No 6 - Rickmansworth Remembers: The Glory that was Rome

                                
                                             

Rickmansworth Young Ladies College Remembers 

Triumphal Entry into Rickmansworth 

It was time for lights-out in Boadicea dormitory at the Rickmansworth Young Ladies College formally known as Denham Hall when Rhonda informed us it was a Roman Centurion named Atticus Romulus who named the tiny hamlet on the road to Londinium Rickmansworth in the year… something or other A.D. Phaedra asked how she can be sure it was not already known as Rickmansworth before the Roman army arrived?

Good question, however there is certainly no record of a Rickmansworth ever existing prior to the Roman invasion of Britain, so it is quite possible the Romans could well have the named it Rickmansworth, the name everyone recognizes today.

I suspected Tamsin was in for the long haul when she asked Rhonda if Atticus had any brothers or sisters. It was the ideal moment to bail out. Turning over I whispered “Rhonda I am going to sleep, goodnight” followed by a further “goodnight” from Patience. Rhonda had suddenly lost her audience.

It was Mr Crisis, our science teacher who on a fly-by of Earth from an unnamed universe whose people have been traversing the galaxies, universes and dimension-hopping as bolts of pure energy for the last 200,000 million years and was attracted to our primitive planet and decided to stay awhile, but I explained all this in another article. It was Mr Crisis that, using powers we do not understand, returned the ghosts of the Roman soldiers home that nightly wandered the corridors of Denham Hall that Rhonda and I had seen walking through the concert hall wall across the corridor and through the science room wall.

It was Tamsin who said quote “Imagine being marooned forever and an eternity in Rickmansworth. It doesn’t bear thinking about”. I will not dwell on these events it is very sad.

Mr Crisis had not made himself popular with Miss Pringle or Miss Sefton, the Head Mistress, when he accidentally took Rhonda off to Epsilon Bootis by mistake using a machine he had knocked up in the science lab but he is now been re-employed and is back on staff. Rhonda’s mother was hopping mad and really tore a strip off Mr Crisis over that debacle. You could tell she was not amused.

Today Miss Pringle was to take the sixth form girls to the Raven Castle near Plaxtol Mill for a history lesson. Lord Beauchamp said he would provide afternoon refreshments at no extra charge. I should explain Raven Castle was originally a Roman fort and when the Romans left it had been gifted for services rendered by Cedric King of Wessex to one of his generals something like 1,500 years ago.

Many years later it was restored and acquired by an early ancestor of the Beauchamp’s, a man named Hagar the Bold which completely contradicts Rhonda’s version which she said was gifted to a Freeman by the name of Ethelbert the Unready. Hagar the Bold being the apothecary to King Henry 8th and was the first to experiment using drugs to help alleviate King Henry’s painful gout.

Miss Pringle glared crossly at Tamsin when she overheard her querulously announce “I didn’t realize Henry was ON drugs”.

The assembled girls boarded the school bus for the short ride to Raven Castle. Arriving at the castle they were met by the man himself, Lord Beauchamp in full country outfit wearing riding breeches and carrying a whip, or is that a crop? His secretary led the girls into an ante room and gave them a potted history of the castle and a free souvenir brochure then led them into the huge library.

Tamsin’s first impressions of the ornate library were thinly disguised when she whispered “do you think we will get lemonade and cakes while we are here?” She had better pay attention or she would not be able to regale us with one of her famous lectures after lights out.

The tour culminated with a guide through the enormous picture gallery. There Lord Beauchamp introduced paintings of his ancestors. In pride of place hung a very large portrait of Hagar the Bold looking very grand and holding a bottle with something in it. We were all suitably impressed. To Tamsin’s delight there was lemonade and cakes for the girls for afternoon tea. Miss Pringle said we could roam the picture gallery for the next quarter of an hour before returning to college.

Phaedra, Rhonda and I went back to the table specially set up in the library to see if there was any cake left but there wasn’t. A couple of minutes later Tamsin rushed in. She said excitedly “Quick! Quick come and see what I have found in the picture gallery”. We followed Tamsin back to the now-empty picture gallery. “See the painting of Hagar the Bold and his dog? Well I tapped on the wall to see if it was made of plywood or whatever and look what happened. I will do it again, look, watch.”

She knocked twice on the mahogany wood paneling and about a foot below the painting, a small disguised draw appeared as if by magic. “OOER look” cried Phaedra.

In the small draw was a small heavily illuminated manuscript. Phaedra withdrew it and turned the pages. There was a gasp from the girls. It was the long lost ‘Rickmansworth Codex’. It was the official Roman manuscript of the naming of the town by Atticus Romulus, a Roman general of the invading army.

It showed when the Roman divisions left England it was decided if there was to be a name change. The choice was to be between retaining the Anglo Saxon name of Iolanthus or a name change to the Roman name Rickmansworth. The manuscript showed beyond doubt the name Rickmansworth was officially recognized in the year 400 AD.

Tamsin said, “Shall we tell Lord Beauchamp or Miss Pringle?” We told Miss Pringle. It was she who informed Lord Beauchamp. Phaedra pointed out that the Rickmansworth Council might even declare another public holiday and we might get an extra day off.

The concert hall was agog with excitement, packed with the students, teachers, parents, and council luminaries. Tamsin, Rhonda, Phaedra and I stood on the stage. There were lovely things said about us and Miss Pringle actually smiled at us.

The town mayoress, who is the mother of Candice, one my friends at Denham Hall, confirmed there will be a special day each year reserved to commemorate the finding of the lost Rickmansworth Codex. There was a reporter from the Sun Newspaper and the finding of the Codex even made it on the BBC national news. Being the heroine Tamsin was surrounded by reporters. Her parents had motored down from Loch Awe to witness this very historic event.

If it was not for Tamsin the illuminated manuscript, The Rickmansworth Codex, would have remained hidden forever or an eternity, whichever is the longer. I don’t think we will be listening much to Rhonda for the next few days but rather to Tamsin and the story of her exciting find at Raven Castle. The college was given the keys to Raven Castle by Lord Beauchamp, whatever that means, in appreciation for the huge free publicity. Later he was forced to take on another two staff and a gardener to cope with the huge numbers of Japanese tourists. The history books will have to be rewritten.

Rickmansworth had come of age.