Clothall is a village and

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 the

North Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth Garden City and the largest town is Hitchin. The district also includes the towns of Baldock and Royston ...

district of

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. The small village stands on a ridge of high ground south-east of Baldock. The parish extends from the fringes of Baldock in the north to the hamlet of Luffenhall in the south. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 155.

History

The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was built of flint and stone around 1350–70. though parts of the church are older, dating to the 12th century.

Governance

There are two elected tiers of local government covering Clothall, at

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

level: 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 council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

Due to its low population, Clothall has a

parish meeting A parish meeting is a meeting all the electors in a civil parish in England are entitled to attend. In some cases, where a parish or group of parishes has fewer than 200 electors, the parish meeting can take on the role of a parish council, with ...

comprising all residents instead of an elected parish council. Although the name of the parish is just Clothall, the district council refers to the parish meeting as "Clothall and Luffenhall Parish Meeting". Parish meetings are held at the village hall on Ashanger Lane. The parish historically included an area of

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

lying immediately east of Baldock. This area was developed in the 1980s as the Clothall Common housing estate; it was removed from Clothall parish in 1985.

Notable people

* Thomas Stanley (1625–1678) was baptised at Clothall and lived at Cumberlow Manor, which was at the south-eastern end of Clothall parish, near the boundary with

Rushden Rushden is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district, in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, around east of Northampton. The parish is on the border with Bedfordshire, north of B ...

References

Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire District {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub