London Colney () is 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. It is located to the north of London, close to Junction 22 of the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

. It is near

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 ...

and part of the St Albans District. At the time of the 2001 census the population of London Colney

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

was 7,742, increasing to 9,507 at the 2011 Census. It is considered a satellite or dormitory village of St Albans, where some villagers travel to work and shop.

History

Colney was first recorded in the 13th century. It takes its name from the River Colne, with the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

suffix ''ēa'', meaning "river". The name London Colney, first recorded in 1555, referred to "Colney on the road to London", and distinguished the place from

Colney Street Colney Street is a hamlet in the English county of Hertfordshire. It lies on the A5183 road, this was formerly the A5 road and, before that, Roman Britain's Watling Street. In addition its northern boundary is delineated by the M25 motorway. T ...

. The village was on the boundary of the 1860s London Coal Tax area; two posts still stand. London Colney was historically part of the ancient parish of St Albans St Peter. In 1894 it became part of the civil parish of

St Peter Rural St Peter Rural was a civil parish in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1947. The local council was St Peter Rural Parish Council. It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the part of the ancient parish of St Peter which was outsi ...

, which was abolished in 1947 when London Colney became a separate civil parish. London Colney Primary School was initially due to open on 4 September 1939. It was then closed on the same day, as war was declared. It opened properly a day later. In the early morning of 12 May 1941, a German spy, Karel Richter, descended by parachute near London Colney. Richter buried his equipment and hid for a couple of days. Driven out by hunger (he had mistakenly buried his food parcel as well), Richter was approached by two lorry drivers who asked him the way to London. Suspicious of Richter's non-committal reply and foreignness, the lorry drivers then approached Constable Alec Scott and mentioned the strange man. Scott found Richter who asked to be taken to a hospital as he was feeling unwell. Scott called his superiors who quickly sent a car to pick up Richter and take him to jail.

Local features

The village has several estate agents; a motorcycle showroom; a tattooist; several takeaways; hairdressers; supermarkets, one incorporating a post office; a tanning salon; and a turf accountant. There is also a retail park, Colney Fields, which contains a

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

's,

Next Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer Stre ...

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

and

TK Maxx TK Maxx is a subsidiary of the American apparel and home goods company TJX Companies based in Framingham, Massachusetts. The stores operate throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands, totalli ...

. There are several doctor's practices and a library. Associated with the village there are walks, nature reserves and ponds. The Mosquito Aircraft Museum, now known as the

de Havilland Aircraft Museum The de Havilland Aircraft Museum, formerly the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, is a volunteer-run aviation museum in London Colney, Hertfordshire, England. The collection is built around the definitive prototype and restoration shops f ...

, established in 1959, is located at Salisbury Hall on the south side of the M25 motorway. London Colney has a great selection of open-water fishing in the River Colne and associated lakes.

Geography

The High Street crosses the River Colne (a tributary of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

joining at

Staines-upon-Thames Staines-upon-Thames is a market town in northwest Surrey, England, around west of central London. It is in the Borough of Spelthorne, at the confluence of the River Thames and Colne. Historically part of Middlesex, the town was transferred to ...

) at the multi-arched brick-built Telfords Bridge (a Grade II listed building). The original fording point can still be seen on the Western side of the bridge, with the Bull and Green Dragon pubs conveniently situated on opposite sides of the ford. Nearby flooded gravel pits form a nature reserve for wild birds. The A6 road (Great Britain), A6 used to pass through the village. The bypass was built in 1959, to join with the A414 road, A414 at the north end of the village. The A6 became the A1081 road, A1081 in 1986, with the M25 erasing the original South Mimms Bypass and the dualled section south of London Colney.

The Parish

London Colney Parish Council publishes a quarterly magazine, called ''The London Colney News''. The magazine has been produced continuously since 1984.

Sport and leisure

Arsenal F.C. has Arsenal Training Centre, its training ground near Bell Lane, London Colney. Watford F.C. also train in London Colney on Arsenal F.C.'s old training ground, University College London Union's (UCLU) Sports Grounds, which is situated between the Arsenal Training Centre and the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre. London Colney has a non-League football team, London Colney F.C., who play at Cotlandswick Playing Fields.

Transport

The London Buses route 84, 84 bus route runs through London Colney towards St Albans from London Borough of Barnet, Barnet, and Uno (bus company), Uno bus routes 602, 636, 658 and 659 also connect the village with

, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Watford, Borehamwood and Luton.

Local residents

The actor Philip Madoc lived in the village for a number of years. A minor scandal occurred in 2004, when local resident Jake Roberts, Jake 'the Snake' Roberts was convicted of cruelty to animals after allowing his pet snake to starve to death. The story appeared in the ''Archant, Herts Advertiser'' newspaper, and noted that the former World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE wrestler lived in Whitehorse Lane.

References

Other sources

* *

External links

1st London Colney Scout GroupLondon Colney Parish CouncilLondon Colney Parish Magazine
{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire City of St Albans