How Wood is a residential village, south of Park Street village between the towns of

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, a ...

and

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

in St Stephen civil parish,

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. The district council (in this instance, mid-tier of local government) is the City and District of St Albans - the city itself is north. Although the area was once part of Park Street, development took place in most of the agricultural fields around Park Street Lane. Park Street joined the City Council rather than St Stephen civil parish. How Wood has grown to a sizeable residential area: its population in 2001 was 3,542. The area has the physical divide from Park Street of a railway line bridge adjoining two fields and a wood leading down to increasingly riverside woodland in Park Street, which sits on the

river Ver The Ver is a long chalk stream in Hertfordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Colne. Course The source is in the grounds of Lynch Lodge, Kensworth Lynch on the west side of the A5 trunk road and stays on the west side for some h ...

in the northwest.

Amenities

In How Wood there is a row of shops on How Wood, including a

Co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

and an off-licence, a stationery shop and computer repair centre called BluelightOfiice. Park Street Lane leads under the railway line and then is immediately in the edge of the village centre of Park Street; in the centre is a Barbers and two pubs There are two schools, one outlying and one on the main street which has three

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s; the main street is a by-road to St Albans as it is from

Bricket Wood Bricket Wood is a village in the county of Hertfordshire, England, south of St Albans and north-northeast of Watford. History The area of Bricket Wood was mostly occupied by farmers until Bricket Wood railway station was built in 1861. In 18 ...

only. The listed buildings are at Grade II and are Park Cottage, The Homestead and Orchard Cottage. Burstone Manor Farm is a pretty farm with mainly plant nurseries and some fisheries between the village and

Chiswell Green Chiswell Green is a village, to the south of St. Albans, in the parish of St Stephen and district of City of St Albans in Hertfordshire. It has a population of approximately 2,800. It is in the civil parish of St. Stephen. It is located on the ...

- it is at the higher Grade II* and is a much older

timber frame Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

building, some of it 12th century, the remainder of it 15th and 17th century with new casements and with a moat., between the housing estates and Burstone Manor Farm are the smaller remains of How Wood and the larger Birch Wood. Park Street and St Albans offer nearby eateries and bars, several adjoining the rather pure

which is opposite Park Street Village and has the closest

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 ...

beds to London.

Transport

The village is served by

How Wood railway station How Wood railway station is in the village of How Wood, Hertfordshire, England. It is the fourth station on the Abbey Line, from Watford Junction. Like all the other stations on the branch (except Watford Junction), it is a simple unstaffed ha ...

on the

Abbey Line The Abbey Line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster C ...

, linking it with

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

and

Watford Junction Watford Junction is a railway station that serves Watford, Hertfordshire. The station is on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), 17 miles 34 chains from London Euston and the Abbey Line, a branch line to St Albans. Journeys to London take between 16 ...

. How Wood has its own primary school, How Wood Primary School and Nursery.

Site of Special Scientific Interest

Moor Mill Quarry, West Moor Mill Quarry, West is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in How Wood in Hertfordshire. The local planning authority is St Albans City and District Council. It was notified in 1992 as representing the former Moor Mill Quarry SSSI ...

, a geological

Site of Special Scientific Interest 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 of ...

, is located on the other side of the railway line.

Nearest Settlements

References

Villages in Hertfordshire City of St Albans {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub