North Mymms is a

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 ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

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 ...

. At the 2011 Census the civil parish had a population of 8,921. The village itself is an

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

. North Mymms Park and

Brookmans Park Brookmans Park is a village in Hertfordshire, southeast England, known for its BBC transmitter station. Brookmans Park railway station, on the East Coast Main Line, is operated by Great Northern. It is also a waypoint used in air navigation b ...

enclose large areas of the parish. Even the parish church (St Mary's) stands in the park of North Mymms; in it is a chapel, the burialplace of the Coningsbys. There is a monument to Robert Knolles, also of North Mymms Place, dated 1458, and a brass to a priest. There is a large monument to

Lord Somers Baron Somers, of Evesham in the County of Worcester, is a title that has been created twice. The title was first created in the Peerage of England in 1697 for Sir John Somers, so that he could sit in the House of Lords and serve as Lord Chancel ...

, Baron Evesham, and lord chancellor in the time of William III, d. 1716. The monument was erected by his sister, Lady Elizabeth Jekyll. The civil parish includes: *North Mymms Place: The

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

house of 1576 belonged to the Coningsby family. John Conningsby died in 1544 and entailed the house to his wife, Elizabeth, during her lifetime. Elizabeth remarried to William Dodds. On Elizabeth's and subsequently William's death, the house reverted to John's son, Henry in 1576, which he then demolished and built a new mansion house between 1576-1578. Tree-ring dating of the main roof timbers confirms these dates. During the ownership of Thomas Coningsby, a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

leader in

, the house was plundered by the Parliamentarians. Later North Mymms Park belonged to the Hyde family. The house is famous for its collection of

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

and for its panelling and fittings. An early 17th-century painted frieze of the "

Nine Worthies The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural, and legendary men of distinction who personify the ideals of chivalry established in the Middle Ages, whose lives were deemed a valuable study for aspirants to chivalric status. All were commonly ...

" was rediscovered in the 20th century. North Mymms House was a location for the 1983 film ''

The Wicked Lady ''The Wicked Lady'' is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring Margaret Lockwood in the title role as a nobleman's wife who becomes a highwayman for the excitement. The film had one of the top audiences for a f ...

'', starring Faye Dunaway as a bored aristocratic lady who takes up highway robbery, while the exterior appeared in ''

Agatha Christie's Marple ''Agatha Christie's Marple'' (or simply ''Marple'') is a British ITV (TV network), ITV television programme loosely based on the books and short stories by British crime novelist Agatha Christie. The title character was played by Geraldine McEw ...

s ''The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'' as the house of Marina Gregg. *

Bell Bar Bell Bar is a hamlet located in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, England. It is in the civil parish of North Mymms. Thought to be named after the ancient Bell Inn which stood nearby, Bell Bar (often spelt as "Bell Barr" on old maps, such as that of ...

: The park includes the former park of Gobions (demolished), once the property of Sir

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

, and around the turn of the 19th century to an East India merchant, Thomas Holmes, whose daughter became the novelist

Ann Doherty Ann Doherty (c. 1786 – c. 1831/1832) was an English novelist and playwright, who corresponded with Robert Southey. Her father, Thomas Holmes (1751–1827), was a wealthy East India merchant from Worcestershire, who changed his name to Hunter ...

. A lofty castellated gateway in the park is now called "The Folly". In 1956 North Mymms Parish Council acquired the land and the lake now known as Gobions Open Space. *Water End *

Welham Green Welham Green is a village in the parish of North Mymms, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated a mile to the west of the A1 road (Great Britain), Great North Road coaching route that used to run through the neighbouring hamlet of Bell Bar from ...

North Mymms is also home to the Hawkshead Campus of the

Royal Veterinary College , mottoeng = Confront disease at onset , established = (became a constituent part of University of London in 1949) , endowment = £10.5 million (2021) , budget = £106.0 million (20 ...

, part of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. The campus also includes the Equine Referral Hospital, and the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals. At the 2011 Census the population was 8,921.

Etymology

North Mymms is spelt differently from its sister village of South Mimms. The spellings ''Mymms'' and ''Mimms'' appear to have been used interchangeably over the centuries, until 20 February 1939 when Hertfordshire County Council decided that the spelling be fixed as ''Mymms''.North Mymms History Project: https://www.northmymmshistory.uk/2018/02/north-mymms-and-south-mimms.html

References

External links

North Mymms News
Community news and information website.
North Mymms History Project
Curating and digitising the history of North Mymms
North Mymms Parish Council

North Mymms Park
Official Website
North Mymms Youth Project
a large thriving youth club based in the Parish
AFC Mymms Football ClubNorth Mymms Cricket Club
{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire Welwyn Hatfield