Jersey Farm is a residential neighbourhood in the

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 ...

Sandridge Sandridge is a village and civil parish between the city centre of St Albans ( to the south-west) and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England, forming part of the contiguous built-up area of St Albans. History The original name was "Saundruag ...

centred north-east of the city centre of

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 ...

. It is contiguous with one other settlement, which is larger and has two schools, Marshalswick to the west and south-west and otherwise adjoins fields and farms.

History and geography

The area was converted from cultivated fields into a residential estate in the 1970s, and as such many of the properties are more modern than in the city centre. Local amenities include a pub, small shops and a community centre. It was named after the local farm house which sat close to the current shops. This name was not that old as it changed in the 60s; before that it was known as Evans farm. Its elevations range from 110 metres in the north-west to 77 metres above sea level in the south-east just above a source of a small tributary of the

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...

Economy

Jersey farm has one pub - The Blackberry Jack, a

Chinese takeaway A Chinese restaurant is a restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine. Most of them are in the Cantonese style, due to the history of the Chinese diaspora, though other regional cuisines such as Sichuan cuisine and Hakka cuisine are also common ...

, a

fish and chips Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of batter (cooking), battered and fried fish, served with French fries, chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, ...

take away, a combined coffee shop and barber shop - ‘H and Co’, as well as a branch of

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

Express (including a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

), a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

, an

Indian Restaurant Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally av ...

'Bengal Spice', and a

hair salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas. Beauty treatments Hair cut is generally o ...

'Ro Ko Ko'. The local secondary school is

Sandringham School Sandringham School is a secondary school with academy status in Marshalswick, St Albans, Hertfordshire. It was established in 1988 following a merger of two local schools, Marshalswick School and Wheathampstead School. It occupies the former M ...

Governance

Jersey Farm has its own Residents Association (JFRA) which arranges a number of yearly events such as a Fireworks display and Christmas Party for the children of Jersey Farm. Members of the Jersey Farm Residents Association are also provided with a quarterly newsletter, detailing community news and events.

Culture

The pub used a local competition to name it, "Blackberry Jack" being the winning entry. According to the entry Blackberry Jack was a local tramp who lived in "camps" in the blackberry bushes around the local fields. In fact his name was Bill or William; he never told anyone his last name. He was known to travel to London and north to Norfolk. "Jack" or John was another tramp who had the same white coat and spent most of the time drunk between St Albans and Borehamwood. Jersey Farm hosts a weekly

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...

, one of only three on the UK mainland beginning with the letter J so attracts many parkrun tourists doing the alphabet challenge.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Jersey Farm * https://web.archive.org/web/20070831110856/http://www.communigate.co.uk/herts/jerseyfarmstalbans/
Jersey Farm Community Centre
City of St Albans