The Countryside - Hertfordshire

The county’s gentle and pastoral countryside of rolling wheatfields hides ancient, unspoilt villages of charm and character reached by wooded country lanes. Much Hadham is acknowledged as one of Hertfordshire’s showpiece villages, and was for 800 years the country seat of the Bishops of London. While Ayot St. Lawrence, set in a woodland clearing, is home to ‘Shaw’s Corner’, the house of George Bernard Shaw. To the west of the county is Aldbury, the much photographed/filmed picture-book village, with its fine cottages, medieval stocks and pond complete with ducks. Other notable villages include Braughing with its fine examples of vernacular buildings, Little Hadham with its windmill, Hunsdon and its weatherboarded cottages, Shenley’s village pond and ancient lock-up, the “tree-tomb” and highwayman’s post at Tewin, Westmill’s Saxon church and thatched houses, Chipperfield’s 400 year old chestnut trees and Apostles Pond, the garden village of Benington, and picturesque Ashwell, where the local springs start the River Cam on its course. One of the most beautiful spots in the county can be found at Great Amwell, where an island in the New River was laid to commemorate the creation of this ‘artificial’ river.

To the west of the county is the Ashridge Estate, part of the Chilterns escarpment with over 4000 acres of unspoilt rolling countryside comprising commons and ancient woodland. Here visitors can climb a granite monument celebrating the third Earl of Bridgewater. Nearby are the Tring Reservoirs, a haven for wildlife and popular with ramblers, while at Rickmansworth, ‘fun on the water’ can be enjoyed at the Aquadrome. To the east of the county, is the 23 mile long Lee Valley Park following the course of the River Lea from Ware to London’s East End and developed as an area for recreation, sport and entertainment. Here, as in other parts of the county colourful, traditional canalboats cruise the calm and peaceful waterways, with the Grand Union Canal offering excellent opportunties for walking and fishing in beautiful surroundings. There are also several county parks including Stanborough, Gadebridge, Cassiobury and Aldenham.