Thundridge 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 ...

in the

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 ...

district, in the county of

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 about two miles away from the town of

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 ...

and about seven miles away from the large 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 ...

, the county town of Hertfordshire.

Nearby settlements

Nearby villages include

Wadesmill Wadesmill is a Hamlet (place), hamlet in Hertfordshire, England, located on the north side of the River Rib, with an estimated population of 264. At the 2011 Census the population of the hamlet was included in the civil parish of Thundridge. Run ...

and Tonwell, and the hamlets of Cold Christmas and High Cross.

Transport

Road

Thundridge is on

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 ...

, which is a

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 ...

, and it was on the A10 road until it was by-passed in 2005, restoring it to a quiet village.

Rail

Ware is the nearest railway station. There was formerly a line in the Rib valley, the Buntingford branch line

Amenities

Thundridge has a primary school, along with three pubs in the shape of The Anchor, The Maltons (previously The Sow & Pigs), and The Feathers. The village also has a cricket team, along with Thundridge United Football Club, who play in the Hertford and District League 2.

History

The village of Thundridge was originally located about half a mile to the east of the current Thundridge location, also adjacent to the

River Rib The River Rib is a tributary of the River Lea, which runs from Buckland in Hertfordshire, England. It flows into the River Lea to the east of Hertford. Course The River Rib originates near the East Hertfordshire village of Buckland, Hertfords ...

. Thundridge derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''Þunres hrycg'' = "ridge belonging to the god Thunor or

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

". There are references to "Tonrich" 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 ...

with land being held by the Bishop of Bayeux and tenanted by Hugh de Grentmesnil, with the record indicating that there was a drop in the value of the land from 100 shillings to 40 shillings.Archaeological studies on the two manors of Ponsbourne & Newgate Street in the parish of Bishop's Hatfield, co. Herts; James William Carlile; Simson and Co (1907)Around Cold Christmas - A Personal History; Compiled by Emma Blowers (2nd Edition, 2010) There had however been civilised habitation in the area earlier than that, with both Roman and Saxon remains being found in the adjacent estate known as "Youngsbury" just a few hundred yards away from the old Thundridge location. With the 1826 improvement of the London to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

road that runs on the west side of the current Thundridge village location – formerly it had run a more crooked path through "Ermine" or "Back Street" in the village – there was an increased populous migration to the "new" location of Thundridge, adjacent to the main road. All that now remain of the old Thundridge location are the 15th-century church tower of the "Thundridge Old Church" of All Hallows and Little Saint Mary, and a few bricks from the chimney-stack of the Manorial home of Thundridgebury. In recent years, the Old Church has come under threat from vandalism, decay and an ecclesiastical desire to divest itself of the cost and liability of maintenance. The "Thundridge Old Church Action Group" (abbr. "TOCAG") is working to achieve some form of permanent protection. Thundridgebury was built during the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

, possibly by Henry Gardiner – the Gardiners being a family that became prominent in later years, and giving name to the nearby wood "Gardiner's Spring". The last inhabitants of Thundridgebury were the Hollingsworth family, they having rented it from Daniel Giles, who had in turn purchased it from the Gardiners. The house was dismantled in the early 19th century, as was subsequently the church in 1853, with only the chimney-stack and tower remaining respectively. According to local legend, the chimney stack was left standing in order to allow the owners to continue to collect rent, but a later local legend (which was correct) was that its presence allowed the owners to maintain a pew in the new Thundridge church – built in the "new" Thundridge location in 1851 and consecrated in 1853 – as technically the manorial land which had been absorbed into the Youngsbury estate when purchased by the Giles, now fell under the parish of Standon, the church for which was some 5 miles distant. So long as the chimney-stack remained however, the pew in the Thundridge church was kept available for the owners of the (now combined) property of Youngsbury.

References

External links

Thundridge Village Hall website

Thundridge Old Church website

Thundridge Village School website

Visitor UK website Thundridge Information

3D model of Thundridge Old Church
by Historic England via Sketchfab {{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire District