Little Amwell was a village and

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 ...

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, lying south-east of the county town of

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

. The old village of Little Amwell forms the northern part of the modern village of

Hertford Heath Hertford Heath is a village and civil parish near the county town of Hertford in Hertfordshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 2,672. Geography It is located on a heath above the River Lea valley, on its south side. Almost all of ...

. The civil parish of Little Amwell was abolished in 1990, merging with parts of the neighbouring parishes of

Great Amwell Great Amwell is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is southeast of Ware and about north of London. History On a hill above the church there are some traces of an Iron Age ...

Stanstead St Margarets Stanstead St Margarets, often abbreviated to just St Margarets, is a village and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, England. It is located halfway between the towns of Hoddesdon and Ware. The village is separated ...

, and

Ware Ware may refer to: People * Ware (surname) * William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian Places Canada *Fort Ware, British Columbia United Kingdom *Ware, Devon *Ware, Hertfordshire *Ware, Kent United States * Ware, Elmore County, Al ...

to form the new parish of Hertford Heath. Little Amwell remains the name of the ecclesiastical parish which covers Hertford Heath. In 1961 the parish had a population of 982.

History

At the time of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

in 1086 Little Amwell and neighbouring Great Amwell seem to have been a single parish called Amwell, recorded as "Emmewell". Little Amwell was later acquired by the monks of

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and E ...

, who annexed it to the parish of All Saints, Hertford, which the abbey also owned. Little Amwell was deemed to be a "parish liberty", exempt from some of the normal controls of the authorities. The parish liberty of Little Amwell had its own overseers of the poor, and was included in the Hertford Poor Law Union from 1835. One of the chain of beacons used to give early warning of the approach of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

in 1588 was on the village green at Little Amwell. Holy Trinity Church was built on the south side of the village green in Little Amwell in 1863. A separate ecclesiastical parish of Little Amwell was created on 2 August 1864, which covered a larger area than the parish liberty, taking in parts of the neighbouring parishes of Great Amwell and All Saints' and St John, Hertford. The parish liberty was deemed to be a civil parish following the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 on 10 August 1866. From 1872, Little Amwell formed one of the parishes of the Hertford

Rural 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 ...

, which became the

Hertford Rural District Hertford Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It covered the rural area around the county town of Hertford, but did not include the town itself. Evolution The district had its origins in the Hertford ...

in 1894. In turn, Hertford Rural District was abolished in 1974 to became part of

East Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and the other main towns are Ware, Bunti ...

. To the south of Little Amwell was the hamlet of Hertford Heath, which was in the civil parish of Great Amwell. The urban areas of Hertford Heath and Little Amwell gradually merged into one settlement through the 20th century. Hertford Heath was used as the postal address for both villages. On 1 April 1990 the civil parish of Little Amwell was abolished, merging with parts of the neighbouring parishes of Great Amwell, Stanstead St Margarets, and Ware, to become a new civil parish called Hertford Heath. In 1991 East Hertfordshire District Council designated a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

covering the village green and surrounding area of Little Amwell. The conservation area was originally called the "Hertford Heath Conservation Area". When reviewing the conservation area in 2018, the district council changed the name to the "Little Amwell Conservation Area" as a more accurate name.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Hertfordshire Former civil parishes in Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire District