Therfield is both a small village of approximately 4,761 acres (19 km²) 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

which sits upon the chalk range, three miles southwest of

Royston Royston may refer to: Places Australia *Royston, Queensland, a rural locality Canada * Royston, British Columbia, a small hamlet England *Royston, Hertfordshire, a town and civil parish, formerly partly in Cambridgeshire * Royston, South Yorks ...

, and six miles (10 km) northeast of Baldock and within the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

Brief history

Ancient history

The name Therfield is a variation of ''Tharfield'' and anciently ''Þurreweld''. It is a theophoric placename referring to Thunor and means either 'Thunor's Field' or 'Thunor's High place", from the same Germanic root that gives 'veldt'. The village was inhabited long before the

Anglo Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

came: the

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, wi ...

runs through it, and

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

barrows have been found on Therfield Heath.

Today

Today Therfield is known as a very small village that is locally famous for its church, chapel and pub. The Nature Reserve of Therfield Heath lies a mile to the north of the village. From here on a clear day it is possible to see the Cathedral of Ely, over twenty miles to the north. The Icknield Way Path passes through the village on its 110-mile journey from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk.

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

In Therfield the Church of St Mary the Virgin has stood the test of time. The most recent building was completed in 1878 and it replaced the church that had existed since the 13th Century which fell into such disrepair that it was in danger of collapsing. When it was replaced, the windows, pulpit and font were removed from the old church and built into the new structure. The tower contains six bells dating from 1597, 1608, 1626, 1656, 1689 with the most recent from 1707. For years these bells were not used and worship services were marked by the ringing of a bell dated 1862 that hung from a tree in a nearby field. The church register dates from the year 1538. Francis Turner (bishop) was buried here in the chancel in 1700. The church's original Stuart royal arms survives, and is unusual in that the inscription on the Garter is partly misspelt.

Therfield Chapel

Therfield Chapel was established as a congregation of Protestant dissenters (the "Independents") in 1836. The current Chapel was built subsequently, in 1854, and the Church eventually became known as Therfield Congregational Church, being affiliated to the Congregational Union who acted as trustees for the Church property. When in 1966 the Congregational Union was replaced by a body which espoused more liberal views, the Chapel seceded and became affiliated first to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), and then to the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches (EFCC). In 1965, Allon Taffs was ordained as Pastor, after serving the church as Secretary/informal leader for some 10 years before. He remained until May 1993. After a period of interregnum, during which time the church was cared for and led by the elders and deacons, the Rev Mark Kingston was appointed as Pastor in August 1997. He served the church until he resigned in July 2002. Andrew Carter was appointed as Pastor in February 2006 until January 2016. In May 2016, Joshua Jones was appointed and currently serves as Pastor.

Governance

Therfield has three tiers of local government at parish, district and county level: Therfield Parish Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, and

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, ...

. Therfield is an

ancient 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

, and it was part of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

Odsey Odsey is a hamlet in Cambridgeshire close to the border with Hertfordshire and near the town of Baldock. It contains a hotel and has a main-line railway station ( Ashwell and Morden) which services the three closest villages: Ashwell, Steeple M ...

. Therfield was included in the

Poor Law Union from 1835. The

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

created

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

and district councils. Therfield Parish Council came into being on 13 December 1894, taking over the secular functions of the parish

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, and the parish of Therfield was included in

Ashwell Rural District Ashwell Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1935, covering an area in the north-east of the county. Evolution The district had its origins in the Royston Rural Sanitary District. This had been created u ...

from 28 December 1894. Despite the name, Ashwell Rural District Council was based in the town of

. Ashwell Rural District was abolished in 1935, becoming part of

Hitchin Rural District Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county. Evolution The district had its origins in the Hitchin Rural Sanitary District. This had been created under ...

, which in turn was abolished in 1974, becoming part of

North Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the amalgamation of the urban districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Roysto ...

Castle

Therfield contains the scheduled ruins of a motte and bailey castle. The fortification was most likely constructed in 1143-44 and was

slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...

before it was finished. It seems that it did or would have connected to a further embankment surrounding the original part of Therfield. The Castle is owned by Tuthill Farm and it was excavated in 1958 by a team led by Martin Biddle when the owner informed the Ministry of Works that he intended to bulldoze the site. The farmer was dissuaded from damaging the motte but most of the baily was levelled in 1960.

References

External links

History and pictures of Therfield. Hagg*r One Name Study ProjectHagger Genealogy Library
{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire