Sarratt is both a village and a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in Three Rivers District,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. It is situated north of

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximately north-west of central London, south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal ( ...

on high ground near the county boundary with

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. The

chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water easily percolates through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

, the

River Chess The River Chess is a chalk stream that rises near Chesham in the Chiltern Hills in England, and flows for through Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire to its confluence with the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne in Rickmansworth. The Che ...

, rising just north of

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...

, passes through Sarratt Bottom in the valley to the west of the village to join the River Colne in Rickmansworth. The conditions offered by the river are perfect for the cultivation of

watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family, Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Eurasia. It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetabl ...

. Sarratt has the only commercially operating watercress farm in Hertfordshire. The valley to the east of Sarratt is dry.

Church and chapel

The parish church of Sarratt is the ''Church of the Holy Cross''. Founded , construction is flint-and-brick built with, reputedly, reused Roman tiles. From the 17th century a large linear village developed nearly away. Nowadays, this area is referred to as Sarratt Green and the area around the church is known as Church End. The village also included a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Chapel and an independent Providence Mission Hall; both closed and converted into private residences.

Motorway

When the M25 London orbital motorwaywidened in 2011 to eight lanes (four each way). Where it passes Sarratt, it is less than distant at its nearest point, the bridge carrying Sarratt Road. Junction 18 (M25) is on the Chorleywood Road (the A404) only by road from the village.

Schools

Sarratt's Church of England school, situated near the junction of Church Lane and The Green, is the village's primary school with 160170 pupils. In December 2015

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

inspected the school and judged it to be ''good'' across the board, having been rated ''inadequate'' since December 2014. Sarratt Ducklings, an independent pre-school for children aged from 2 to 4, located in the grounds of Sarratt Primary School, is a registered charity. It was judged outstanding by Ofsted in 2015.

Fiction and filming

In some of the early novels of

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...

, Sarratt is the location of a fictional agent-training school and interrogation centre for the British foreign intelligence service, which is nicknamed 'the Nursery'. Le Carré and Mikhail Lyubimov, a former KGB colonel, contributed to a book published by Village Books in 1999 as a fund-raiser for village charities titled, ''Sarratt and the Draper of Watford''. Sarratt has been used as a location in television and film productions, including: * '' Murder Most Foul'' (1964 film) with

Margaret Rutherford Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, film and television. Rutherford came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit (1945 f ...

Miss Marple Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...

* ''Tightrope'' (ATV, 1971) children's espionage series written by

Victor Pemberton Victor Francis Pemberton (10 October 1931 – 13 August 2017) was a British writer and television producer. His scriptwriting work included BBC radio plays, and television scripts for the BBC and ITV, including ''Doctor Who'', '' The Slide'', ...

* ''

Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of ...

'' (1994 film) * '' The Demon Headmaster'' (BBC TV) second series of children's drama series * ''Just William'' (BBC TV) children's drama series * '' The Woman In Black'' (1989 film) * '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' (2011 film) * '' Pudsey the Dog: The Movie'' (2014 film) * '' All the Money in the World'' (2017 film)

Notable people

* Sydney Valentine, actor, lived at Pear Tree Cottage, Sarratt.

Freedom of the Parish

People and military units who have received the Freedom of the Parish of Sarratt. * Carol Chorley: 10 December 2019.

References

External links

'Parishes: Sarratt', A History of the County of Hertford
Date accessed: 29 December 2006.
Holy Cross Church Website
{{authority control Three Rivers District Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire