Hertford Heath 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 ...

near the county town 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 ...

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 population at the 2011 Census was 2,672.

Geography

It is located on a

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

above the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...

valley, on its south side. Almost all of the village is 90 metres (300 feet) above sea level, with most of the surrounding fields being arable farm land, or cattle and horse grazing.

History

Hertford Heath was once a settlement of the

Catuvellauni The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and thei ...

tribe, before

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

invaded in 54 BC. The original hamlet of Hertford Heath was the southern part of the modern village along London Road, and was in the parish of

Great Amwell Great Amwell is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is southeast of Ware and about north of London. In 2011 the parish had a population of 2353. History On a hill above t ...

. A separate village and parish called Little Amwell was centred on a village green a short distance to the north of Hertford Heath. During the twentieth century the urban areas of the two villages merged and the combined village became known generally as Hertford Heath. In 1956 builders laying concrete for the garages in Trinity Road, came across a Belgic grave from about the 40–50 AD period, early

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

pottery was discovered and remnants are available to view in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. More extensive historical facts can be foun
here
extrapolated from a note written by Esme Nix of Rush Green (an area nestled in the corner of Downfield Road, Hoe Lane, Gallows Hill and the A10, giving the service station and A10 junction its name.)

Governance

Hertford Heath is part of the

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 ...

East Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire is one of ten Non-metropolitan district, local government districts in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and th ...

and the county of

. The

of Hertford Heath was created on 1 April 1990 from the former parish of Little Amwell, which was abolished, and parts of the neighbouring parishes of

, Stanstead St Margarets, and

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

. The parish is administered by Hertford Heath Parish Council. Whilst the civil parish is called Hertford Heath, the ecclesiastical parish which covers the area is called "Holy Trinity, Little Amwell".

Historic amenities

* The Goat Inn at the junction of Vicarage Causeway and Downfield Road is the oldest building in the village, with cartography dating pre-1756 showing its location and existence. Local legend suggests that Dick Turpin may have patronised The Goat Inn. * The College Arms (formerly the Jolly Pindar, and prior to that, the East India College Arms – linked to the then

East India Company College The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, Hertfordshire, nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the East India Company. It provi ...

805 now

Haileybury College Haileybury is a co-educational public school (fee-charging boarding and day school for 11- to 18-year-olds) located in Hertford Heath, Hertfordshire. It is a member of the Rugby Group and enrols pupils at the 11+, 13+ and 16+ stages of edu ...

) is now a modern

gastropub A gastropub or gastro pub is a pub that serves food of high quality, with a nearly equal emphasis on eating and drinking. The term was coined in the 1990s in the United Kingdom. History The term ''gastropub'' (derived from gastronomy) was coi ...

The village has other modest amenities including a convenience store, public houses, eateries and a service station among others.

Schools

Hertford Heath Junior Mixed Infant (JMI) School caters for children from Nursery up to Year 6 (leavers for Secondary Education).

, a private boarding school (formerly the

805 Imperial Service College 845and United Services College 874 is on the south-east boundary of the village. It offers facilities to the village and public at large who are able, subject to availability, to use its modern sports complex which includes: * a 25-metre deck level indoor heated swimming pool * an 8-court badminton hall * 4 squash courts * all-weather surface (with floodlights) * a state-of-the-art fitness suite * 8 tennis courts (summer only)

Notable locations and buildings

* The Village Hall – plays host to events such as the local farmers' market and the Annual Horticultural Society show * Holy Trinity Church (Little Amwell) led by the Rev. Nick Sharp. It was built in 1863 to the design of

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery. He was Arch ...

in the

Early English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

style. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The church celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2013. *

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln ('' Lindum Colonia'') and York ('' Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earninga ...

, the former

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 London to York, runs from the rear of Hertford Heath Motors to Goose Green near

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

and onwards to London (it is now a

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...

to the South. The former route across the village through what is now Hogsdell Lane, on to Rush Green, has been bisected by the main route through Hertford Heath (B1197) and the development of housing across the village. * The Hertford Heath nature reserve and Balls Wood nature reserve cover nearly 80 hectares of surrounding countryside and woodland. Hertford Heath is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

, and both sites are managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. Balls Wood was purchased by the Trust from the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

following a successful campaign.

Notable residents

* Florence L. Barclay (1862-1921): a

romance novel A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and Romance (love), romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed ...

ist and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer. She was the wife of Reverend Charles W. Barclay, who was the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Holy Trinity from 1881 to 1920. *

Vera Barclay Vera Charlesworth Barclay (10 November 1893 – 19 September 1989) was an English scouting pioneer and writer. She was an early exponent of female leadership in the Scout movement and played a leading role in the introduction of the Wolf Cub pro ...

(1893–1989): the daughter of Florence and Charles Barclay. She was a pioneer of female leadership in the

Scout Movement Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including ...

and was instrumental in the establishment of the Wolf Cub programme in the United Kingdom and France. She later became a prolific author on a range of subjects, especially

children's stories A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

Freedom of the Parish

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Parish of Hertford Heath.

Individuals

* Frederick "Fred" Harrington. * Lilly Bean. * Gerald Nix: January 2000. * Robert "Bob" Akers.

References

External links

Hertford Heath Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire District