Braughin (St. Mary)

BRAUGHIN (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bishop-Stortford, hundred of Braughin, county of Hertford, 10 miles (N. E.) from Hertford, and 28 (N.) from London; containing, with part of the hamlet of Puckeridge, 1358 inhabitants. This place, in the Norman survey called Brachinges, and by the Saxons Brooking, from the streams and meadows in its vicinity, was anciently a market-town of considerable importance, and a demesne of the Saxon kings: by some historians it is supposed to have been a Roman station, and the remains of a camp may still be distinguished. The town or village is pleasantly situated on the small river Quin, near its confluence with the Rib, and even now exhibits traces of its former greatness. The market, which was granted in the reign of Stephen, has been discontinued; but a fair is held on Whit-Monday and the following day. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £19. 13. 4.; net income, £192; patron, the Rev. W. Tower: in 1812, land and corn-rents were assigned in lieu of all tithes. The church is a handsome and spacious edifice, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a spire. There is a place of worship for Independents. On a lofty eminence to the south of the village, are the remains of an encampment, of which part of the vallum and fortifications may be traced: the form is quadrilateral, and the area contains nearly 40 acres; the south-western angle is rounded, and on the north is a triple rampart.