also 
spoken of as an old house, called in ancient writings 
•* The Lower Place," enclosed by " a mote, and a 
little orchard within.** Another survey, in the Aug- 
mentation Office, taken in the year 1650, by order of 
Commissioners appointed imder the Commonwealth, 
shows " Hibery Wood,'* and " Little St. John's 
Wood," to have been then standing: the former is 
stated to contain forty-three acres, two roods, sixteen 
perches; and the latter thirty-five acres: 371 trees 
are certified as at that time growing, of which the 
value is estimated at 148/. 8i. In the following year, 
the Parliament sold both woods to Henry Mildmay, 
of Wansted, Essex, Esq. and Richard Clutterbuck, of 
London, merchant, for 3S72. 6s. M. : and firom that 
time, the trees appearing to have been immediately 
cut down, all traces have vanished of the ancient forest 
honours of Tolentone, or Highbury.