Datchworth 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 ...

between the towns of

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

in the county 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. Sited on the

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

from

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

to Puckeridge, the village has examples of

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

clearings in several locations. Datchworth has a village green where there are two pubs (The Plough and The Tilbury) and a sports club. In the 2001 Census the population was 1,065, increasing to 1,524 at the 2011 Census.

Origins

The name Datchworth is thought to originate from a Saxon lord called ''Daecca'' (pronounced Datcher), who settled here around the year 700 AD. 'Worth' comes hig'', which means

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

History

The arrival of the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

gave Datchworth a written record in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. This included an account of the occupants and land values in the 11th century. Standing at the eastern side of Datchworth Green is the whipping post. Its last recorded use was on 27 July 1665 when two ' vagabonds' were publicly flogged.

Stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

stood near the post too, but there is no trace of them now. The stocks are thought to have been removed in 1899, however, there are stocks located close to All Saints' Church. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the last enemy-action incident of any kind on British soil occurred at 09:00 on 29 March 1945 when a

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

struck a nearby field in Woolmer Green Another landed at Iwade in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, an hour later, after being hit by anti-aircraft fire. The Datchworth Museum contains a collection of local artefacts. Located in a former smithy, the museum operates a limited opening schedule, being accessible from 2.00 p:m until 4.30 p:m on the third Sunday of every month. In 2022, the museum recorded a total of 30 visitors, making it the second least-visited tourist attraction in England.

Notable people

* Barry Norman — and his novelist wife Diana Narracott

Notes

References

External links

Datchworth website
Civil parishes in Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire District Military history of Hertfordshire V-weapons Villages in Hertfordshire {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub