Sarratt is both a village and 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 authority ...

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 District ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England. It is situated north 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 t ...

on high ground near the county boundary with

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

. The

chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

, the

River Chess The River Chess is a chalk stream that rises near Chesham in the Chiltern Hills, and flows for through Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire to its confluence with the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne in Rickmansworth. The Chess, along ...

, rising just north of

Chesham Chesham (, , or ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordsh ...

in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

, passes through Sarratt Bottom in the valley to the west of the village to join the River Colne in Rickmansworth. The conditions offered by the river are perfect for the cultivation of

watercress Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae. Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf ve ...

. Sarratt has the only commercially operating watercress farm in Hertfordshire. The valley to the east of Sarratt is dry.

Church and chapel

The parish church of Sarratt is the ''Church of the Holy Cross''. Founded , construction is flint-and-brick built with, reputedly, reused Roman tiles. From the 17th century a large linear village developed nearly away. Nowadays, this area is referred to as Sarratt Green and the area around the church is known as Church End. The village also included a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Chapel and an independent Providence Mission Hall; both closed and converted into private residences.

Motorway

When the M25 London orbital motorwaywidened in 2011 to eight lanes (four each way)was opened, the rural atmosphere of Sarratt changed. Where it passes Sarratt, it is less than distant at its nearest point, the bridge carrying Sarratt Road. Junction 18 (M25) is on the

Chorleywood Chorleywood is both a village and a civil parish in the Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, on the border with Buckinghamshire, approximately northwest of Charing Cross. The village is adjacent to the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Na ...

Road (the A404) only by road from the village.

Schools

Sarratt's Church of England school, situated near the junction of Church Lane and The Green, is the village's primary school with 160170 pupils. In December 2015

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

inspected the school and judged it to be ''good'' across the board, having been rated ''inadequate'' since December 2014. Sarratt Ducklings, an independent pre-school for children aged from 2 to 4, located in the grounds of Sarratt Primary School, is a registered charity. It was judged outstanding by Ofsted in 2015.

Fiction and filming

In some of the early novels of

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

, Sarratt is the fictional location of an agent training school and interrogation centre for the British foreign intelligence service, which is nicknamed 'the nursery'. Le Carré and

Mikhail Lyubimov Mikhail Petrovich Lyubimov (russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Люби́мов; born 27 May 1934) is a Russian novelist and retired colonel in the KGB. He served as spymaster and head of the KGB stations in the United Kingdom and Denmar ...

, a former KGB colonel, contributed to a book published by Village Books in 1999 as a fund-raiser for village charities titled, ''Sarratt and the Draper of Watford''. Sarratt has been used as a location in television and film productions, including: * '' Murder Most Foul'' (1964 film) with

Margaret Rutherford Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford, (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, television and film. She came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's '' Blithe Spirit'', and Osca ...

Miss Marple Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Chr ...

* ''Tightrope'' (ATV, 1971) children's espionage series written by

Victor Pemberton Victor Francis Pemberton (10 October 1931 – 13 August 2017) was a British writer and television producer. His scriptwriting work included BBC radio plays, and television scripts for the BBC and ITV, including ''Doctor Who'', ''The Slide'', '' ...

* ''

Four Weddings and a Funeral ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle ...

'' (1994 film) * ''

The Demon Headmaster ''The Demon Headmaster'' is a series of books by Gillian Cross which were later adapted as a television series starring Terrence Hardiman in the title role and Frances Amey as Dinah. The title character is a strange being with the powers of hy ...

'' (BBC TV) second series of children's drama series * ''Just William'' (BBC TV) children's drama series * ''

The Woman In Black ''The Woman in Black'' is a 1983 gothic horror novel by English writer Susan Hill. The plot concerns a mysterious spectre that haunts a small English town. A television film based on the story, also called '' The Woman in Black'', was produced ...

'' (1989 film) * ''

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...

'' (2011 film) * '' Pudsey the Dog: The Movie'' (2014 film) * ''

All the Money in the World ''All the Money in the World'' is a 2017 biographical crime thriller film directed by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa. Based on John Pearson's 1995 book ''Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul ...

'' (2017 film)

Notable people

Sydney Valentine Sydney Valentine Nossiter (1865 – 23 December 1919), known professionally as Sydney Valentine, was an English actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He was President of the Actors' Association and was remembered for negotiating what became ...

, actor, lived at Pear Tree Cottage, Sarratt.

Freedom of the Parish

People and military units who have received the Freedom of the Parish of Sarratt. * Carol Chorley : 10 December 2019.

References

External links

'Parishes: Sarratt', A History of the County of Hertford
Date accessed: 29 December 2006.
Holy Cross Church Website
{{authority control Three Rivers District Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire