Heath (or The Heath) is a dispersed

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in north

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, England. It lies in the

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 ...

Leintwardine Leintwardine ( ) is a small to mid-size village and civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire. History Roman A popular misconception is that the Romans called the village ''Branogenium''. Branogenium in f ...

, on the other side of the River Clun northwest of that village. Two equidistant routes between Leintwardine and Heath are possible: via the B-roads and

Broadward Bridge Broadward is a dispersed hamlet in south Shropshire, England, situated by the border with Herefordshire. It is in the civil parish of Clungunford, a village approximately to the north.Ordnance Survey mapping Geography The placename is shared ...

, or via Jay Bridge (both bridges crossing the Clun).

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

mapping The hamlets of Heath and nearby

Jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family (biology), family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For examp ...

formed a single

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

and whilst in the present day form part of the civil parish of Leintwardine, and thus a part of Herefordshire, they were regarded as being part of

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

until the mid-19th century. Heath Farm is a large farm with eight recently constructed chicken breeding barns (situated by the

Heart of Wales Line The Heart of Wales line ( cy, Llinell Calon Cymru) is a railway line running from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in southwest Wales. It serves a number of rural centres, including the nineteenth-century spa towns Llandrindod Wells, Llanga ...

). The area was until recently dominated by arable farming, but today is much more diversified. Heath House is a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

and has extensive

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

s for horses. The Heath House estate has a number of houses and substantial outbuildings in proximity to the main house. In 1987 Simon Dale, a retired architect was murdered in Heath House. The murder remains unsolved. The B4367 road passes between Heath House and Heath Farm (to its west). At the north end of the settlement is Heath Lodge, a house with a thatched-roof, situated at the junction of the B4367 and B4385 roads, right on the border with Shropshire. To the north is the larger settlement of

Hopton Heath Hopton Heath, or Hoptonheath, is a hamlet in south Shropshire, England. The border with Herefordshire is close by. It lies on the border of the civil parishes of Clungunford and Hopton Castle. There is a railway station here - Hopton Heath rai ...

(in Shropshire) with its railway station, to the southwest is the small village of Bedstone (in Shropshire), and to the east is the hamlet of

Broadward Broadward is a dispersed hamlet in south Shropshire, England, situated by the border with Herefordshire. It is in the civil parish of Clungunford, a village approximately to the north.Ordnance Survey mapping Geography The placename is shared ...

(again, in Shropshire).

References

{{Reflist Hamlets in Herefordshire Places formerly in Shropshire