Tring High Street

Area Map

Large scale

Town Centre

The old market town of Tring lies in magnificent countryside in the Hertfordshire Chilterns.  Both the Town and surrounding area offer much to interest the visitor.

The name Tring is thought to derive from the Saxon 'Tre', meaning 'tree'.  This, when suffixed with 'ing' meant "a place of trees", which still describes the character of much of the surrounding countryside.  The Town forms part of the Borough of "Dacorum", a name that also has ancient origins in the time when west Hertfordshire was occupied by the Vikings.  The hundred formed by this area became known by its Anglo-Saxon name, Danais, meaning "of the Danes", but by the end of the 12th century this had been Latinised to Dacorum.  When local government was re-organised in 1974, the administrative area that includes the districts of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted & Tring was named Dacorum.

There is evidence that people have lived in this attractive and fertile area for thousands of years. It exists in such relics as the Iron Age barrows, ditches and defence works that lie along the route of the Ridgeway Path and in Saxon burials, some of which were unearthed recently during the extension of the Tring Bypass.  But as with other aspects of British history, few reliable documentary records predate the Norman conquest.

After his defeat of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, "William the Conqueror" is believed to have accepted the final surrender of the Saxon nobles at Berkhamsted Castle, just a few miles down the road from Tring, and it was here that William was thought to have been declared King of England (although the monastic chronicler might have had 'Little' Berkhamsted in mind, which lies to the east of the County near Hatfield).

Witch hunting

The last execution of an English witch was in 1686 and the last trial for witchcraft was in 1717. However, in 1751, the Half Moon pub at Wilstone near Tring was the venue of the inquest into the death of a vagrant, Ruth Osborn. Ruth, accused by townsfolk of being a witch, had been drowned in the village pond by a mob, prominent among which was a drunken chimney sweep, Thomas Colley. Colley was later executed at Tring for her murder and his body hung in chains near the scene as a warning to those who would murder so-called witches. The authorities took the precaution of bringing in a troop of soldiers to make sure that the locals - who really did believe Ruth to be a witch -  did not prevent the hanging. [A detailed account  (.pdf file, 2.2MB) - courtesy Wendy Austin]

When dividing up the spoils of war among his supporters, William granted the Manor of Tring to Count Eustace II of Boulogne, who had been fully involved in the fray at Hastings and is thought to be the knight whose name is faintly depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry as "Eustatius".  Twenty years later, William's great stocktaking ledger, the Domesday (or Doomsday) Book, refers to Tring as one of Count Eustace's holdings. Our original parish church probably dated from this period, but was either destroyed or rebuilt, for Norman stonework exists in parts of the exterior of our present church, Saint Peter and Saint Paul.  The Tring Tiles, which probably formed part of a frieze on the interior walls of the Church's chancel, date from a slightly later period.

The 19th century brought significant changes to the  town. The Grand Junction Canal was opened in 1805 to be followed in 1838 by the arrival of the London and Birmingham Railway, which brought Tring to within an hour's journey time of London (once, that is, the traveller had reached Tring Station, which lies some 2 miles from the town centre). Both canal and railway cross the Chiltern Hills at Tring in deep cuttings, the construction of which were major engineering tasks for the time involving the manual excavation of millions of tons of chalk and flint.  The Tring reservoirs at Wilstone, Tringford, Startops End, and Marsworth, built to supply the canal with water as it crosses the summit at Tring, are designated "Sites of Special Scientific Interest" (SSSIs comprise Britain's very best wildlife and geological sites and are protected by legislation).

The construction of Tring Cutting, London and Birmingham Railway, 1837.

Tring cutting, engineered by Robert Stephenson, is 2.5 miles long.  It was constructed using "horse runs". A horse at the top of the cutting was harnessed to a large barrow by a length of rope over a pulley. The barrow, when filled with debris, was hauled up a steep plank-way by the horse and guided by a navvy. Any irregular movement of the horse could throw both man and barrow down the slope at risk of life or limb. There were some 40 horse runs at Tring.  Tring Cutting was later widened and during the 1960s the line ― by now the "West Coast Main Line" ―  was electrified.

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ACCIDENT IN TRING CUTTING.
The Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News, Aug., 26th, 1848.

Another accident occurred on the London and North Western Railway, at Tring, on Friday morning, by which the life of one of the new corps of engine drivers has been placed in imminent peril.  The following are the circumstances:—Thomas Sands, aged 28, formerly employed in Woolwich Dockyard, but since the dispute between the London and North Western Railway Company and their engine-drivers filling the place of one of the latter, left Birmingham, at a quarter to nine o'clock on Thursday night, in charge of a luggage train, which he brought on without accident until it reached the Tring cutting.  While passing through this cutting, it appears that his engine became out of order, it is believed owing to a deficiency in the supply of water in the boiler.  The unfortunate man attempted to rectify the defect, but, probably from ignorance of the mechanism of the engine, he was unable to do so, and a rush of steam taking place, it is said Sands become frightened, and threw himself off the tender-plate on to the embankment.  The guard and stoker, who were on the engine with him, retained their places, and in a few minutes brought the train to a standstill.  On returning down the line they found Sands lying on the embankment perfectly insensible.  A superficial examination proved that the poor fellow had sustained a severe fracture of the thigh, close to the hip bone, as well as several extensive scalds about the body.  The impolicy of the Directors attempting to work their line with new hands is apparent from these accidents and others that have happened to the working stock of the Company.

The existing town centre owes much of its character to the Rothschild family who in 1872 acquired Tring Park and its mansion.  With the help of local architect William Huckvale, banker and statesman Nathaniel (later 1st Baron Rothschild of Tring) set about a radical transformation, rebuilding the farms and building new cottages in the town to replace decaying property.  The old Market House outside the church was demolished to create a public open space and a new Market House erected by public subscription to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.  Among Huckvale's other commissions was the estate office, the Victoria Hall, the  Rose and Crown Hotel, and the Zoological Museum, built to house Lord Rothschild's eccentric elder son Walter's immense zoological collection. A trip to the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum is a must for all visitors to Tring.

 . . . . has existed on its present site since the 16th century.  From the middle of the 17th to the middle of the 19th Century it housed the Excise Office and was also at some time host to the Inland Revenue.  One 19th Century landlord, Timothy Norwood, who was also an excise man, brewed his own beer; indeed, beer was brewed on the premises until the 1860s.  The Inn also did service as a railway booking office for the London and North Western Railway Company and even after the coming of the railway, it continued to be a busy and important coaching inn.  The original building, which was Tudor with 18th Century additions, was demolished in 1905 when it was bought and rebuilt by Lord Rothschild, mainly for guests of the family, to a design by William Huckvale.

 The Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum now forms part of the Natural History Museum.

This tiger doesn't bite!  A notable eccentric, the animals that Walter Rothschild let roam his estate included zebra, a tame wolf, rheas, marabou stork, a dingo, kangaroos, kiwis, cassowaries and giant tortoises. A notable achievement was to train a team of zebras to pull his carriage.

Following World Way II, much residential housing was developed around the old town. New schools were opened and in 1975 the Tring section of the A41 dual carriageway was built, alas cutting across beautiful Tring Park.  The new expressway has since been extended to link us directly to the M25 to the South, and Aylesbury to the North.

Modern Tring is now largely residential with many of the population commuting to London to work.  We do have some industry including flour milling and brewing, and the Tring Industrial Estate has recently been developed on the North-Western boundary of the town.  The fortnightly Tring Auctions, held since 1832, continues to attract many visitors including BBC television's popular antique auction shows.

AWARDED FOR GALLANTRY.

James Osborn, VC., and John Mayes.
Photo Wendy Austin collection.

    On 17th December 1880, the British garrison in Wakkerstroom (C Company of the 94th Regiment) were relieved by a larger component of 120 men of the 58th Regiment under Captain H. M. Saunders together with about 45 volunteers from among the townspeople.  Most of the troops were housed in a mud-walled “fort” built some 1.5 km north of the town, the others being stationed in the courthouse and the Dutch Reformed Church, which had been modified with loopholes to enable rifle fire and had been surrounded by a deep ditch.  An old naval howitzer was placed in front of the church on the body of a water cart.

    The Boers under Commandant van Staden threw a cordon around the town and there were many exchanges of fire.  The British made occasional sorties to ‘recover’ cattle and horses that had been ‘captured’ by the Boers.  During one such sortie, on 22nd February, 1881, Private James Osborne, then aged 23, rode out under heavy fire to rescue a comrade, Private Mayes, who had been wounded.  Osborne was awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour, his VC being published in the London Gazette in March 1882.  James died at Tring in 1928.
 

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MILITARY FUNERAL AT TRING
ARMISTICE DAY, 2010

Armistice Day, 2010, also marked the funeral of Corporal David Barnsdale of 33 Engineer Regiment.

A very large crowd assembled in Tring to witness David's funeral at the Parish Church.