St Michael is a

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 ...

in the St Albans district 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. The parish is named after but no longer includes St Michael's Church in

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 ...

. Historically the parish covered part of the city (town before 1877) and the rural hinterland to the north-west of it. The parish was split in 1894 with the part outside the city becoming St Michael Rural, which was renamed St Michael in 1974. The main settlement in the modern parish is

Childwickbury Childwickbury is a hamlet in Hertfordshire, England, lying to the north of St Albans in the parish of St Michael. Childwickbury Manor was home to Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American fil ...

. The population in 2021 was 498.

History

St Michael was an

ancient 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 ...

. The parish church was St Michael's Church in

, one of three historic parish churches founded in Saxon times on the main roads leading into the town. Part of the parish was within the

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

of St Albans until 1894, when it was split to create St Michael Urban covering the parts within the borough (which included St Michael's Church and the surrounding area) and St Michael Rural outside. St Michael Rural became part of St Albans Rural District. Parts of St Michael Rural were transferred to the borough of St Albans in 1913 (138 acres) and 1935 (890 acres). On 1 April 1974 the parish of St Michael Rural was split, with the small part within the designated area for the

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

going to the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

Dacorum Dacorum is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council is based in Hemel Hempstead. The borough also includes the towns of Berkhamsted ...

and the remainder (the majority of the area) becoming the parish of St Michael in the St Albans district.

Geography

It comprises a wholly rural area to the west of

and is bounded on its western side by

. The parish is bisected 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 ...

. Settlement is dispersed across a number of small and isolated hamlets: *Appspond *Breakspears *Bushwood *

*Gorhambury *

Potters Crouch Potters Crouch is a small hamlet in Hertfordshire, England, south-west of St Albans 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 ...

Much of the parish is covered by the estates of two large country houses;

Childwickbury Manor Childwickbury Manor is a manor house in the hamlet of Childwickbury, Hertfordshire, England, between St Albans and Harpenden. History The Lomax family bought the house in 1666 and lived there until 1854 when Joshua Lomax sold it to Henry Hayma ...

to the east (home of film director

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

from 1978 until his death in 1999), and

Gorhambury House Gorhambury House is a Palladian architecture, Palladian-style house near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was built between 1777 and 1784 to replace Old Gorhambury House, which was left to fall into ruin. It was designed by Sir Robert Tayl ...

to the west, seat of the

Earls of Verulam Earl of Verulam is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for James Grimston, 4th Viscount Grimston. He was made Viscount Grimston (in the peerage of the United Kingdom) at the same time. Verulam had previously ...

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering St Michael, at parish, district and county level: St Michael Parish Council,

St Albans City and District Council St Albans (), also known as the City and District of St Albans, is a non-metropolitan district with both borough and city status in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in St Albans, the largest settlement in the district. The district a ...

and

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

. The parish council meets at the old school room adjoining St Mary's Church at Childwick Green.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire City of St Albans History of St Albans