WARE, an ancient market-town of Herts, England, is situated in a valley on the north side of the river Lea, and on a branch of the Great Eastern Railway, 2 miles east-north-east of Hertford, and 22 north of London by rail. The principal street is the spacious High Street, running east and west by the river. The houses are chiefly modern, but there are a few of the old timber frame-houses. The Lea, by means of which there is good water communication, is crossed by an iron bridge erected in 1845. The New River Head is half a mile distant. The parish church of St Mary is a large and handsome cruciform building of flint and stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel (built, it is supposed, by Lady Margaret Beaufort, countess of Richmond, and mother of Henry VII.), lady chapel to the south (about 1380), nave of five bays of the time of Richard II., transepts, aisles, south porch, and embattled tower of the time of Edward III. There is an elaborate font of the time of Henry IV., and a few old brasses and monuments. The church has undergone restoration in 1848, 1881, and 1885-86. The modern mansion of the Priory, to the west of the town, occupies the site of a priory of the order of St Francis, founded by Margaret, countess of Leicester, sister of Henry III., who was then lady of the manor of Ware. A considerable portion of the original building is incorporated in the modern one. Among the modern public buildings are the corn exchange and the town-hall, which includes a literary institute and library. There is a recreation ground 6 acres in extent, and a cemetery of 4 acres. The famous “great bed of Ware” referred to in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, which formerly was at the Saracen’s Head, has been removed to Rye House, 2 miles distant. The town possesses ...breweries and brick-fields, and there is a large trade in malt. The population of the urban sanitary district (area about 641 acres) in 1871 was 4917, and in 1881 it was 5277.
Roman remains have been discovered at various times in the neighbourhood of Ware, and the Ermine Street crossed the Lea valley just a little above it. At the time of the Domesday survey the town had 130 inhabitants, and belonged to Hugh de Grentemaisnil. In the reign of John it came into the possession of Saier de Quincy, earl of Winchester, who, by forcing the thoroughfare of the bridge by breaking the chain, and thus freeing the bridge of toll, greatly increased the trade of the town. The tolls were, however, again imposed. They were granted by Charles I. to William, earl of Salisbury, and they are still collected from non-resident traders. Robert de Quincy in 1254 received for the town the grant of a market and fair from Henry III. In the 15th century it came into the possession of the earl of Warwick, the king-maker. On the death of Richard, duke of Gloucester, it was settled by Henry VII. on his mother, the countess of Richmond. It was then granted to Margaret Plantagenet, countess of Salisbury, on whose execution in 1541 it reverted to the crown. Queen Mary on her accession restored it to Catherine, countess of Huntingdon, granddaughter of the countess of Salisbury, who about 1570 sold it to Thomas Fanshawe, remembrancer in the exchequer. About 1700 the manor was sold to Sir Thomas Byde, a London brewer, in whose family it remained till 1846. Ware is the “town of fame” alluded to by Cowper in his “John Gilpin.” William Godwin was for some time minister of the Independent chapel there. William of Ware was the teacher of Duns Scotus.
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