Digswell
Digswell is an ancient village and former parish in the English county of Hertfordshire which is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. The population of the urban area of Digswell in the 2011 Census was 1,632. Digswell's name may be derived from Deacon's Well. There were two manors, with two water mills, much land under plough, and a large area of woodland. From 1835 the parish of Digswell was included in the Welwyn Poor Law Union, and from 1894 the parish was part of the Welwyn Rural District. The 1911 census recorded the parish of Digswell as covering and having a population of 401. The small village of Digswell comprised the parish church of St John the Evangelist (13th century, much altered), the 19th century Digswell House (built on the site of a much earlier residence) and a few nearby houses. There were other small hamlets in the parish, notably at Digswell Water on the River Mimram. The parish of Digswell also included Welwyn railway station which opened in 1850 on t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Digswell House
Digswell House is a Grade II listed Mansion in Hertfordshire, erected c. 1805–07 by Samuel Wyatt for the Honourable Edward Spencer Cowper, who lived there for some years. It was built in the parish of Digswell from which it takes its name, but was transferred to Welwyn Garden City in 1921. The house is now in the Knightsfield area of Welwyn Garden City.Richard J Busby 'The Book of Welwyn' Barracuda Books Third Edition 1983 The current house was erected a little eastward of the site on which its predecessor had stood and was built as a commodious country gentleman's home, in an architectural style that can best be described as neoclassical. A portico, with four massive Ionic columns, on the south front is its most impressive external feature. History Before 1785 An old manor house west of the present-day Digswell House was built by Sir John Peryent in the early 15th century. The old manor house was subsequently inhabited by the families of Peryent, Horsey, Sedley and Shal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Digswell Arts Trust
Digswell Arts Trust was the brainchild of Henry Morris, a pioneering educationalist. Through his enthusiasm, dedication and influence he persuaded the Government and the Welwyn Garden City Development Corporation to establish a Trust for professional artists in Welwyn Garden City, England. It was formally inaugurated by Countess Mountbatten on 29 May 1957. Early years Digswell House, a decayed Regency mansion with cottages and outbuildings on the edge of Welwyn Garden City, was the first home of the Trust. The house was leased to the Trust to provide accommodation and studios for artists at a modest rent. The first artists moved in at the end of 1957 and over the next 27 years nearly 150 were accommodated there. Some, including Michael Andrews, Ralph Brown, John Brunsdon, James Butler, Peter Collingwood, Hans Coper, Lol Coxhill, Elizabeth Fritsch and John W Mills have become internationally famous. Many other distinguished people including - Henry Moore, Herbert Read, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Welwyn North Railway Station
Welwyn North railway station serves the villages of Digswell and Welwyn in Hertfordshire, England. The station is located north of London King's Cross, on the East Coast Main Line. Train services are currently provided by Thameslink. Location Although the station is north of Welwyn Garden City, the village of Welwyn is about west in the modern district of Digswell, which in 1865 was known as High Welwyn and is shown on maps of that period. It is still called High Welwyn as Digswell Parish was dissolved in 1926 when it became absorbed into Welwyn Garden City. Just to the south of the station the line passes over the Digswell Viaduct, and to the north through two tunnels. This section (between Digswell Junction to the south of the viaduct and Woolmer Green) is a significant bottleneck where four lines are reduced to two. History Construction of the station and viaduct began in 1848 and the line was opened in 1850 as part of the Great Northern Railway. It was called Welw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Welwyn Rural District
Welwyn Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the centre of the county. Evolution Welwyn Poor Law Union had been created in 1835 following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, centred on the small town of Welwyn. The population of the union at the time was less than 2,000 people, making it one of the smallest unions in the country. Under the Public Health Act 1872, sanitary districts were created, and the boards of guardians of poor law unions were made responsible for public health and local government for any part of their district not included in an urban authority. As the Welwyn Poor Law Union had no urban authorities, the Welwyn Rural Sanitary District covered the same area as the poor law union, and both were governed by the Welwyn Board of Guardians. Under the Local Government Act 1894, rural sanitary districts became rural districts from 28 December 1894. The link with the poor law union continued, with al ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Digswell Viaduct
The Digswell Viaduct, also called Welwyn Viaduct, is a railway viaduct that carries the East Coast Main Line over the River Mimram in the county of Hertfordshire in England. A prominent local landmark, it is located between Welwyn Garden City and Digswell. It is just to the south of Welwyn North railway station. The viaduct, of 40 arches, is a Grade II* listed structure. It was the longest and tallest viaduct on the Great Northern Railway's route. The viaduct is around long and comprises forty arches of span, and it is high from ground level to trackbed. It is built of red brick fired from clay quarried on site during construction, and took two years to build, including the construction of embankments at both ends which required the movement of around one million tons of earth by human and horse power. It was designed by William Cubitt and styled after a Roman aqueduct. It has been claimed that it was officially opened by Queen Victoria on 6 August 1850, but she was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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River Mimram
The River Mimram is a river in Hertfordshire, England. Geography The river valley known locally as the Mimram Valley is named after the River Mimram, which rises from a spring to the north-west of Whitwell, in North Hertfordshire, England, and makes its confluence with the River Lea near Horn's Mill in Hertford. At Whitwell there are watercress beds which have existed since Roman times and these are fed by the same springs. The valley extends northwards where it becomes known as Lilley Bottom. Other sections of the valley are known as Kimpton Bottom and Codicote Bottom. After flowing through Whitwell, Kimpton Mill (where the Mimram is joined by the River Kym) and Codicote Bottom, the river flows through the middle of Welwyn village before heading between the modern and older Digswell settlements, and then running cross-country until it reaches the River Lea at Hertford. Although a dry valley to the north, it has been known in particularly wet years for the River Mimram to be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Welwyn
Welwyn is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands, Hertfordshire, Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to distinguish it from the much newer and larger settlement of Welwyn Garden City, about a mile to the south. Etymology The name is derived from Old English ''welig'' meaning "willow", referring to the trees that nestle on the banks of the River Mimram as it flows through the village. The name itself is an evolution from ''weligun'', the dative form of the word, and so is more precisely translated as "at the willows", unlike nearby Willian, Hertfordshire, Willian which is likely to mean simply "the willows". Through having its name derived from ''welig'' rather than ''sealh'' (the more commonly cited Old English word for ''willow''), ''Welwyn'' is possibly cognate with ''Heligan estate, Heligan'' in Cornwall whose name is derived from ''h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ron Pickering
Ronald James Pickering (4 May 1930 – 13 February 1991) was an athletics coach and BBC sports commentator. Biography Pickering was born in Hackney. His father was a sign fixer. He became head boy at West Ham Secondary School (later to become Stratford Grammar School and now Stratford School) when the head girl was future wife Jean Desforges. She won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1950 European Athletics Championships, a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki (and was fifth in the 80 metres hurdles), a gold medal in the long jump at the 1954 European Athletics Championships, and bronze medals in both the long jump and 80 metres hurdles at the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver. She married Pickering in 1954. He did national service in the King's Own Royal Regiment, and studied for a diploma in physical education at Carnegie College of Physical Education in Leeds and then a master's degree in education at Leicester Uni ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sherrardspark Wood
Sherrardspark Wood () is a 74.9 hectare (185.1 acre) biological site of Special Scientific Interest in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. The site was notified in 1986 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. There are a number of walks through the wood, one of which follows the disused Luton/Dunstable branch line from Welwyn Garden City railway station. This line closed in the 1970s and runs from the White Bridge on Digswell Road west and then north to the Great North Road next to the A1(M) motorway, close to the Red Lion pub. The trail continues from Ayot St Peter on the other side of the motorway along Ayot Greenway. Sherrardspark Wood is in the north west of Welwyn Garden City and is an ancient woodland consisting mainly of Sessile oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an un ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Cubitt
Sir William Cubitt FRS (bapt. 9 October 1785 – 13 October 1861) was an eminent English civil engineer and millwright. Born in Norfolk, England, he was employed in many of the great engineering undertakings of his time. He invented a type of windmill sail and the prison treadwheel, and was employed as chief engineer, at Ransomes of Ipswich, before moving to London. He worked on canals, docks, and railways, including the South Eastern Railway and the Great Northern Railway. He was the chief engineer of Crystal Palace erected at Hyde Park in 1851. He was president of the Institution of Civil Engineers between 1850 and 1851. Early life Cubitt was born in Dilham, Norfolk, the son of Joseph Cubitt of Bacton Wood, a miller, and Hannah Lubbock. He attended the village school. His father moved to Southrepps, and William at an early age was employed in the mill, but in 1800 was apprenticed to James Lyon, a cabinet-maker at Stalham, from whom he parted after four years. At Bacton ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Graham Richard James
Graham Richard James (born 19 January 1951) is a retired British Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Norwich in the Church of England from 1999 to 2019. Early life and education James was born in Bideford, Devon, England, to the Revd Lionel and Florence James. He was educated at Northampton Grammar School, an all-boys school in Northampton. He studied at the University of Lancaster, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in history in 1972. He trained for ordination at Cuddesdon Theological College from 1972 to 1975, and studied theology at the University of Oxford, completing a diploma in 1974. Ordained ministry James was ordained deacon at Michaelmas 1975 (21 September) and priest the next Michaelmas (26 September 1976), both times by Douglas Feaver, Bishop of Peterborough, at Peterborough Cathedral. He was assistant curate of Christ the Carpenter Church, Dogsthorpe from 1975 to 1978. From there he moved to Christ the King, Digswell, from 1979 to 1983, became a mem ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, and 39,201 at the 2011 Census. The settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, home of the Marquess of Salisbury, forms the nucleus of the old town. From the 1930s when de Havilland opened a factory until the 1990s when British Aerospace closed it, aircraft design and manufacture employed more people there than any other industry. Hatfield was one of the post-war New Towns built around London and has much modernist architecture from the period. The University of Hertfordshire is based there. Hatfield lies north of London beside the A1(M) motorway and has direct trains to London King's Cross railway station, Finsbury Park and Moorgate. There has been a strong increase in commuters who work in London moving into the area. In 2022, TV property expert Phil Spencer named Hatfield as the second best place to live for regular commuters to Lo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |