Turnford is a village in the

Borough of Broxbourne The Borough of Broxbourne is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Cheshunt. Other settlements in the borough include Br ...

, 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, in an area generally known as the Lee Valley. It is bounded by Wormley to the north,

Cheshunt Cheshunt (/ˈtʃɛzənt/ CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, situated within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London. The town lies on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering th ...

to the south and west, and its eastern boundary is formed largely by the

Lee Navigation The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and i ...

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

is approximately south. At the 2001 census, together with Wormley, the village had a population of 8,146 in 3,399 households.

History

Turnford lies in a site where evidence of

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

relics have been recorded. By the late

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

period the village existed as a farm belonging to the manor of Cheshunt. A

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nunnery A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...

was established in the 12th century on Turnford Marsh. Part of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

buildings survived within a farm until gravel quarrying destroyed the remains in 1955. Turnford remained a

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 ...

up to the 19th century until the nursery industry began to move out of

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

in the 1880s. Growers including Thomas Rochford grew grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers and other items. By the late 20th century this industry had moved away to be replaced by housing estates where ''Thomas Rochford Way'' and ''Rochford Close'' are a reminder of the area's

horticultural Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

past.Archaeology data service
Retrieved 22 November 2012

Etymology

The name Turnford appears to have Saxon origins and is probably a compound of

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 ...

''tun'' and '' ford'' - the ford by the farm.

The village today

Much of Turnford due to its good transport links and close proximity to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

is given over to residential development. However, its western boundary is mostly rural and to the east includes the

Turnford and Cheshunt Pits The Turnford and Cheshunt Pits is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Cheshunt in Hertfordshire and Essex and covers a total of 428.17 acres (173.28 ha).SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

located in the

Lee Valley Park Lee Valley Regional Park is a long linear park, much of it green spaces, running through the northeast of Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire. The park follows the course of the River Lea (Lee) along the Lea Valley from Ware in Hertfords ...

. Amenities include a selection of retail outlets, essential services, two

public houses A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

including the

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 ...

''Bull's Head Inn''. and is home to

Haileybury Turnford Haileybury Turnford (formerly Turnford School) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Turnford, Hertfordshire, England. Previously a community school administered by Hertfordshire County Council, in September 2015 Turn ...

(formerly Turnford School) and the Hertford Regional College. In 2014, the area of Wormley & Turnford was awarded £1m from the Big Local Trust to invest in the community over the next 10 years. Completely resident volunteer led, it will enable locals to regenerate their community.

Watercourses

Passing under the A10 road from west to east Turnford Brook a

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 ...

tributary flows in a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

alongside the High Road, Turnford before flowing under the West Anglia railway line to merge with the Small River Lea in the River Lee Country Park. Accessed from the New River Path the Turnford Pumping Station built in 1870 stands close to the man-made New River. The building houses a unique stationary

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

built by

Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engl ...

in 1845. Forming a boundary between Hertfordshire and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

the Lee Navigation flows in a southerly direction on Turnford's eastern fringe. Pedestrian and cycle access from the B176, Cheshunt Wash links to the towpath of the river to join the Lee Valley Walk.

Public transport

West Anglia Main Line The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main line railways that operate out of (the other being the Great Eastern Main Line to Ipswich and Norwich). It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and ...

railway stations

and

Broxbourne Broxbourne is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, England, with a population of 15,303 at the 2011 Census.Broxbourne Town population 2011 It is located to the south of Hoddesdon and to the north of Cheshunt, north of London. ...

are both approximately distant. Several bus routes serve Turnford including 310, 310A, 410. There are plans to open a new railway station in Turnford. As part of the Broxbourne Local Plan by the Borough of Broxbourne and Hertfordshire County Council, ''"the proposed station would rovideaccess to Hertford Regional College and also serve the Brookfield development. The new station is proposed to be located at a site between the Regional College and Groom Road, with access provided from the Turnford High Road/The Springs roundabout through the college car park and along the undeveloped strip of land between Robinia Road/Sorbus Road to the north and Landau Way/Tarpan Way to the South."'' The plans also include the opening of Park Plaza North station between Turkey Street and Theoblads Grove, and the four-tracking of the West Anglia Main Line.

Governance

The village together with Wormley form one of ten

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

s in the Broxbourne constituency.Wormley and Turnford ward
Retrieved 15 November 2012

Notable people

Footballer

Ossie Ardiles Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), more commonly known as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former player. A competitive and skilled midfielder, Ardiles became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddl ...

lived in the village whilst playing for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the 1970s and 1980s.

References

{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire