Towns & Villages in Herts

Welwyn

Adjacent Parishes: Ayot St Peter, Codicote, Datchworth, Digswell, Knebworth, Tewin

Welwyn is in Broadwater Hundred and the Welwyn Union

The Welwyn Union contained the parishes of Ayot St Lawrence, Ayot St Peter, Digswell, Welwyn

See Also Welwyn Garden City

Detail from Charles Smith's map of Hertfordshire (1808 edition)

WELWYN, a small town in the Maran Valley, can show little of interest beyond many quaint cottages, and the church, famous as that in which Dr. Edward Young, author of Night Thoughts, officiated from 1730 to 1765. He was buried in the church; the mural memorial to him was erected by his son. The Church is Decorated, with Early English portions; the piscina in the chancel is ancient, the sedilia is modern. An inventory of church furniture, taken in 1541, shows that there were formerly three alters in it. The avenue of limes in the rectory grounds were planted by Young; there is a Latin inscription to the poet on a pedestal at its upper end. His son was visited here by Dr. Johnson and James Boswell.

The Walk S.E. to the station (1¼ mile) commands a fine view of the Great Northern viaduct of forty arches over the deeper portion of the Maran Valley. [see Digswell] On the opposite (left) side of the road is Locksleys, a good mansion by the river side, surrounded by charming grounds. One mile S. is The Frythe, long the residence of the Wilshere family; at a rather less distance N. is Danesbury, a prettily designed mansion in a small park. ... [quote linking the Danes with Danesbury]

One of the springs in the neighbourhood, now disused, was famous in Young's day for its chalybeate waters.

Hertfordshire Little Guide 1903


Welwyn High Street - circa 1920

Book: Welwyn Beginning

Title: Police Station, Welwyn - Publisher: E. Ashby, Welwyn - Posted 1909

 


Police Station, Welwyn
Posted 1905


High Street, Welwyn
Posted 1905

Welwyn Police Station - posted 1909

   

These cards were published by "E. Ashby, Welwyn" and the 1902 Kelly's Directory for Hertfordshire lists "Ashby, Elizabeth & Sarah (Misses), Stationers and Fancy Repository" By 1912 the entry was "Ashby, Elizabeth (Miss), stationer."


Book: Welwyn, by and Large, Historical Gossip from a Hertfordshire Village

Book: Welwyn Briefly

Book: Of Local Interest - A Book of Welwyn Pubs

Book: The Book of Welwyn


Great North Road, Welwyn - dated 1904

Memorial Inscriptions: A list of the memorials in the cemetery are on the Jeffery.Knaggs Homepage.

Museum: Mill Green Museum - For details see hertsmuseums.org.uk/millgreen

Museum: Welwyn Roman Baths - For details see hertsmuseums.org.uk/welwyn-roman-baths


The Frythe, Welwyn

From Hertfordshire Countryside Illustrated - Spring 1958

Reference: The Welwyn Workhouse

Topics: The Welwyn Floods of 1795


Church Street, Welwyn - Frith card circa 1950s

Web Site: The Welwyn History Society has a useful web site at www.welwynhistory.org which includes details of their meetings and publications and other useful information.

Web Site: www.welwyn.org.uk is run by the Anglican churches of the area (St Michael's, Woolmer Green; St Mary's, Welwyn and Ayot St Peter). One of the features is a record of the tombstones in the churchyard of St Mary's, the memorials within the church, and the names recorded from tombstones in 1906 which have not survived. The list includes:

Allen, Banting, Barker, Bassett, Batten, Beardwell, Biggar, Blake, Blow, Boothby , Boulton, Brand, Bullard, Burditt, Clark, Clinton, Cuyler, Czarynski, Dalziell, Dawson , Deards, Dering, Dilley, Ducker, Edgecumbe, Ellice (?), Enever, Evans, Field, Fitt, Fox, Freshwater, Fry, Gamble, Garraway, Greenham, Hartstone, Hollingworth, Holton, Jones, Kemble, Kent, Kimpton, Knight, Lake, Lawrance, Lewis, Medcraft, Messinger, Nobbs, Normington, Oldmeadow, Oliver, Parker , Parrott, Pennyfather, Pointer, Powell, Prior, Ryder, Sharp, Shaw, Shee, Shephard, Sibley, Simmons, Smith, Stocker, Swain, Swaine , Taylor, Terry, Weare, Wells, Whitehead, Wiggs, Wyman

 

Welwyn Church
Published E. Ashby, Welwyn
circa 1905

A winter scene showing the church in the snow

Welwyn Church Interior
card circa 1910

 

On the back of the postcard someone had written Harry MacDonald (a Yorkshire man) came south and brought this cottage in 1937 (rent 5/- a week & later brought it for £1,000) Built his model village over the years & also carved serious subjects. Died 23rd April 1971 and the cottage was demolished 1981.

Book: The Book of Woolmer Green

See also Vital Records

If you know of other books, websites, etc, relating to this place, please tell me.

HOME

October 2009   new reference
November 2009   new external link re Cemetery & two new pictures
February 2010   Thumb picture and link - High Street PC by Ashby
May 2010   Link to book - Welwyn, Briefly