Caractacus

CARACTACUS and HOLYWELL FARM

The 1862 Epsom Derby was run on 4th June with a huge field of 34 horses, the largest ever recorded at the Derby.  When James 'Jim' Goater refused to ride Caractacus in favour of Goater's brother's horse, the Sprite, Mr Snewing's stable boy John Parsons, believed to be about 16 years old and reported to be the youngest jockey ever to win the Derby, was given the ride, as he had in the horse's three previous races.  The horses made three false starts before the race got underway with Caractacus being a distant outsider. Yet Caractacus won by a neck from Buckstone and Neptunus. An objection was raised by Lord Stamford, which was not upheld and then, when all the jockeys and saddles were weighed post race, Parsons did not initially meet the 122 lbs requirement weight and only the adding of the bridle to the tack prevented disqualification.  

"Caractacus, whose wondrous shape

Sets every country mouth agape-

And if, of the outsiders there,

One horse should pass the winning chair,

Enrolled in the successful three,

Be sure Caractacus is he."

—Orange Blossom, Bell's Life 

Caractacus was described as a bay colt that stood 15.1 hands high, with a “light” neck, fine shoulders, good girth and sound feet. He had a large white blaze, a white sock on his right front foot and a grey full-stocking on his right hind leg. He had a “corky” personality and possessed refined movement, leading him to be described as a “slashing goer.”   

As a yearling, Caractacus was bought for 250 guineas by the trainer William Day, acting on behalf of a London publican named Charles Snewing who also was a veterinary surgeon. Allegedly, the colt was named 'Caractacus' because Snewing had admired a statue of the British chieftain 'Caractacus bound in chains' at the 1851 Exhibition. He is reported to have said, "If ever I try a horse good enough I'll call him Caractacus, and win the Derby with him". In spring 1861, the two-year-old colt was moved to a stable at Harpenden in Hertfordshire, where his training was managed by Robert "Bob" Smith.  After the Derby win Caractacus was retired to stud in 1863, with Snewing retaining ownership. He was a breeding stallion first at the Highfield Paddock near St Albans for an annual fee of 20 guineas. He was moved to the Holywell Stud Farm in Watford sometime before 1872. Caractacus serviced approximately 40 mares per season while in Britain before being sold for £7,000 to Mr. Strass who exported him to St Petersburg at the end of the 1872 breeding season. Caractacus sired about 57 foals in Russia, none of which were successful racers or sires. He died in 1878 at the Russian Imperial Stud in Hrenoosky.

A Brief History of West Watford

S.W. Hertfordshire from a map of 1610

West Watford - A Brief History

Much has been researched and written about the town of Watford and Cassiobury, but our research to date (2019) has concentrated particularly on West Watford. We now feel it time to spread our wings, so to speak, and widen our area of research to the surrounding areas, as they have much to offer and are often linked to West Watford in some way, however small.  Or perhaps they are simply interesting.

If we go back in time some considerable way and consult the maps and references that are available, we can see that most of our area of interest was field, farm, meadow and marsh. At Hamper Mill, to the south of Brightwells Farm, Roman artefacts were excavated, including part of a trackway.  Further west, Iron Age artefacts were discovered during the construction of Greenhill Crescent.


There were two tracks/roads leading from Hamper Mill and Rickmansworth to Watford, early bridges over the Colne at Hamper Mill and in Moor Lane and at least six  farms on the way to Watford; Hampton Hall Farm, Moor Lane, (this includes the site of Hampton Hall which may also be the site of the medieval manor of Batchworth. It is named for a 14th lord of the manor, William Hampton. The manor house is mentioned in 1520 and may have been extant until 1839. The farm stands in what was its garden area and was built in the 1840s), Tolpits Farm, Brightwells Farm (at one time Hatters Farm), Holywell Farm, Cole Kings and Harwoods Farm. What is left of Tolpits Farm is now Tolpits House on a bend of the road where Moor Lane merges with Tolpits Lane and is part of Merchant Taylors School. Holywell, Cole Kings and Harwoods are gone and only Brightwells remains, which may possibly be as old as, or perhaps older, than the Manor of Cashio. 


There was very little in the way of expansion in the 'town' of Watford from the 12th to the 18th century. The 'one long street' then began to acquire yards and alleyways. In Briton's The Beauties of England & Wales, written in 1807, he describes Watford as a large, populous and busy town, the chief employment of its labouring classes being mainly agriculture, although there being three silk mills. The population of Watford is given as 3,530 and the number of houses 691. By 1850 there are two paper mills besides the silk mills, two breweries and several malt kilns. In 1851 the population is 8,646, yet twenty years later it has increased to 12,071.

The Pest House in Watford

The Pest House in Watford

The Watford pest house was situated at the end of Willow Lane, and it was known as Pest House Lane. It was situated near the river Colne and old lime kiln mills. This house was demolished in 1914. It is mentioned in the Book of Watford, and includes an entry about a nurse being paid to look after smallpox sufferers there (see below).

An earlier entry of 1694 in the Vestry Books records: ‘It is ordered that in case of sickness, no physic be allowed to the poor, but in providential distress, plague or small pox, broken bones or wounds’. In May 1738, it is noted that Edward Finch was appointed ‘to look after the poor of the parish as an apothecary, to be paid £12 for the year’, then in March 1749, Mr I Aihway, Surgeon ‘to take care and find suitable medications for the poor for the year enforcing at the rate of £12 per annum and that all surgeons and apothecaries belonging to the town take it alternatively at the same rate’.  In cases of sickness in the workhouse, a separate room was taken as an Infirmary, but in the case of infectious diseases, such as smallpox, there were Pest Houses. These, however, were not always in good repair and in 1754 it was noted that the local pest houses were not fit for the reception of sick persons, estimates being passed for their repair. In 1758 the governorship of the workhouse had passed to William Jennings, who resigned his agreement with not satisfying the Pest House nurse who, for nursing the sick with the smallpox at her annual salary of 10s. per week for nine weeks. It was after agreed that the nurse, for her good services in times for the poor of the parish, be paid the sum of £4.10s. for her nine weeks’ servitude, the Master having refused to do such nursing. The Watford Pest House was situated near the end of Pest House Lane (now Willow Lane alongside Watford General Hospital), some distance from the town (the land surrounding the town at this time being predominantly fields). It is noted in the records of May 1765, that William Jennings, of Hemel Hempstead, was still Governor at a salary of £70 per annum. Probably the same William Jennings who drew up the contract between himself, along with his executors and administrators and the Churchwardens and Overseers in 1765.

Brightwells Farm

Brightwells Farm

A History

Brightwells Farm lies at the southern end of Vicarage Road, just over a mile from Watford and about a quarter of a mile from Hamper Mill.  In Medieval times, it was variously included in the manors of Rickmansworth, La More, Cashio and Watford. There are several very early references to this site and it can be seen that Brightwell (Brittewell, Brutewell, de Brittewelle as examples of its changing name) has a history equal to, or at least as interesting, as that of Cashio and was at least of similar importance.

Within Cashio there were, circa 1086, 4 mills and therefore probably 4 hamlets.  One would be the hamlet of Cashio, giving its name to the manor or vice versa - possibly near Cassiobridge.  Another would be the hamlet of Watford, chosen or founded by St Albans Abbey for the site of another mill and the parish church – and therefore giving its name to the parish. Later, with the building of the royal palace at Kings Langley and the greater importance of radial routes from London as opposed to radial routes from St Albans and Winchester, Watford would oust the other hamlets by being more favourably positioned.  A third hamlet would be near Brightwell farm on or near the old Roman road/trackway and with easy access to Hamper Mill. (There are several possible locations for the fourth including Cassiobury Mill, Garston, Munden or Oxhey/Wiggenhall). Eventually several manors and independent estates were created within the large parish of Watford coincident with the pre-Domesday manor of Cashio.

The majority of the area we know today as Watford and its surrounding districts were held by St Albans Abbey of the king.  Parcels of land were often given, sued for or exchanged and Brightwells was no exception.  The manor of Britwell was said to have been granted to the abbey by Offa. In the early part of the thirteenth century Alice de Bretwelle held one hide* in Rickmansworth and in 1225 land in Britwell was held by Peter de Bretwelle, against whom it was claimed by John de Wittenham and Alice his wife and Richard Grimbald and Martina his wife. Land in Britwell, formerly held by William, son of John de Shelforde, was held in the thirteenth century (1292) by John de Brutwelle and the abbot commuted his service from suit to court to knight service in the king’s army. In other words, John de Brutwelle was involved in a land transaction with the Abbot of St Albans, which suggests an estate at Brightwell sufficient to give it some status.

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In 1301-2 this land had come to coheirs whose names are not given, but in 1303, Thomas de Wymundesham held a sixth part of a knight’s fee of the abbot of St Albans in Britwell. In 1320-1 the fee was held by John de Watford and in 1364 the manor under the name of a tenement called Brutewelles was in the hands of John de Chilterne. With regard to the history of Micklefield Hall (Sarratt), there is a reference to John de Chilterne of Rykemeresworth, who “on 16^th July 1364 granted to Ralph de Harpele, rector of Scherring and Stephen Megre, chaplain, his manors of Micklefield and Brittewelle in the towns of Rickmersworth and Caysho.”

In 1365 a list of properties records “Bruteswelle and Watford 17s 17d rent from divers tenants in the hamlets, held of the heirs of Sir Philip Durdent in free socage by service of 1d yearly and 1lb cumin ….. the premises at Rykesmers-worth, Caysho and Brutewelle, Crokesle and Watford, except the rent in Danielhide in Rykesmersworth were in the possession of Roger Colyn by demise.”  Here, in the 14^th century, it appears that Brutewelle (i.e. Brightwells) had the status of at least a hamlet, but possibly of a village ranking alongside the other places mentioned.

In 1366, the grantees (Ralph de Harpele and Ralph Megre) conveyed Brutewelles to Richard, son of Richard de Hemington and John, son of John de Radewell, sons of Margery and Margaret, daughters of John de Chilterne.  The manor was to be held by Richard and John for their lives with remainder in tail male to Henry and Pain, sons of John de Chilterne and to Andrew de Bures, Richard de Hemington, John de Radeswell and John Aignel, grandchildren of John de Chilterne.  Henry de Chilterne granted this manor in 1371-2 to Edmund de Gessinge and Katherine his wife and their heirs and assigns for ever. In 1381, Philip Bluet and Katherine his wife, who was the daughter of John de Chilterne, conveyed the manor to John de Raddeswelle and Richard de Hemington and this conveyance was confirmed by Henry and Pain de Chilterne, brothers of Katherine. Richard and John then reconveyed it to Philip and Katherine to be held by them for their lives for a rent of six marks to John and Richard, with reversion after the death of Philip and Katherine to John and Richard and their heirs. This same Katherine, who was then the wife of John of Gloucester and her son Andrew Bures, conveyed the manor to Henry, Bishop of Winchester, William Flete and others and this grant was confirmed by Pain de Chilterne. They, in return, granted Katherine a rent of 100s. from the manor.

In 1414, Katherine, the wife of William Creke or Creyke, daughter of Henry de Chilterne and Eleanor his wife, granted the manor to William Flete and John Deryng, two of the grantees mentioned above, probably in confirmation of the grant of Katherine, her aunt, as heiress of her father Henry.

William Flete was a London mercer, who built the castle and was the tenant of the Manor of the More (later Moor Park). He was supported by powerful men including the Bishops of Winchester and Durham and six others who acted as guarantors and supported his title.  In 1431 Flete claimed to hold this manor partly of Robert de Louthe at a rent and partly as a manor of the More and a dispute arose between Flete and the Abbot as to the tenure of this manor. The manor had once belonged to Thomas Wymyndham and afterwards to John Watford, clerk. The Abbot, however, said that William Flete bought the manor and that it was held of the Abbot for homage and fealty and rent and it was decided in the courts of law that the Abbot was justified in his claim.  From this time the manor of Brightwell descended with the manor of More and there was a “high bridge” across the river Colne at Hamper Mill and the estate included demesne lands and a field called High Crosse Field.

It was William Flete who, in 1416 as tenant of the Manor of the More, put up a claim to have a right of way for himself and his cattle from the More, across the fields to the market place at Watford.  The Abbot of St Albans went to law and William Flete failed to gain his point.  Again, in 1435, Flete came into conflict with tenant farmers when he tried to enforce a right of way from the Manor to Watford. This was unsuccessful until a century later when Cardinal Wolsey, after enlarging the house, sought to also enlarge the park and expelled one of his tenants from a messuage called Tolpotts and 170 acres of land and enclosed part of it within the park and made another part into a highway leading from Rickmansworth to Watford (hence Tolpits Lane).

By 1456, the manor (of More) had come to Sir Ralph Boteler, Lord Sudeley and the Abbot (of St Albans), in exchange for certain tenements in London on the Thames, confirmed the manors of More, Ashleys, Batchworth, Eastbury and Britwell to Sir Ralph for a rent of 1d for each manor in recognition of the fact that it was held by the Abbey.

“On the 15^th May 1456, Sir Ralph Boteler, Lord of Sudeley, granted to the Abbot and Monks the following lands, which they heretofore had held of him by rent:- Lands near Crokesley Green called Elys Londe, land in Brittewelle More and pasture land in Bury More, all in the parish of Rykmersworth. Ten days later the Abbey gave Sir Ralph, in exchange, the Manors of Baccheworth, La More and Brittewelle in the parishes of Rykmansworth and Watford, for the yearly payment of one penny per annum for each manor, for all services.” 

By 1556, by a copy of court roll of the manor of More, Brightwells Farm in Watford parish, near to Hamper Mills is held by Thomas and William Weedon.

From the probate inventories of the Jacobean period it is possible to get a picture of cropping arrangements and other details of some Watford farms. On 25^th March 1617, soon after his death, John Weedon, a yeoman, had his estate of Britwells inventoried. Apart from a bull, 6 beasts, 2 calves, 12 hoggs and some horses, he had 26 acres of wheat and 30 acres of lent corn (i.e. summer corn or spring corn crops such as oats, peas and barley).

Also of interest regarding mills in the area, again from a tithe account of 1668 for Cashio hamlet there is mention of an acre of grass ‘at the oyle mills’ which suggests that a commercial crop for the production of vegetable oil may have been grown thereabouts. Hemp and teasels are both mentioned in the early years of the century, but receive no mention after 1660. There are also two mentions of a stock of flax for persons in Watford and Aldenham, but something more of a novelty is the mention of 11/2 bushels of mustard seed at Watford in 1665 and a mustard mill at Brightwells farm in 1676.

From the tithe accounts of 1656 there is a brief description of ‘2 messuages or tenements called Brightwells which are now converted into 1 messuage, being 17 several closes divided and being on both sides of the way leading from High Bridge (Hamper Mill) towards Watford and between the River called Colney stream towards the south and the common called Blackmoor and Cowmoor towards the north and the lands sometime belonging to the messuage called Hatters towards the east and the Demeanes (sic) called twelve acres towards the west containing by estimation 184 acres more or less’. This gives an average field size of nearly 11 acres. Another 17^th century document gives details of Hatters farm in the manor of Cashio as arable land divided into 8 parts containing 105 acres. Here the arable field size average is 13 acres. Sir Charles Morrison added several estates to the manor of Cassiobury, including ‘Hatters Farm’ which was parcel of the manor of Cassiobury in 1691.