Jersey Farm is a residential neighbourhood in the civil parish of

Sandridge Sandridge is a village and civil parish between St Albans and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England. History The original name was "Saundruage" meaning a place of sandy soil serviced by bond tenants. The earliest recorded mention of Sandri ...

centred north-east of the city centre of

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

. It is contiguous with one other settlement, which is larger and has two schools,

Marshalswick Marshalswick is an area of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England, located around 1.5 miles northeast of the city centre. The whole area historically fell within the bounds of Sandridge civil parish, but it is now divided with the northern part in Sa ...

to the west and south-west and otherwise adjoins fields and farms.

History and geography

The area was converted from cultivated fields into a residential estate in the 1970s, and as such many of the properties are more modern than in the city centre. Local amenities include a pub, small shops and a community centre. It was named after the local farm house which sat close to the current shops. This name was not that old as it changed in the 60s; before that it was known as Evans farm. Its elevations range from 110 metres in the north-west to 77 metres above sea level in the south-east just above a source of a small tributary of the

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne ...

Economy

Jersey Farm has one pub, The Blackberry Jack, as well as a branch of

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

Express (including a post office), a pharmacy, a beauty salon 'Pure', a cycling store 'St Albans Cycles', an Indian Restaurant 'Bengal Spice', and a hair salon 'Ro Ko Ko'. The local secondary school is Sandringham.

Governance

Jersey Farm has its own Residents Association (JFRA) which arranges a number of yearly events such as a Fireworks display and Christmas Party for the children of Jersey Farm. Members of the Jersey Farm Residents Association are also provided with a quarterly newsletter, detailing community news and events.

Culture

The pub used a local competition to name it, "Blackberry Jack" being the winning entry. According to the entry Blackberry Jack was a local tramp who lived in "camps" in the blackberry bushes around the local fields. In fact his name was Bill or William; he never told anyone his last name. He was known to travel to London and north to Norfolk. "Jack" or John was another tramp who had the same white coat and spent most of the time drunk between St Albans and Borehamwood. Jersey Farm hosts a weekly

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

, one of only three on the UK mainland beginning with the letter J so attracts many parkrun tourists doing the alphabet challenge.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Jersey Farm * https://web.archive.org/web/20070831110856/http://www.communigate.co.uk/herts/jerseyfarmstalbans/
Jersey Farm Community Centre
City of St Albans