St Paul's Walden 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. 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. The village lies about south 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 ...

, its

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

. The largest settlement in the parish is the village of Whitwell, and the parish also includes the hamlet of Bendish. At the 2021 Census, the population of the parish was 1,381.

Geography

The village of St Paul's Walden itself is relatively small, comprising a few houses around the parish church, which is dedicated to All Saints. There is one public house in the village, being the Strathmore Arms. The wider parish also includes the village of Whitwell in the valley of the

River Mimram The River Mimram is a chalk stream in Hertfordshire, England. It runs from its source near Whitwell in Hertfordshire to join the River Lea at Hertford. Geography The River Mimram rises from a spring to the north-west of Whitwell, in North Her ...

, which flows through the centre of the parish. The village school in Whitwell is called St Paul's Walden Primary School, taking the name of the parish. The parish also includes the hamlet of Bendish, as well as surrounding rural areas, including the two large estates of Stagenhoe and St Paul's Walden Bury.

History

After the Reformation the manor belonged to

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

; the name St Paul's Walden serves to distinguish the parish from

King's Walden King's Walden is a civil parish in the England, English county of Hertfordshire. The parish contains several settlements, with the largest village being Breachwood Green. King's Walden itself is a non-nucleated settlement, with several small clus ...

, although the Dean and Chapter sold their property in the 17th century.

Notable estates

St Paul's Walden has two 18th-century mansions.

Stagenhoe

Stagenhoe was once owned by the

Earls of Caithness Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and it has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to hav ...

Sir

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

rented the property in the 1880s around the time he composed ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

''.

St Paul's Walden Bury

St Paul's Walden Bury is owned by the

Bowes-Lyon family The Bowes-Lyon family descends from George Bowes of Gibside and Streatlam Castle ''(1701–1760)'', a County Durham landowner and politician, through John Bowes, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, chief of the Clan Lyon. Following the marr ...

, of which

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...

was a member. While the details of her birth in 1900 are uncertain, the house is one of the locations that has been posited as her birthplace. Whether or not she was born at St Paul's Walden Bury, she was baptised at All Saints' Church in St Paul's Walden. On 23 January 1923, the then

Prince Albert, Duke of York George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

, later to become King George VI, drove up to St Paul's Walden in his sports car, and proposed to Elizabeth in the woods at the Bury. The gardens of St Paul's Walden Bury are listed as grade I on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England #REDIRECT Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England {{R from move ...

. They are occasionally opened to the public under the National Garden Scheme, a charity of which the Queen Mother was patron.

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering St Paul's Walden, 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: St Paul's Walden Parish Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, 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 meets in Whitwell, either at the village hall on Bendish Lane, known as the New Fellowship Hall, or at the pavilion at the recreation ground on Bradway.

Population

At the 2021 census, the population of the parish was 1,381. The population had been 1,293 in 2011.

References

External links

St Paul's Walden BuryListed Buildings in St Paul's Walden
Saint Paul's Walden Civil parishes in Hertfordshire North Hertfordshire District {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub