Amwell, Hertfordshire

 

Amwell rested nineteen miles from Regency London. Its ancient name was Emmewelle, which is supposed to derive from Emma's Well, a spring of water issuing from the hill on which stands the church, and which flowers into the New River.

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century the village of Amwell contained Amwell Bury, the villa of Major Brown, and near the entrance to Ware the house and gardens of Mr. J. Hooper, Esquire. These gardens were laid out by a Mr. Scott, who composed a little poem about his efforts:

"Where China's willow hangs its foliage fair,
And Po's tall poplar waves it top in air,
And the dark maple spreads its umbrage wide,
And the white bench adorns the bason side;
At noon reclin'd, perhaps, he sits to view
The bank's neat slope, the water's silver hue,
Where, 'Midst thick oaks, the subterraneous way
To the arch'd groat admits a feeble ray;
Where glossy pebbles pave the varied floors,
And rough flint walls are deck'd with shells and ores."

Amwell contained many more gardens, which also had many more poems written about them. In fact, Amwell was so picturesque that poets could scarcely contain their literary urgings. We have managed to contain ourselves from adding more verses ...