Lemsford is a village in

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. It is located close to

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 ...

and Hatfield and is in the Hatfield Villages Ward of the Borough of Welwyn Hatfield. Both 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 ...

and the early Great North Road (before it was diverted east of the village) pass through Lemsford, which was once a major coaching stop for wagons and horses commuting in and out of London. The nature reserve

Lemsford Springs Lemsford Springs is a 4 hectare nature reserve in Lemsford, Hertfordshire, England. It is managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, which purchased the site in 1970. Notable for its lagoons, the site is in the Lea valley and its other h ...

is located nearby, a vital sanctuary for rare birds such as the

Green sandpiper The green sandpiper (''Tringa ochropus'') is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World. The green sandpiper represents an ancient lineage of the genus ''Tringa''; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (''T. solitaria''). The ...

. Lemsford is also well-known in the area for its traditional English country Fete, held each

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

Bank Holiday at St. John's School and Church. Activities include maypole dancing, raffles and live music.

History

The parish was created in 1858 out of the parish of Bishop's Hatfield. However, the settlement is older.

Buildings of interest

Lemsford Mill

Lemsford Mill is a

Grade II listed 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, H ...

19th-century structure on the

. It probably occupies the site of one of four mills at Hatfield which were recorded 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 ...

in 1086. It is now the headquarters of Ramble Worldwide, formerly known as Ramblers Walking Holidays, having been refurbished to provide office accommodation. The mill features a

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...

which generates electricity. The building was both regional and national winner of the British Council for Offices awards 2007 in the ‘small project’ category. The site by the mill was expanded to build The Mill Race, a small group of business units adjacent to the mill.

Brocket Hall and Lemsford church

In the 19th century when Lemsford became a separate parish,

Brocket Hall Brocket Hall is a Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical English country house, country house set in a large park at the western side of the urban area of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The estate is equipped with two golf cour ...

, which is on the edge of Lemsford, was part of the Cowper estates. The church was erected in 1859 as a memorial to the sixth Earl Cowper. It is Early English and Decorated in style, with a good east window, the latter also dedicated to the memory of the earl. The tower (west) is lofty and embattled.

Bridge House

Bridge House is a grand house in the village located next to The Sun pub. The house dates back to at least 1807 and was double-fronted, subsequently being extended by new owners. Listed owners of the house include Edmund Whittingstall in 1832 and William Lams in 1851. It is a grade II listed building.

The Sun Inn pub

The first time the Sun Inn is mentioned as an ale house is in 1717. It is the sole surviving pub in Lemsford following the closure of The Long and Short Arm in 2023. The Lemsford Local History Group researches and curates the history of Lemsford and surrounding areas.

People from Lemsford

Stephen Ward Stephen Thomas Ward (19 October 1912 – 3 August 1963) was an English osteopath and artist who was one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British political scandal which brought about the resignation of John Profumo, the Sec ...

, osteopath and a significant figure in the

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s. John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model ...

of 1963, was born at Lemsford in 1912. His father was the vicar of Lemsford.

References

External links

Pictures of Lemsford
(A Guide to Old Hertfordshire) Villages in Hertfordshire Hydroelectricity in England Watermills mentioned in the Domesday Book {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub