Not to be confused with
Stapleford, Nottinghamshire.
Stapleford is a village and civil parish in the
East Hertfordshire
East Hertfordshire is one of ten Non-metropolitan district, local government districts in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and th ...
district, in the county 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 in the
Beane valley, on the
A119 road about north of the county 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 (crossing), ford on ...
, and south of
Watton-at-Stone
Watton-at-Stone is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, and is midway between the towns of Stevenage and Hertford in the valley of the River Beane.
History Etymology
The name Watton first appeared in writing in an 11th-cent ...
village.
Waterford
Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...
, another riverside settlement, is in the south of the parish.
History
The placename occurs as ''Stapelford'' in an
Exchequer
In the Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's ''Transaction account, current account'' (i.e., mon ...
document of 1210, lending weight to
Walter William Skeat
Walter William Skeat, (21 November 18356 October 1912) was a British philologist and Anglican deacon. The pre-eminent British philologist of his time, he was instrumental in developing the English language as a higher education subject in th ...
's suggestion that the site of a
ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
crossing the Beane was marked by an upright stake, in Anglo-Saxon ''stapel''.
In the 1887, John Marius Wilson described Stapleford as:
"a parish in the district and county of Hertford; 2¾ miles N of Hertford r. station. It has a post-office under Hertford. Acres, 1,319. Real property, £1,622. Pop., 226. Houses, 45. The property is all in one estate. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £280. Patron, A Smith, Esq. The church was repaired and enlarged in 1852. There is a national school.
In 1831, the majority of males were labourers and servants.
Stapleford's population was 567 at the 2011 census: 286 males and 281 females.
Statistics
In the 1880s majority of the men's occupation was within agriculture, whereas women were more into the domestic service. The professional occupation had the fewest people working within that sector for both genders. According to the Office of National Statistics, 67% of Stapleford's population are Christian, 26% classify themselves as nonreligious, 5% did not state their religious preference and the rest are the other religions. The statistics show that the people of Stapleford generally had very good health with 299 out of 567 classified as having very good health and the next big group having good health. As a whole the health rate is high, despite the 18 individuals who either have bad health or very bad health. The health rate in this area suggests that the village has very good health care sector. Lastly, information published by the 2011 Census stated that the largest ethnic group was White British, as 537 out of 567 people are of this ethnicity showing that the village was not multicultural.
Occupation
From the Occupational Structure of Males piechart, it is seen that in 1881, 57% of the men's occupation was within agriculture showing that the area was rural. There were other occupations during that time but not as major as the agricultural sector. Within the Occupational structure for Females, 51% are in an Unknown Occupation; this is most likely classified as being a housewife which would be common during these times, as majority of other work was very physical, thus the demanding jobs would be for men. The next sector with the highest percentage of females was within Domestic Service.
Population
Census reports from 1880s to 2011 have illustrated within the "Total Population of Stapleford" graph that during 1880 to 1920 the parish population was around 200. Thereafter, population more than doubled to 500 by 1960, and by 2011 had reached 567.
Transport
The
Hertford loop line runs through the parish, passing close to the west of Stapleford village.
Stapleford station was just north of the bridge over the main road, but was only open from 1924 to 1939.
2011 census data shows that only 19 out of 229 households did not have a car or van. On the other hand, many households had more than one, with 105 households having two cars or vans.
Economy
The economic activity within Stapleford of 2011 according to National Statistics shows that for females of working age, 24% were in part-time work, 28% full-time, 9% in self-employment, while 37% were economically inactive and around 2% of the population were unemployed. The case is different for men in this village as 80% of them were economically active.
Parish church
The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
is dedicated to St Mary. The building was begun in the mid-12th century, altered in later centuries, and restored and enlarged in 1874. It was designated as
Grade II* listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
in 1966.
References
External links
Listed Buildings Register for Stapleford
{{authority control
Villages in Hertfordshire
Civil parishes in Hertfordshire
East Hertfordshire District