A round shot from the second St Albans (1461) battlefield has been saved from going into a private collection by the Battlefields Trust and the St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society (SAHAAS).
The round shot was discovered by a metal detectorist in the Bernards Heath area of St Albans in 2014 and displayed at the St Albans Museum in an exhibition in 2016, but it was never returned to its owner after the exhibition. John Morewood, SAHAAS president, tracked it down to a dealer in antique arms in Brighton.
Global Families day at Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School
Bernards Heath Infant and Nursery School celebrated Global Families Day on November 14th with Peter Burley and Alan MacKnight representing the Friends of Bernards Heath. They brought along with some very tasty berry jam (photo inset) using fruit foraged from the Heath. It was a good opportunity to publicise the Action Day on the 17th November (see post above).
David Pearce giving young people a taste of hedgerow jelly (or jam) at Bernards Heath Infants School on Global Families Day. Many of the berries can be found on the Heath, but you might have to make a visit to the market too. Jenny B has kindly provided a recipe which you can download here
David puts the finishing touches to those delicious scones and hedgerow jelly.
We are urgently looking for someone who would be interested in becoming the School Crossing Patrol for
Bernards Heath Junior School
The pay is £7.20 per hour (plus holiday pay and retainer). If you are interested or would like further information please contact Heather Hill on 01992 556815
Can we please remind you that it is a parental responsibility to get your child to and from school safely.
Hertfordshire County Council, Transport, Access and Safety, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8DN. Tel: 01992 556815 March 2016
David Pearce, a parent of children at the school, recently gave a talk about the Friends of Bernards Heath and what they do. You can find out more about this by taking a look at this page.
Peter Burley, a local historian and member of the Friends of Bernards Heath Committee, gave an illustrated talk focusing on what happened and what you would have seen on the school site over the centuries.
Peter Burley with children at Bernards Heath Infants School Photo: Isabel Kearns
Peter writes: We start with Julius Caesar who would have marched his army past the school in 54BC on his way to attack Wheathamstead. Shakespeare’s King Cymberlaine was king round here before the Romans returned and he built Beech Bottom Dyke. We look at how the land reverted to wild wood after the Romans and was then cleared by burning the trees to make land for pasture and creating the heath. This gives the area and the school its name – “Bernards Heath”. The name means land cleared by burning and is the same derivation as “Barnet” or “Brent”. The first map of the area calls it “Barnet Heath”, and, rather alarmingly, shows the town gallows standing opposite the school.
We look at how the Manor of Sandridge – and hence the school site – passed from control by the Abbey to control by the Spencer family (whose name is commemorated in the school) – via the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, who rescued the commons along Harpenden Road from being enclosed. The local economy was based on brick making into the 19th century and we look at where there are some surviving brick pits opposite the school. The pits that filled up with water and where kids from the school actually drowned have long since been filled in.
Photo: Isabel Kearns
We finish the history with the area being built up and the school founded in the 1890s, but not before re-enacting the story of the most romantic character to have been associated with the area. A volunteer girl from the class is draped in a white cellular blanket to illustrate the story of the “Lady in White”. She was Frances Jennings, Countess Tyrconnel, who lived 1647-1730. She was born at Waterend House but then grew up in London, where, as a child, she ran away from home to sell oranges in Covent Garden. She and her two sisters inherited a bankrupted estate which included the Manor of Sandridge. Her older sister (Sarah) married the future Duke of Marlborough and restored the family’s fortunes. Frances married Richard Talbot, a Roman Catholic, who was created Earl Tyrconnel* by James II and then led the Irish in opposition to William III’s invasion in 1689. He died of a stroke before his brother-in-law could complete the conquest of Ireland and Frances fled into exile at the Court of Versailles. After being initially feted by Louis XIV, she fell on hard times as France went bankrupt and she was reduced to living as a beggar in Paris. There she used lace-making as a prop for her begging and sat on the pavement weaving lace while dressed head to foot in white lace so no one could see her face. She also became deranged. At a later date she returned to London under an amnesty for Catholic exiles and continued her lace-making and begging in Covent Garden. There she became a tourist attraction in her own right and was known as the (anonymous) “Lady in White”, but she never returned to Sandridge.
*as a footnote, he features in the nowadays little-sung words to the song “Lilly Bolero”, where he is portrayed as an ogre who eats Protestant babies.
FoBH is collaborating with St Albans District Council (SADC) on a project to reduce underage drinking in Bernards Heath and the associated extreme litter problems that have resulted. The Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) is an organisation, funded by the major retailers, which brings together all the interested parties including SADC, Police, local retailers,
Trading Standards and the Community to address the problem in a co-ordinated way. They claim to have had very positive results in other parts of the UK and the Bernards Heath CAP will be a pilot for the whole of St Albans.
