Potters Crouch is a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

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, south-west 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 ...

near Chiswell Green. It is in the civil parish of St Michael.

History

It is believed by historians that the area around Potters Crouch was originally a part of the

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caes ...

town of

Verulamium Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. The major ancient Roman route Watling Street passed through the city, but was realigned in medieval times to bring trad ...

following evidence of 1st century AD Roman debris being found in the area. The name of Potters Crouch is believed to have originated in the 13th century as the home of a potter working in the area. It is speculated that this potter was Richard Le Pottere, who was succeeded by his son William Pottere in the trade. In 1344, it was referred to as Le Pottercrouch. The village was originally owned by the Earls of Verulam until 1931 when it was handed over to The Crown and managed as part of The

Crown Estates The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

. Since 1977, Potters Crouch and its surrounding area was formally designated a conservation area by St Albans City and District council. The village is served by the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

. In 2012, it was revealed that Potters Crouch had a problem with water pressure following a fire in the same year whereby the Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service required use of the local water supply, which led to a lower quality of water services provided to local houses.

Pub

Potters Crouch has a pub, the Holly Bush, which was constructed in the 17th century. It became 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 ...

in 1981. The pub has been featured in the Good Pub Guide several times as well as in other pub guides, which have also promoted visiting Potters Crouch.

References

{{reflist Hamlets in Hertfordshire City of St Albans