Ware is a town 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

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. It is close to 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 ...

. In the 2021 Census, the parish had a population of 19,622.

History

Archaeology has shown that Ware has been occupied since at least the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

period (which ended in about 4000 BC). The Romans had a sizeable settlement here and foundations of several buildings, including a temple, and two cemeteries have been found. Ware was on

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln ('' Lindum Colonia'') and York ('' Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earninga ...

, the Roman road from London to Lincoln. A well-preserved Roman skeleton of a teenage girl was found beside the road and nicknamed 'Ermintrude'. It has been said that Ware is one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, the town was named ''Waras'' from the natural weirs in the River Lea. The historic rivalry with nearby Hertford can be traced to 1090 when the Lady of Ware (Petronilla de Grandmesnil, Countess of Leicester) diverted Ermine Street from the Roman ford to create a High Street and new bridge over the Lea. The bailiff of Hertford tried to destroy the new bridge before it was recognised as part of the King's Highway by Henry III in person. In 1381, during the so-called

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

, 42 prominent Ware townsmen, led by the Vicar, joined others in destroying

Hertford Castle Hertford Castle is a Norman era castle built beside the River Lea in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, England. Most of the internal buildings of the structure have been demolished. The main surviving section is the Tudor gatehouse ...

, then owned by

John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399), was an English royal prince, military leader and statesman. He was the fourth son (third surviving) of King Edward III of England, and the father of King Henry IV. Because ...

. Many inns were established in the High Street, reflecting Ware's importance as a coaching stop on the ''Old North Road''. Chaucer mentioned Ware twice in ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...

''. The Great Bed of Ware, cited by Shakespeare and other playwrights, was housed in a succession of Ware inns.

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

had Thomas Fust burned at the stake in Ware marketplace for refusing to convert to Catholicism. In the 17th century, Ware became the source of the New River, constructed to take fresh water into London. The

Ware Mutiny The Corkbush Field Mutiny (or Ware Mutiny) occurred on 15 November 1647 during the early stages of the Second English Civil War at the Corkbush Field rendezvous when soldiers were ordered to sign a declaration of loyalty to Thomas Fairfax, the comm ...

occurred on 15 November 1647, between the First and the

Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February and August 1648 in Kingdom of England, England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639–1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 164 ...

Corkbush Field Corkbush Field is the land to the east of Hertford along the Ware road, lying between the King's Meads at the bottom of the valley of the River Lea and the higher ground to the south known as Barrow Green Common.Thomson, Alan. "The Ware Mutiny ...

, when soldiers were ordered to sign a declaration of loyalty to

Thomas Fairfax Sir Thomas Fairfax (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) was an English army officer and politician who commanded the New Model Army from 1645 to 1650 during the English Civil War. Because of his dark hair, he was known as "Black Tom" to his l ...

, the commander-in-chief of the

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

(NMA), and the Army Council. When some with

Leveller The Levellers were a political movement active during the English Civil War who were committed to popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance. The hallmark of Leveller thought was its populism, as sh ...

sympathies refused to do this they were arrested and court-martialled; one of the ringleaders, Trooper Richard Arnold, was shot. 62 children were sent to Ware after the 1666

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

. In 1683, the

Rye House Plot The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and heir to the throne) James, Duke of York. The royal party went from Westminster to Newmarket to see horse races and were expected to make the r ...

involved assassinating Charles II after he passed through Ware. It failed. England's first turnpike (toll) road was established at

Wadesmill Wadesmill is a Hamlet (place), hamlet in Hertfordshire, England, located on the north side of the River Rib, with an estimated population of 264. At the 2011 Census the population of the hamlet was included in the civil parish of Thundridge. Run ...

, two miles north of Ware, in 1633 in an attempt to control the malting traffic into and from Ware. The town had become a major maltmaking centre during the Civil War and soon became the most important supplier of malt to the Common Brewers of London, with its own quoted price on the London

grain market The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, rice, and other food grains. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agri ...

, particularly for brown malt, used in brewing porter beer. The Ordnance Survey First Edition of 1880 showed 107 malt kilns in Ware, more than twice as many as in any other Hertfordshire town. The last working malting in Ware, Pauls Malt at Broadmeads, closed in 1994. In November 1999, the bronze Maltmaker statue by Oxfordshire sculptor, Jill Tweed, was unveiled outside St Mary's Church to commemorate the end of the industry and the Millennium. The unveiling was done by Hugo Page Croft, member of a famous Ware malting family; others involved in the project were Guy Horlock, chairman of the Stanstead Abbots maltsters, French & Jupps Ltd, and David Perman, curator of the Ware Museum. Two legends associated with the 17th century are sometimes mentioned. One is that bargemen born in Ware were given the "freedom of the River Thames" — avoiding the requirement of paying lock dues — as a result of their transport of fresh water and food in during the

Great Plague of London The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the most recent major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second plague pandemic, Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent buboni ...

of 1665–66. In fact, Ware barges were freed from having to carry a pilot in the Port of London as a result of their relieving the Dutch blockade of the Thames in 1667, by bringing in coal brought overland from the Wash. The other legend is that Ware bargemen brought plague bodies out of London in 1666 and interred them at the Buryfield. The truth is that the Burymead was mentioned as early as 1513 and referred to the present Glaxo site where a number of Roman cemeteries have been found; the Buryfield Recreation Ground was established in 1931 on charity land, the Bell Close, now partly covered by the GSK multi-storey car park. At the end of the 19th century, malt-making in Ware was joined by two other industries. In 1886, Dennis Wickham, member of a brewing family, established a bottling plant which in 1900 moved to Viaduct Road and became an engineering company. The firm of D. Wickham & Co. became manufacturers of railcars and construction equipment, closing in 1991. In 1898, the pharmaceutical company, Allen & Hanburys, acquired a lease on the Ware corn mill and began building a medicines, dried milk and health foods factory at the nearby Buryfield. A new plant for pharmaceutical research and development was built in Park Road during World War II. Allenburys, as it was known, was merged with Glaxo in 1958 and is now part of

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

(GSK). The Ware Town Council coat of arms was issued in 1956 by the College of Arms to Ware Urban District Council, and transferred to Ware Town Council in 1975. The arms are derived from matters with which Ware is associated — the barge rudders reference the bargemen of Ware, with the red and white striping on the rudders being the livery colours of the City of London, associating the Ware bargemen's free entry rights to that City; the crossed coach horns reference the town's long history as a coaching town; and the sheaves of barley reference the malting history of Ware. The motto "''cave''" (Latin for "beware") was suggested by the College of Heralds, with the intent of its being a pun on the town's name.

Features

Ware has 202 listed buildings including fourteen Grade II* and three Grade I, one of which is the remains of a 14th-century friary, now the offices of Ware Town Council and a conference, wedding and function venue called Ware Priory and Fletcher's Lea. Recent restoration work has shown that it dates from the 13th century. Opposite the priory is the large 14th-century St Mary's parish church. It is known for its elaborate font with large carved stone figures. The town is also famous for its many 18th-century riverside

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

s, several of which have been restored recently. The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...

, which runs through the centre of the town; it is one of its most popular tourist attractions, as well as being home to a thriving boating community. Ware is also known for the Great Bed of Ware, which is mentioned in Shakespeare's

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

and is reputedly able to accommodate at least four couples. It is in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London, but from April 2012 until April 2013 it was loaned to the museum in Ware. Ware is mentioned in ''

'' and was also the unintended destination of John Gilpin in

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the Engli ...

's comic poem. Some of the buildings along the High Street date back to the 14th century. Ware used to have many coaching inns and passageways between some shops lead to their stables. Many of these passageways also have former maltings. Crib Street has a good sequence of timber-framed buildings which have been restored since the 1970s. Today the town's main employer is

, which has large manufacturing and research plants in the town. The Ware company was formerly ' Allen & Hanburys'' and has a long connection with the town, with many historical items on view in a section on the company in the Ware Museum. There are also many other small factories.

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

's 1971 album '' "Babbacombe" Lee'' was inspired by an old newspaper story that fiddle player

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English traditional folk musician and songwriter and one of the greatest fiddlers in the world. He was one of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second Bri ...

bought in an antiques shop in the High Street of Ware when the band lived at The Angel former public house in nearby Little Hadham. WareWeir

Places of interest

Ware Museum

Ware has its own museum which, in 2008, received full accreditation from the Museums, Archives and Libraries Council. The museum is independent and run completely by volunteers. In 2012–2013, Ware Museum was home to the Great Bed of Ware on loan for one year from The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The bed is reputedly haunted by the ghost of its alleged maker, Jonas Fosbrooke, who is said to harass any non-royal person who attempts to sleep in the bed. The museum is partially housed in the former Priory Lodge and partly inside a Second World War Command Bunker used to co-ordinate local defences and respond to air-raids; this part was refurbished for 2010. The museum contains many interesting items from the history of Ware, including Roman archaeology, exhibits relating to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and Allen & Hanburys pharmaceuticals. There are also a number of exhibits for children and many special activity days throughout the year.

Scott's Grotto

Ware is home to Scott's Grotto, built for John Scott, an 18th-century poet who owned Amwell House from 1768. The grotto, the largest in the UK, is a series of chambers extending over 65 ft into the chalk hillside. The chambers are decorated with shells, stones such as flint and coloured glass. The grotto was restored in 1990 by the Ware Society and is now owned and managed by the Scott's Grotto Trust; it is

Grade I 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, Hi ...

Bluecoat Yard

In Bluecoat Yard is Place House, Ware's oldest extant surviving building. It dates from the early 14th century, with additions in the 16th and 17th centuries, and was once Ware's Manor House. It has a crown post roof.

Governance

Ware has three tiers of local government, at parish (town), district and county level: Ware Town Council, East 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 ...

. Historically, the parish of Ware was included in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Braughing. Prior to the 16th century Ware was sometimes called a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

, but it never had a borough charter from the monarch nor sent members to Parliament. The town was given

improvement commissioners Boards of improvement commissioners were ''ad hoc'' urban local government boards created during the 18th and 19th centuries in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and its predecessors the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Irel ...

in 1811 to pave and light the streets. In 1835 Ware became the centre of a

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 ...

, and the Ware Union Workhouse was built in 18391840 on Collett Road (then called Musley Lane). The town was made a local board district on 1 August 1849. The local board replaced the improvement commissioners and had more extensive powers, particularly regarding sewerage and water supply. The local board of health district covered the built-up part of the parish of Ware plus an area known as Amwell End, a southern suburb of the town which was in the neighbouring parish of Great Amwell. After elections, the Ware Local Board held its first meeting on 1 September 1849 at the boardroom of the Ware Union Workhouse, when William Parker was appointed the first chairman of the board. 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 Ware Local Board became Ware Urban District Council on 31 December 1894. The Act also directed that parishes could not straddle urban and rural districts, and so the parish of Ware was split with effect from 4 December 1894 into two parishes: Ware Urban for the part within the urban district, and Ware Rural for the part outside it. Ware Rural parish was included in the Ware Rural District and was renamed Wareside in 1991. Ware Urban District Council was initially based at the Town Hall at 8 West Street (not to be confused with the former cornmarket that had previously been called Town Hall at 70 High Street overlooking the market place). The Town Hall on West Street comprised an early eighteenth house on the street frontage, behind which were a large public hall and meeting rooms which had been built in 1867, initially as a Corn Exchange. The Corn Exchange business failed in 1875. The following year the building was bought by a new company called the Ware Town Hall and Assembly Rooms Company. The urban district council rented rooms there to serve as its offices and meeting place. In 1920, the urban district council was effectively given Ware Priory; its owner, Anne Elizabeth Croft, gave the council a 999year lease at a nominal rent of 3 shillings a year. The council then used Ware Priory as its offices and meeting place until its abolition. Most of the former Town Hall at 8 West Street was demolished in the 1950s, retaining only the original house at the front, which is now known as ''Rankin House''. Ware Urban District Council was granted a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

on 26 March 1956. Ware Urban District was abolished under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, merging with other districts to become

on 1 April 1974. A

successor parish Successor parishes are Civil parishes in England, civil parishes with a parish councils in England, parish council, created in England in 1974. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of Urban district (England and Wales), urban d ...

was created covering the former urban district of Ware, with its parish council taking the name Ware Town Council. Ware Town Council is now based at The Priory.

Transport

Ware railway station is a stop on the Hertford East Branch Line; its close proximity to London makes Ware a commuter town.

Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...

operates two trains per hour in each direction between and , with additional services at peak times. Bus services are provided primarily by Arriva Herts & Essex, Central Connect and Centrebus (South), connecting the town with Hatfield, Hertford,

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a 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, Stevenage w ...

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

and

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

. The town lies on the north–south A10 road which is partly shared with the east–west A414 (for Hertford to the west and

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

to the east). There is a large

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

over the

at Kings Meads. The £3.6m two-mile bypass opened on 17 January 1979. The former route of the A10 through the town is now the A1170.

Education facilities

Nursery and Primary

There are fourteen primary schools in Ware and surrounding villages as of March 2022. There are also many preschools and nurseries, including long established Orchard House Preschool and the newest Riverside Nursery School.

Secondary

There are two secondary schools in the town; Presdales School and Chauncy School. Presdales School opened in 1906 as Ware Grammar School and became a fully comprehensive school in the early 1970s. It admits girls aged 11–18 and boys into the sixth form. It is one of nine Lead Language Hub schools in England. Chauncy School is co-educational throughout.

Post-Secondary Education

The Creative & Enterprise Campus of Hertford Regional College is also based in the town. A new £10.5-million building opened in 2015 and is used to teach 3D Design, Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Visual Merchandising, Set Design, Photography, Art & Design, Fine Art, Animation & Multimedia and Creative & Digital Media. All Nations Christian College is located in nearby Easneye. This

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

training college offers a variety of programmes ranging from short unvalidated courses to

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

validated post-graduate qualifications.

Culture

Sport and leisure

Wodson Park Sports and Leisure Centre

Wodson Park Sports and Leisure Centre is located on the north side of Ware. It is owned and operated by the Wodson Park Trust which is a community based charity providing sports and recreation facilities for the people of East Hertfordshire. It has an extensive range of sports and entertainment facilities including indoor sports halls, restaurants and an external athletics facility. It is also the home to the Ware Football Clubs.

Drill hall

The Ware Drill Hall was constructed in 1899 at a cost of £5,250 and is a

Grade II listed building 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 the centre of Ware. The building was listed due to its early use of a steel parabolic roof structure. It is home to sporting clubs and community facilities and hosts many sporting, cultural and music events throughout the year. The facility is currently operated by The Ware Drill Hall Association (WDHA).

Cricket

There is evidence to suggest that cricket has been played in Ware since before 1770. The present Ware Cricket Club has its grounds at Bell Lane in Widford.

Bowls

The Ware Bowling Club was founded in 1926 and is located in grounds behind the Ware Priory. In 2008, it became Bowls England's ''Club of the Year''.

Football

Ware has two

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

teams. Ware F.C. was founded in 1892 and play their home games at Wodson Park sports centre in the north of the town. The other non-League team is Wodson Park F.C., founded in 1997, who also play their games at the sports centre but on a separate pitch. Ware also has two youth football teams. Ware Lions FC was founded in 1968 and is based at Woodson Field in Thundridge. Ware Youth FC, founded in 1973, based on Fanhams Hall Road, Trinity Playing Fields.

American flag football

The Ware Wolves

flag football Flag football is a variant of gridiron football (American football or Canadian football depending on location) where, instead of Tackle (football move)#Gridiron football, tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or ...

team, the most popular flag football team in Hertfordshire, takes its name from the town although it actually plays in Hertford.

Golf

The Chadwell Springs Golf centre is located in Ware and completed a major refurbishment programme in 2019.

Rugby

Hertford Rugby Football Club was formed in 1932, as the ''Old Hertfordians'' by a group of enthusiasts from Hertford Grammar School. The club played at six different venues until moving to their present location at Hoe Lane in Ware in 1949. It is also home to the Old Hertfordians Squash Club which has two courts there.

Running

Ware Joggers is a successful running club with opportunities for all abilities. It organises annual 10 mile and 10 km races at the beginning of July as part of the Ware Festival.

Scouting and Girlguiding

Ware was one of the first places outside of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to take up the

Scouting movement Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, includin ...

; it now has many

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

and

Girlguiding Girlguiding is the operating name of The Guide Association in the United Kingdom, previously named The Girl Guides Association, which was formed in 1910. It is the original Girl Guides organisation in the world and, in 1928, became a founding m ...

units. Ware and District Scouts includes eight

Scout group A Scout group is a local organization used in some Scout organizations that groups a Scout troop or unit with other age programs, separate gender-based Scout troops and/or multiple Scout troops. A Scout group that groups Scouts with programs fo ...

s and three Explorer Scout units and covers an area from Hunsdon to

Buntingford Buntingford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England. It lies next to the River Rib and is located on the historic Roman road, Ermine Street. As a ...

Swimming

Ware has two swimming pools: one indoor and one outdoor. The Fanshawe Pool and Gym is located in Park Road. The Ware Priory

Lido Lido may refer to: Geography * Lido (Belgrade), a river beach on the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia * Venice Lido, an 11-kilometre-long barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice, Italy * Ruislip Lido, a reservoir and artificial beach in Ruisl ...

was built in 1934. It has a main pool measuring 30m and a smaller teaching pool, both heated to 28°c in the summer. It was substantially altered in the 1970s, with new changing rooms, and is situated in the grounds of Ware Priory. Following a meeting of "The Townsfolk of Ware" in May 1934, it was agreed that a "swimming club" be formed. This is still running today and is now based at Fanshawe Pool.

Festivals and events

Ware Festival and Rock in the Priory

The Ware Festival Committee organises a wide range of events throughout July; these include a lively Carnival Parade, an Over 60s' Party, Raft Race and a Teddy Bears' Picnic, culminating in the 'Rock in the Priory' a one-day open-air music festival, performances have the late notable band 'box deluxe', with members including the drummer Chris Barlow. Visitors to Ware during July will find a packed programme of events throughout the four festival weekends, with something for everyone.

Ware fireworks display

For over 30 years, there has been an annual fireworks display in Ware on the nearest Saturday to

Guy Fawkes Night Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration list of minor secular observances#November, observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain, involving bonfires and firewor ...

. The display was originally organised by the Round Table organisation; however, in recent years it has been taken over by the three Rotary Clubs in Ware: The Rotary Club of Hertford Shires, The Rotary Club of Ware and The Rotary Club of Amwell. The event is held in a field off High Oak Road and attracts many thousands of attendees. All the profits from the event are donated to local and international charities supported by Rotary.

Dickensian Evening

Dickensian Evening is an annual event that celebrates the work of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, in particular, his festive novella ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''; it takes place on the first Friday in December each year. The event is run through the town centre and the Drill Hall is also used for pitches and stalls. Some of the festivities include carol singing, fairground amusements and a craft market, making it an enjoyable event for all ages.

Literature

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

makes reference to Ware in ''

More Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc More may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka Shade, ...

'': "There was an old person of Ware,
Who rode on the back of a bear:
When they ask'd, - 'Does it trot?'--
He said 'Certainly not!
He's a Moppsikon Floppsikon bear!'"

Media

Ware is within the

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...

and

ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...

region. Television signals are received from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated in Hertford. BBC East and

ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

can also be received from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Three Counties Radio and Heart Hertfordshire. The town is served by the local newspaper,

Hertfordshire Mercury The ''Hertfordshire Mercury'' is a weekly newspaper covering east and north Hertfordshire and parts of west Essex. It used to be published every Friday but from December 3, 2009, its publication day switched to Thursdays. The ''Mercury'' has fou ...

Religion

Among the churches in Ware, the most prominent are St Mary the Virgin, on the town's high street, and Christ Church.

Twin towns

Ware is twinned with: *

Cormeilles-en-Parisis Cormeilles-en-Parisis (, literally ''Cormeilles in Parisis'') is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in Northern France. Inhabitants are called ''Cormeillais(e)''. Neighbouring communes * Argenteuil * La Frette-sur-Seine ...

, France * Wülfrath, Germany

Notable residents

Official portrait of Lord Chartres crop 2

Michael William Balfe Michael William Balfe (15 May 1808 – 20 October 1870) was an Irish composer, best remembered for his operas, especially ''The Bohemian Girl''. After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to co ...

(1808–1870), composer, owned the country estate Rowney Abbey *

Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English rock singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Originally rising to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist of the band Argent, Ballard became a prolific songwriter and producer b ...

(born 1945), musician and composer, lead singer and guitarist of

Argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

; lives between Ware and Thundridge * Charlie Brooks (born 1981), actress ( Janine Butcher in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'') * Henry Coddington (1798/9—1845), Vicar of Ware, 1832–45, FRS and optics inventor * Richard Chartres, Baron Chartres (born 1947), retired

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

* Peter Clift (born 1966) marine geologist and geophysicist in the US *

Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft Henry Page Croft, 1st Baron Croft (22 June 1881 – 7 December 1947) was a decorated British soldier and Conservative Party politician. Early life and family He was born at Fanhams Hall in Ware, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of Ri ...

(1881–1947), decorated soldier and Conservative politician. * Herbert Deveril (1840–1911), a photographer in Australia and New Zealand. * Samuel Herbert Dougal (1847–1903), notorious villain hanged for murdering a woman he had conned; was licensee of the Royston Crow public house in Baldock Street * Sir Richard Fanshawe (1608–1666), poet, translator, MP, ambassador to Spain 1662–66. * Nino Firetto (born 1957), radio presenter, TV host and actor *

William Godwin William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. Godwin is most famous fo ...

(1756–1836), philosopher; congregational minister in Dead Lane (now part of Church Street) 1778-9 * Sir Nigel Hawthorne (1929–2001), actor, lived in the nearby village of Cold Christmas * William Lister (1756–1830) physician, became Governor of

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospita ...

. * Minnie Minoprio (born 1942) actress, singer and showgirl, mainly active in Italy. *

The Subways The Subways is an English rock music, rock band from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Formed in 2002, the band consists of Billy Lunn (guitar, lead vocals), Charlotte Cooper (bass, lead vocals), and Camille Phillips (drums). Founding member a ...

(formed in 2002), an English rock band from Welwyn Garden City. *

Brian Wilde Brian George Wilde (13 June 1927 – 20 March 2008) was an English actor best known for his roles in television comedy, most notably Mr Barrowclough in ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'' and Walter "Foggy" Dewhurst in ''Last of the Summer ...

(1927–2008), actor, played Foggy in ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first seri ...

'' and Mr Barrowclough in ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...

'' * William of Ware; between 1290 and 1305 was a Franciscan friar and philosopher

Sport

* Marc North (1966–2001), footballer with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

with 185 club caps * John Pelly (1888–1945), cricketer and Royal Navy officer * Derek Saunders (1928–2018) footballer, played 203 games for

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

* Stuart Storey (born 1942), athlete and sports commentator; associated with Ware and the Wodson Park Sports facility.

Nearby communities

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

* Thundridge * Dane End * Great Amwell * Wareside

References

External links

Ware Tourism Office

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