Wareside

Wareside is a parish created in 1841 from Ware

Castlebury Farm, Wareside    posted 1913

CASTLEBURY near Baker's End was known as Kereswellbury or Cresswell Bury in 1342 - cress well meaning a cress spring and the suffix bury suggesting a high place or a fortified dwelling - and is thought to stand on the site of a Saxon homestead. A mill is also recorded at Cresswellbury by the end of the 15th century, but as a field near Nobland Green also shared the same name one cannot be certain of the mill's exact location.

The present timber-framed house dates from 1450 and soon became one of the area's principal residences. Many London merchants bought local properties, and in the late 17th century the house was owned by Humphrey Taylor, a 'citizen and mercer' of London.

In the early 19th century, the thatched roof was replaced with tiles and the house was completely faced with Hitch bricks. These were large interlocking bricks, patented by Caleb Hitch of Ware, but they failed to become the standard house brick because of their complexity.

Wareside - A Miscellany of Histories