At the northern extremity of the parish, along the high road, lies the hamlet of Turnford, still a picturesque little spot, though now given over to the builder and market gardener. Scores of acres of glasshouses exist here. In early times, however, the famous nunnery of the Benedictines extended along the eastern side of the road here. At the Dissolution this, with other lands in the parish, fell into the possession of that “old land grabber,” as a Herts antiquary has dubbed Sir Anthony Denny. Nothing now remains of the nunnery.
Cheshunt Street contains a good many interesting examples of old domestic architecture. There is rather a curious structure here known locally as the Round House, which has been in the family of the present owner since the time of Elizabeth. It was built by a descendant of one of Elizabeth’s sea captains, who was engaged in the seven years’ war. He settled down here, and called it Effingham Place.
The highlands of Cheshunt are all of a beautiful character, and the climate of these elevated situations is particularly healthful, the air being clear and bracing. To the north lie Hammond Street, Appleby Street, and the beautiful sylvan hamlet of Beaumont Manor; to the west is the pleasant old village of Goff’s Oak, with pretty Newgate Street beyond, and the noble domain of Wood Green Park adjacent. More to the north is the picturesque old hamlet of Cuffley, to the curative waters of whose well King James frequently repaired. From Cuffley one may enjoy a very fine view of the Lea Valley and the richly timbered undulations of Epping Forest. The little place is effectually cut off from the affairs of ordinary civilisation, and is as isolated as a hamlet in the heart of Warwickshire.
Goff’s Oak is a pretty little place, with many interesting features about it. Its numerous cottages—there is only one good-sized house—lie, irregularly disposed on either side of the road, often behind ample gardens beautiful with lilies and larkspur, rocket, wallflowers, hollyhocks, and other old-time flowers. It gains its name from a famous old oak tree, said to have been planted by one of William the Conqueror’s heroes, Sir Theodore Godfrey, to whom lands here had been assigned (hence Godfrey’s—Geoffrey’s Oak—Geoff’s—Goff’s Oak). The venerable tree, of which only the trunk now remains, has a girth of over twenty feet at three feet from the ground. It reminds one of the beautiful lines of Dryden: