Holwell is a village and 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

North Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth Garden City and the largest town is Hitchin. The district also includes the towns of Baldock and Royston ...

district of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. It lies north of

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

, near the

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

border. The parish was historically part of Bedfordshire, and was transferred to Hertfordshire in 1897. The population of the parish was 425 at the 2021 census.

History

The parish church of St Peter is unusual and, although largely rebuilt between 1877 and 1879, retains some

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

features and an interesting brass to

Richard Wodehouse Richard Lancelot Deane Wodehouse (30 May 1892 – 20 May 1940) was an English cricketer. Born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, his entire recorded cricket career took place in Asia. The youngest of four brothers, one of his older three brothers was th ...

. Fragments of early wall paintings and wooden

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

ed windows have been discovered in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

timber-framed Church Farmhouse. The parish was bequeathed money under the will of John Rand, a London joiner who died in 1706. It is assumed he was originally from Holwell as other Rands appear in the parish registers in the mid-1600s, albeit John's precise connection to them is unclear. The John Rand Charity was set up with the bequest, and has provided various facilities for Holwell and neighbouring villages over the years. In the 1830s, the charity paid for a new school,

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

s, and a

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

, all of which were built in a similar neo-Tudor style. They have all since been converted into housing. The charity still exists as Rand's Educational Foundation, and is now focused on providing support for young people in Holwell and neighbouring parishes.

Governance

Holwell has three tiers of local government at

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

level: Holwell Parish Council,

North Hertfordshire District Council North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, and

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

. The parish council generally meets at the pavilion at the John Rand Recreation Ground. There is also a village hall on Pirton Road. Holwell Village Hall

Holwell is an

ancient 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, which historically formed part of the Clifton Hundred of Bedfordshire. From 1835, the parish was included in the Hitchin

poor law union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

. Holwell was the only Bedfordshire parish in the union, the rest of which was in Hertfordshire. Poor law unions subsequently formed the basis for the

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

s established in 1872, which were in turn converted into

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

s under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

. The 1894 Act directed that districts were no longer allowed to straddle county boundaries. Special dispensation was granted to the Hitchin Rural District to allow it to temporarily straddle the county boundary whilst the boundaries were reviewed. The situation was resolved when the parish was transferred from Bedfordshire to Hertfordshire in 1897. Holwell parish formerly had an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

at Cadwell, east of Ickleford; it was transferred to Ickleford parish in 1985.

Population

At the 2021 census, the population of the parish was 425. The population had been 361 in 2011.

References

External links

Holwell Parish Council
Villages in Hertfordshire Civil parishes in Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire District {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub