Croxley Green is both a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

and a suburb of

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and ...

in Hertfordshire, England. It is also 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

. Located on the A412 between

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

to the northeast and Rickmansworth to the southwest, it is approximately northwest of central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Croxley Green has changed considerably in the years since

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...

built

paper mills A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

in the area. The area has grown into a semi-urban community, thanks to

Croxley tube station Croxley is a London Underground station located on Watford Road ( A412) in Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, on the Watford branch of the Metropolitan line. It is the only intermediate station on the branch between , on the main lin ...

on the Metropolitan line providing connections to

's West End at Baker Street and stations through to the City at

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,562. Croxley Green is a part of the UK Parliament constituency, South West Hertfordshire.

Gagan Mohindra Gagan Mohindra (born 7 April 1978) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the member of Parliament (MP) for South West Hertfordshire since the 2019 general election. Early life Mohindra was born into a Punjabi Hindu family in ...

is the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

since the December 2019 United Kingdom general election.

History

Croxley Green has a large

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

. The

Croxley Green Windmill Croxley Green Windmill is a Grade II listed tower mill at Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, England which has been converted to residential accommodation. History Croxley Green Windmill was built c1860. Isaac Watts was the miller in 1861. He was l ...

was built and survives today converted to residential accommodation. The Green holds an annual village fair, the "Revels on The Green", which includes a traditional maypole dance. The revels were featured in ''

Metro-land Metro-land (or Metroland) is a name given to the suburban areas that were built to the north-west of London in the counties of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Middlesex in the early part of the 20th century that were served by the Metropo ...

'', the 1973 television documentary by John Betjeman, who referred to them as a tradition dating back to 1952. Since 2006, the Parish Council has organised a firework display on The Green for New Year's Eve. In 1830,

built Croxley Mill adjacent to the Grand Junction Canal, since 1929 part of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

John Dickinson Stationery John Dickinson Stationery Limited was a leading English stationery company founded in southwest Hertfordshire. In the 19th century, the company pioneered a number of innovations in papermaking. It became part of Dickinson Robinson Group in 19 ...

produced ''Croxley Script''. Dickinson Square and Dickinson Avenue are named after the paper mill owner and contain houses built by the company for their workers at the end of the 19th century. The mill closed in 1980. Croxley Green was historically part of the parish of

, which was included in the

Poor Law Union from 1835. When

sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

s were created in 1872, the parish of Rickmansworth, including Croxley Green, therefore became part of the Watford Rural Sanitary District, which in turn became

Watford Rural District Watford Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire from 1894 to 1974. It initially surrounded but did not including the town of Watford, which was a separate urban district. It gradually ceded territory to other districts, and by the ...

in 1894. Rickmansworth Urban District was created on 15 April 1898, with Croxley Green being part of Rickmansworth Urban District until its abolition when

Three Rivers District Three Rivers is a local government district in southwest Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of Rickmansworth Urban Distr ...

was created on 1 April 1974. The former Rickmansworth Urban District then became an

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 unpa ...

, governed directly by Three Rivers District Council. The

of Croxley Green was created on 1 April 1986, covering the eastern part of the former Rickmansworth Urban District and an adjoining area transferred from the parish of

Sarratt Sarratt is both a village and a civil parish in Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated north of Rickmansworth on high ground near the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The chalk stream, the River Chess, rising just n ...

. Croxley Common Moor to the south of the village, OS grid reference , is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Local Nature Reserve. In 2008 a group of residents were successful in gaining village green status for Buddleia Wood, a small area of woodland to the south of the village, thereby protecting the area for generations to come. The village signs were replaced in February 2008 with a scene of All Saints Church and The Green.

Rail

River Gade with Croxley Common Moor on the left

Train services are provided from Croxley station on the Watford branch of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

Metropolitan line, providing connections to

's West End at Baker Street and stations through to the City at

. The journey is between 40 and 45 minutes to Baker Street, and 60 minutes to the terminus at Aldgate. There was previously a

Croxley Green railway station Croxley Green railway station is a disused terminus between Rickmansworth and Watford on the A412 road at the end of a short branch line. History The station was opened in 1912 by the London and North Western Railway as the terminus of the bra ...

which was the terminus for a branch line from Watford that even featured a small goods yard. The goods yard was lost to housing after closing in 1966, with the line itself closing to passengers 30 years later in 1996. The track bed of the former line was going to be reused as part of the Croxley Rail Link plans to divert the Metropolitan Line to Watford Junction, but these plans were shelved by London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Churches

*C of E All Saints' Church, The Green *C of E St Oswald's Church, Malvern Way *Christ First Watford, Fuller Way *Croxley Green Baptist Church, Baldwin's Lane *Croxley Green Methodist Church, New Road *Roman Catholic, St Bede's, Baldwins Lane *Croxley Green Christian Assembly

Local organisations

Croxley Green has a Residents Association and a Parish Council. There are local organisations dedicated to pastimes and leisure. The Croxley Green Society runs the "Revels", an event hosted on The Green in June/July every year. There are varying clubs including the camera, needlecraft, wine, vineyard, bicycle, jazz, and folk. Additionally there is an annual free of charge festival, called 'CroxFest', which takes place on The Green in September.

Notable residents

* Barbara Woodhouse the dog trainer presented '' Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way'' on television in the 1980s and lived at Campions from the 1940s to the 1980s. *

Fred Housego Fred Housego (born 25 October 1944, Dundee, Scotland) is a former London taxi driver who became a television and radio personality and presenter after winning the BBC television quiz ''Mastermind'' in 1980. He did not give up his taxi licence when ...

, the 1980 BBC ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of th ...

'' winner, and sometime London black cab driver. * Ron Tarr, a British actor, best known for playing the part of "Big Ron" in '' EastEnders'', lived in Durrants Drive. In a report about Tarr's death in the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'', journalist Chris Hughes stated the character had "a cult following". * Dave Edwards/Mr Christmas, local resident whose extensive annual Christmas lights display, on his house in Lancing Way, raised money for charity and was featured in national news and on TV

Schools

*Morris Minors Pre School *Malvern Way Infant and Nursery School *Little Green Junior School *Harvey Road Primary School *Yorke Mead Primary School *

Rickmansworth School Rickmansworth School in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, is a coeducational secondary school and a sixth form with academy status for 1,400 pupils. Rickmansworth is a secondary school for boys and girls aged 11 to 18 of all academic abilities, a ...

*Croxley Danes School, built between 2017 and 2020.

York House School

York House School is an independent preparatory day school for girls and boys aged from 3 to 13 years of age, located on Sarratt Road near Croxley Green in Redhead, an eighteenth-century mansion. The current features date variously from 1712, 1743 and 1866. The school was founded in Hampstead in 1910 by Rev. Cambridge Victor Hawkins. It relocated to Rickmansworth in the late 1940s, then moved again to its current location in 1966. The school motto is ''" Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam"'', which is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "Either I shall find a way or I shall make one". The school's alumni are referred to as Old Yorkists.Alumni
York House School

References

External links

Croxley Green Parish CouncilCroxley Green Residents Association WebsiteCroxley Green WebsiteCroxley RevelsCroxley Green Parish Boundary Walk
on ''WildþingUK''
York House School
{{authority control Three Rivers District Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire