Flamstead

Coordinates: 51°49′07″N 0°26′15″W / 51.81874°N 0.43744°W / 51.81874; -0.43744

Flamstead
Flamstead  Flamstead shown within Hertfordshire
OS grid reference	TL078145
District	Dacorum
Shire county	Hertfordshire
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	Hertfordshire
Fire	Hertfordshire
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
List of places: UK • England • Hertfordshire

Flamstead is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, England, close to the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway at junction 9. The name is thought by some historians to be a corruption of the original Verulamstead. It should not be confused with the village of Flamstead End near Cheshunt in East Hertfordshire.

Flamstead stands on a ridge above the River Ver, which runs on its north side; to the south the village extends downhill to the adjoining hamlet of Trowley Bottom. The first documented record of the village was in 1006, and it was also recorded in the Domesday Book eighty years later. In the Middle Ages it was important enough for a market and fair to be held there, though it is now mainly a dormitory village for neighbouring towns, several of which can be reached by bus from the village. The current population is around 1,150.

From a distance the village is dominated by the parish church of St Leonard, with its characteristic "Hertfordshire Spike" spire. St Leonard’s (Church of England) is believed to stand on the site of a ninth century Saxon chapel, though the oldest parts of the present structure date from around 1140. Features of interest include mediaeval wall paintings, the Saunders Memorial of 1670, and a fine fifteenth century rood screen. The village also has a Methodist church,

Other notable buildings in Flamstead include the almshouses in the High Street, built in 1669; the Three Blackbirds pub opposite (one of four in the village), partly dating from the sixteenth century; and several attractive cottages of similar age. Flamstead has 65 listed buildings.

Flamstead has a primary school, though older local children have to travel to secondary schools elsewhere in Hertfordshire. The present school dates from the late 1950s, and the previous school building adjacent to the churchyard is now the Village Hall.

The Old Watling Street in the parish, as its name suggests, follows the route of the original Roman road. The modern A5 runs roughly parallel with it but closer to the River Ver.

Beechwood Park, once the site of a Benedictine nunnery and now home to a preparatory school, lies in the parish, though it is closer to the neighbouring village of Markyate. Beechwood Park gave its name to a song by The Zombies, written by the group's bassist Chris White, who grew up in Markyate.

Since 2002, an annual Scarecrow Festival has been held in Flamstead to raise funds for the upkeep of the church and for local charities.

In 2008 Channel 4's Time Team discovered a previously unknown major Roman temple complex near Watling Street at nearby Friar's Wash. The programme about the dig was first broadcast on 4 January 2009.

External links

• The village website, with links to other sites of interest
• The parish council's website
• GENUKI(tm) page
• Hertfordshire genealogy site for Flamstead
• Time Team: The Trouble With Temples

Beechwood Park, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, became a Tudor mansion, built in the shape of the letter H. Additions were added over time with interesting formal and walled gardens. The grounds were laid out by Capability Brown and still feature many trees with cedars of Lebanon prominent. The family of Sebright, who held a baronetcy, lived for many generations at Beechwood. Sir John Sebright, who was a great bibliophile, was a friend of Maria Edgeworth, the novelist and Edmund Burke. Burke discovered that Sir John had a collection of Irish Manuscripts in his library at Beechwood. Burke persuaded to give these to the Library of Trinity College Dublin. There they remaind to this day known as the Sebright Collection. They proved invaluable to scholars studying the Irish language.