Datchworth 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 ...

between the towns 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, n ...

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Steven ...

and

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...

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 gov ...

, England. Sited on the

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 ...

from

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

Puckeridge Puckeridge is a village in East Hertfordshire, England with a population of 3,561 ( 2011 Census). It is in the civil parish of Standon. History The earliest known settlement was founded by the Catuvellauni, Celts from northeastern France. Th ...

, the village has examples of

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

clearings in several locations. Datchworth has a village green where there are two pubs (The Plough and The Tilbury) and a sports club. There are three other pubs in the parish: The Horns at Bulls Green, The White Horse at Burnham Green and Three Horse Shoes at Hooks Cross. In the 2001 Census the population was 1,065, increasing to 1,524 at the 2011 Census. All Saints Church, Datchworth - geograph

All Saints Church, Datchworth - geograph

Origins

The name Datchworth is thought to originate from a Saxon lord called ''Daecca'' (pronounced Datcher), who settled here around the year 700 AD. 'Worth' comes from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

word ''worthig'', which means

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 ...

. However, Datchworth was certainly occupied well before 700 AD. There are two large Belgic sites, only one of which has been partly investigated. Much of the parish boundary still follows the old Belgic ditches.

History

The arrival of the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

gave Datchworth a written record in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

. This included an account of the occupants and land values in the 11th century. Standing at the eastern side of Datchworth Green is the whipping post. Its last recorded use was on 27 July 1665 when two '

vagabonds Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, tempora ...

' were publicly flogged.

Stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

stood near the post too, but there is no trace of them now. The stocks are thought to have been removed in 1899, however, there are stocks located close to All Saints' Church. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

the last enemy-action incident of any kind on British soil occurred at 09:00 on 29 March 1945 when a

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany ...

struck a nearby field in Woolmer Green

Notable people

*Film critic

Barry Norman Barry Leslie Norman (21 August 1933 – 30 June 2017) was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, '' Film...'', from 1972 to 1998. Early life Born at St Thomas’s Hospital ...

and his novelist wife Diana Narracott lived in Datchworth for many years, and both their children were born in their house there.

References

External links

Datchworth website
Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire District {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub