Northchurch 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 authorit ...

in the Bulbourne valley in the county of Hertfordshire in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It lies between the towns of

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

and

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...

. Situated on the Roman road

Akeman Street Akeman Street is a Roman road in southern England between the modern counties of Hertfordshire and Gloucestershire. It is approximately long and runs roughly east–west. Akeman Street linked Watling Street just north of Verulamium (near mode ...

, a major

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

dating from about AD 60 was discovered in the village in the 1970s. The settlement predates the neighbouring larger town of Berkhamsted.St Mary's church - Our History
Accessed July 2011

History

Other earlier names for Northchurch include Berkhamsted St. Mary and Berkhamsted Minor. Both names support the view that Northchurch may have been the site of the original

which expanded down the Bulbourne Valley following the construction of

Berkhamsted Castle Berkhamsted Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The castle was built to obtain control of a key route between London and the Midlands during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century. Robert of ...

2 miles to the south west. The village eventually became known as the area around the North Church, St. Mary's lying to the Northwest of the newer Parish Church of St. Peter built to the southeast nearer the Castle. Norcott Hall, Northchurch - geograph

Grand Union Canal, Dudswell Bottom Lock No 48 - geograph

The parish church of St. Mary dates from Saxon times and is one of the oldest churches in Hertfordshire. Part of the original Saxon building remains in the south and west walls. Flint wall extensions were built between the 11th and 14th centuries, to form a cruciform building. A stone-faced tower was added over the crossing during the 15th century. A Victorian north aisle, vestries and south porch were added in the 1880s. The village stands on both the

River Bulbourne The River Bulbourne is a small river in Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. The word bourne derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for a stream. It is an unnavigable tributary of the River Gade, which flows into the River Colne, which in turn is a ...

and the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

. The main road running through Northchurch, the A4251, is built over Akeman Street, the original Roman road from London (Londinium) to Chester (Deva). The almshouses, or Church House, are two-storey half-timbered houses dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. From 1936 until 1972 Northchurch and Berkhamsted were united under Berkhamsted Urban District Council. Northchurch today, however, is recognised as a separate village with its own Parish Council. St Mary's churchyard contains the grave of

Peter the Wild Boy Peter the Wild Boy (born ''c.'' 1713; died 22 February 1785) was a boy from Hanover in northern Germany who was found in 1725 living wild in the woods near Hamelin ( Electorate of Hanover), the town of Pied Piper legend. The boy, of unknown pa ...

, a German feral child adopted at the court of King George I and II. His grave can be seen directly outside the main door to the church.Peter the Wild Boy's condition revealed 200 years after his death
Maev Kennedy, The Guardian 20 March 2011

References

* Hastie, Scott, ''Berkhamsted, an Illustrated History'', Alpine Press, 1999,

External links

Northchurch Civil Parish boundaries
* Civil parishes in Hertfordshire Dacorum Berkhamsted {{hertfordshire-geo-stub