The
Manor of Tring (Treunge) is mentioned in the Domesday survey
of 1086. It lies on Akeman Street a Roman road. Its Mansion
to the south of the church was designed by Christopher Wren
and later owned by Nathaniel Rothschild. From 1630 to 1650
Lawrence Washington, great-grandfather of George Washington,
first President of the United States lived in the town.
The church
of St Peter and St Paul stands in the centre of the town off
the High Street on level ground. A low brick wall about 1
metre high totally encloses the church and its graveyards
to the front and rear of the church. The third graveyard to
the north of the church opens onto a car park to the west
and has no wall but is bounded by the high wall of the former
vicarage to the east. Inside the west wall is planted a yew
hedge, which is kept trimmed, a number of gravestones, footstones
and loose kerbstones which had once been fitted with iron
railings, lie on the ground between the hedge and the wall.
It is assumed that the railings were removed during the 1940's.
About 1½ metres inside the east wall, a row of trees
is spaced out at about 2½ to 4 metre intervals. The
southern graveyard also contains a number of individual trees,
some of which are close to, or intrude on, gravestones. A
hedge lies inside the southern wall, which runs along the
High Street. The northern graveyard has a few individual trees
and the open graveyard next to the car park also has a number
of individual trees. Details of the various graves can be
found by clicking
here.
The War
Memorial, which is situated on Zebra Square in front of the
church, is thought to be the first in the country to be erected
to the memory of those who gave their lives in the Great War
between 1914 and 1918. It was funded by public subscription
and dedicated in November 1918. Later the names of those who
died in the Second World War were added.
The first incumbent
of Tring Parish Church is recorded in the year 1214. The
current Anglican Church dates mainly from the 15 th century
and is built from local flint and Totternhoe stone. To the
north of the church is Sutton Court, built in Tudor style
in 1825 as the vicarage and now in private hands. It has
a fine brick and stone arched entrance at the end of Church
Road. A number of cottages in Church Road, which once belonged
to the church, are now in private hands.
(Most of the above information
was supplied by Ron Spiers)
The Emmie Hobbs
Room
Information
on this room in the tower can be found here.
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