Thundridge is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of

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 about two miles away from the town of Ware and about seven miles away from the large 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 county town of Hertfordshire.

Nearby settlements

Nearby villages include Wadesmill and Tonwell, and the hamlets of Cold Christmas and High Cross.

Transport

Road

Thundridge is on Ermine Street, which is a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, and it was on the

A10 road This is a list of roads designated A10. Roads entries are sorted in the countries alphabetical order. * A010 road (Argentina), a road in the northeast of Chubut Province * ''A10 road (Australia)'' may refer to : ** ''A10 highway (South Australia ...

until it was by-passed in 2005, restoring it to a quiet village. Wadesmill, Ermine Street - geograph

Rail

Ware is the nearest railway station. There was formerly a line in the Rib valley, the Buntingford branch line

Amenities

Thundridge has a primary school, along with three pubs in the shape of The Anchor, The Maltons (previously The Sow & Pigs), and The Feathers. The village also has a cricket team, along with Thundridge United Football Club, who play in the Hertford and District League 2.

History

The village of Thundridge was originally located about half a mile to the east of the current Thundridge location, also adjacent to the River Rib. Thundridge derives from 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 ...

''Þunres hrycg'' = "ridge belonging to the god Thunor or Thor". There are references to "Tonrich" in the Domesday Book with land being held by the

Bishop of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is ...

and tenanted by Hugh de Grentmesnil, with the record indicating that there was a drop in the value of the land from 100 shillings to 40 shillings.Archaeological studies on the two manors of Ponsbourne & Newgate Street in the parish of Bishop's Hatfield, co. Herts; James William Carlile; Simson and Co (1907)Around Cold Christmas - A Personal History; Compiled by Emma Blowers (2nd Edition, 2010) There had however been civilised habitation in the area earlier than that, with both Roman and Saxon remains being found in the adjacent estate known as "Youngsbury" just a few hundred yards away from the old Thundridge location. With the 1826 improvement of the London to Cambridge road that runs on the west side of the current Thundridge village location – formerly it had run a more crooked path through "Ermine" or "Back Street" in the village – there was an increased populous migration to the "new" location of Thundridge, adjacent to the main road. All that now remain of the old Thundridge location are the 15th-century church tower of the "Thundridge Old Church" of All Hallows and Little Saint Mary, and a few bricks from the chimney-stack of the Manorial home of Thundridgebury. In recent years, the Old Church has come under threat from vandalism, decay and an ecclesiastical desire to divest itself of the cost and liability of maintenance. The "Thundridge Old Church Action Group" (abbr. "TOCAG") is working to achieve some form of permanent protection. Thundridgebury was built during the reign of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, possibly by Henry Gardiner – the Gardiners being a family that became prominent in later years, and giving name to the nearby wood "Gardiner's Spring". The last inhabitants of Thundridgebury were the Hollingsworth family, they having rented it from Daniel Giles, who had in turn purchased it from the Gardiners. The house was dismantled in the early 19th century, as was subsequently the church in 1853, with only the chimney-stack and tower remaining respectively. According to local legend, the chimney stack was left standing in order to allow the owners to continue to collect rent, but a later local legend (which was correct) was that its presence allowed the owners to maintain a pew in the new Thundridge church – built in the "new" Thundridge location in 1851 and consecrated in 1853 – as technically the manorial land which had been absorbed into the Youngsbury estate when purchased by the Giles, now fell under the parish of Standon, the church for which was some 5 miles distant. So long as the chimney-stack remained however, the pew in the Thundridge church was kept available for the owners of the (now combined) property of Youngsbury.

References

External links

Thundridge Village Hall website

Thundridge Old Church website

Thundridge Village School website

Visitor UK website Thundridge Information

{{authority control Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire District