Ridge 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

Hertsmere Hertsmere is a local government district and borough in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other settlements in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar. The borough borders the three north London ...

borough of Hertfordshire, situated between

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

and

Shenley Shenley is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, between Barnet and St Albans. The village is located 14 miles from Central London. History The history of Shenley stretches back a thousand years or more – it is mentioned in ...

. At the 2011 Census the village was a

in its own name. The population of the parish was 177. It has a church, St Margaret's; a children's playground; and the Old Guinea public house, which serves food on most days. The village holds an annual fete on the August bank holiday. Ridge is surrounded by countryside with numerous public footpaths. In 1926, the parish boundary between Ridge, Hertfordshire, and South Mimms, Middlesex, was subject to a minor adjustment. Clare Hall in Ridge is a former manor house, built around 1745 by Thomas Roberts, a linen draper from St Albans. It was originally called Clay Hall and renamed Clare Hall in 1750. From 1886 to 1974, Clare Hall was used as an isolation hospital for diseases including

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

. It was taken over by the

Imperial Cancer Research Fund Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

in 1980 as a research laboratory. It is now part of the Francis Crick Institute. Field Marshal

Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, (10 December 1891 – 16 June 1969) was a senior British Army officer who served with distinction in both the First and the Second World War and, afterwards, as Governor G ...

, the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

commander and former

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...

, is buried in St Margaret's churchyard.

References

External links

St Margaret's Church
Villages in Hertfordshire Hertsmere Civil parishes in Hertfordshire {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub