Tring is a small
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in the
Chiltern HillsThe Chiltern Hills are a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
in
HertfordshireHertfordshire , abbreviated Herts, is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Situated north-west of
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
and linked to London by the old
Roman roadThe Roman roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate news. The Roman road system spanned more than 250,000 miles of roads, including more than 50,000 miles of paved roads...
of
Akeman StreetAkeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked London to the Fosse Way at Cirencester. Its route passed through various towns and villages including Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Aylesbury and Bicester before changing direction towards the south-west going past Woodstock and...
, by the modern
A41The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although as stated below it has now largely been superseded by motorways...
, by the
Grand Union CanalThe Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 220 km with 166 locks...
and by rail lines to
Euston StationEuston station may refer to one of the following stations in London, United Kingdom:*Euston railway station*Euston tube station...
, Tring is now largely a commuter town in the
London commuter beltThe London commuter belt is the metropolitan area surrounding London, England from which it is possible to commute to work in the capital. It is alternatively known as the London metropolitan area or the Southeast metropolitan area...
.
Tring is positioned at a low point in the Chiltern Hills, known as the Tring Gap, which has been used as a crossing point since ancient times, being at the junction of the
Icknield WayThe Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
and more recently
Akeman StreetAkeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked London to the Fosse Way at Cirencester. Its route passed through various towns and villages including Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Aylesbury and Bicester before changing direction towards the south-west going past Woodstock and...
, the major
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
road linking
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
to
CirencesterCirencester is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in Cotswold District. It is home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural college in the...
.
Tring is a small
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in the
Chiltern HillsThe Chiltern Hills are a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
in
HertfordshireHertfordshire , abbreviated Herts, is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Situated north-west of
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
and linked to London by the old
Roman roadThe Roman roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate news. The Roman road system spanned more than 250,000 miles of roads, including more than 50,000 miles of paved roads...
of
Akeman StreetAkeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked London to the Fosse Way at Cirencester. Its route passed through various towns and villages including Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Aylesbury and Bicester before changing direction towards the south-west going past Woodstock and...
, by the modern
A41The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although as stated below it has now largely been superseded by motorways...
, by the
Grand Union CanalThe Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 220 km with 166 locks...
and by rail lines to
Euston StationEuston station may refer to one of the following stations in London, United Kingdom:*Euston railway station*Euston tube station...
, Tring is now largely a commuter town in the
London commuter beltThe London commuter belt is the metropolitan area surrounding London, England from which it is possible to commute to work in the capital. It is alternatively known as the London metropolitan area or the Southeast metropolitan area...
.
Geography
Tring is positioned at a low point in the Chiltern Hills, known as the Tring Gap, which has been used as a crossing point since ancient times, being at the junction of the
Icknield WayThe Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
and more recently
Akeman StreetAkeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked London to the Fosse Way at Cirencester. Its route passed through various towns and villages including Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Aylesbury and Bicester before changing direction towards the south-west going past Woodstock and...
, the major
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
road linking
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
to
CirencesterCirencester is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in Cotswold District. It is home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural college in the...
. It is located at the summit level of the Grand Union Canal and both the canal and railway pass through in deep cuttings. Tring railway cutting is long and an average of deep and is celebrated in a series of coloured lithographs by
John Cooke BourneJohn Cooke Bourne was an artist and engraver. He is best known for his lithographs showing the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway and the Great Western Railway. Each set of prints was published as separate books, and became classic representations of the construction of the early...
showing its construction in the 1830s.
The four Tring reservoirs – Wilstone, Tringford, Startops End, and Marsworth – were built to supply water for the canal. These have been a national nature reserve since 1955, and a
Site of Special Scientific InterestA Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based...
since 1987. Nearby, within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that almost surrounds the town, is the Ashridge Estate, part of the
National TrustThe National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
and home to
Ashridge Business SchoolAshridge Business School is an independent, not for profit organisation, near Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England. Its activities include open and tailored executive education programmes, MBA, MSc and Diploma qualifications, organisation consulting, applied research and online learning. Ashridge...
.
Tring railway stationTring railway station is 1.5 miles outside the small town of Tring in the village aptly named Tring Station, beside Grand Union Canal and actually nearer the village of Aldbury in Hertfordshire, England...
is about two miles from the town. The town's bypass from 1973 until 1987 was the former A41(M) motorway now down graded to be part of the A41 trunk road.
Climate
Tring experiences an
oceanic climateAn oceanic climate is the climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of all the world's continents, and in southeastern Australia...
(
Köppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by the Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself notably in 1918 and 1936...
Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.
History
The Manor of Tring is described in the Domesday survey of 1086. In 1682 the Mansion designed by Christopher Wren was built for the owner Colonel Guy. A later tenant was Lawrence Washington, great-grandfather of
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the first President of the United States of America...
, first President of the USA. In the late 19th century the estate became the home of the
Rothschild familyThe Rothschild family is an international dynasty of German Jewish origin that established worldwide banking and finance operations and was ennobled by Austria and the United Kingdom.-Origins:...
, whose influence on the town was considerable.
Nathan Mayer RothschildNathan Mayer Rothschild was a London financier and one of the founders of the international Rothschild family banking dynasty...
's son Lionel Walter Rothschild (2nd Lord Rothschild) built a private zoological museum in Tring which, as The
Walter Rothschild Zoological MuseumThe Natural History Museum at Tring was the private museum of Lionel Walter, 2nd Baron Rothschild, today it is under the control of the Natural History Museum. It houses one of the finest collections of stuffed mammals, birds, reptiles and insects in the United Kingdom...
, has been part of the
Natural History MuseumThe Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
since 1937. In April 2007 the museum changed its name to the Natural History Museum at Tring in order to make people more aware of the museum's link to London's Natural History Museum.
The 2nd Lord Rothschild also released the
edible dormouseThe edible dormouse or fat dormouse is a small dormouse and the only species in the genus Glis.It was farmed and eaten by the ancient Romans , whence the word edible in its name...
into Tring Park. He used to ride around the town in a zebra-drawn carriage and the town's symbol has been the head of a
zebraZebras are African equids best known for their distinctive white and black stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals and can be seen in small harems to large herds. In addition to their stripes, zebras have erect, mohawk-like manes...
ever since.
Gerald MasseyGerald Massey was an English poet and self-taught Egyptologist. He was born near Tring, Hertfordshire in England.-Biography:...
– poet, literary critic, Egyptologist and Spiritualist – was born nearby at Gamnel Wharf, New Mill, on the
WendoverWendover is a market town that sits at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district...
Branch of the Grand Union Canal.
Goldfield MillGoldfield Mill or Grover's Mill is a Grade II listed tower mill at Tring, Hertfordshire, England which has been converted to residential accommodation.-History:...
is a converted
windmillA windmill is a machine which translates linear motion of wind to rotational motion by means of adjustable vanes called sails. The main use is for a grinding mill powered by the wind, reducing a solid or coarse substance into pulp or minute grains by crushing, grinding, or pressing...
in Tring.
The former livestock market in Tring, redeveloped in 2005, was believed to be the last remaining example of its type in the UK . It is now the home of weekly Friday Market and monthly Saturday farmers Market. Some of the former livestock pens have been retained.
In 2008 Tring became a Transition Town with the support of Tring Town Council
Sport
Tring Sports Centre is in the grounds of
Tring SchoolTring School is a state secondary school with approximately 1,500 pupils aged between 11 and 18. It is located on Mortimer Hill on the east side of the town of Tring, Hertfordshire, England. It is also a designated specialist Humanities College. Tring School includes a sixth form with approximately...
.
Tring is the former home town of Premiership referee and 2003 FA Cup Final referee
Graham BarberGraham P. Barber is an English former football referee. He was based in Tring in Hertfordshire during his career, but now lives in Spain.-Career:...
, now retired in Spain. It is also home to the retired FA and World Cup referee
Graham PollGraham Poll is an English former football referee in the FA Premier League. With 26 years of experience, he was regarded as one of the most prominent referees in the Premiership, often taking charge of the highest profile games...
.
Tring is home to two football clubs,
Tring AthleticTring Athletic F.C. are a football club based in Tring, Hertfordshire, England. They joined the South Midlands League in 1988 and absorbed Tring Town in 2003...
and Tring Corinthians, both of which play in the
Spartan South Midlands Football LeagueThe Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering north London and parts of the Home Counties. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, and consists of five divisions - three for first teams , and two for reserve teams .The league...
, and to a youth football club, Tring Tornadoes, which field sides for boys and girls up to 16. It is also home to a rugby club, Tring Rugby Union Football Club, which won promotion to London Division One in 2008, and Tring Park Cricket Club, in the Home Counties Premier League.
Local economy
There is a
TescoTesco plc is a UK-based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. It is the largest British retailer by both global sales and domestic market share, with profits exceeding £3 billion. It is currently the third largest global retailer based on revenue, behind Wal-Mart and...
on
London Road, a
Co-opThe United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 3 million individual members. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844....
on
Silk Mill Way and a
Marks & SpencerMarks & Spencer is a major British retailer, with over 885 stores in more than 40 territories around the world, over 600 domestic and 285 international. It is the largest clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, as well as being an upmarket food retailer, and as of 2008, the 43rd largest retailer...
food store in Dolphin Square that opened on 9 October 2007.
Tring brewery has been operating in Tring since 1992.
Heygates Mill is a flour mill. Originally it was a windmill and the company was run by William Mead. The windmill was demolished in 1910 to make way for a wheat
storage siloA silo is a structure for storing bulk materials. Silos are used in agriculture to store grain or fermented feed known as silage. Silos are more commonly used for bulk storage of grain, coal, cement, carbon black, wood chips, food products and sawdust...
. In those days, Mead lived on site, in a house next to the yard, and owned half the area taken by the mill of today. The remaining space was occupied by boat-builders, Bushell Brothers, who built
narrowboatA narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of England and Wales.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
s.
The Heygate family took over Mead’s business in 1945, and today mills 100,000 tons of
wheatWheat is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
a year, resulting in 76,000 tons of flour. This is mainly bakers' flour, but there is also a commitment to wholemeal digestive for biscuits, bulk outlets, and a large output of 1.5 kg bags from the pre-packed flour plant.
As in the days of Tring windmill, only two men operate the system - but in those days they milled half a ton per hour, and now, with a computerised installation, more than 12 tons an hour are produced.
Heygate’s Tring mill has 80 employees, and 16 trucks delivering throughout the south of England.
Education
Tring SchoolTring School is a state secondary school with approximately 1,500 pupils aged between 11 and 18. It is located on Mortimer Hill on the east side of the town of Tring, Hertfordshire, England. It is also a designated specialist Humanities College. Tring School includes a sixth form with approximately...
is a state secondary school with approximately 1,500 pupils (ages 11–18). It is located on Mortimer Hill on the east side of the town. It is now designated a Specialist Humanities College with History, Geography and English as its lead subjects.
Tring Park School for the Performing Arts (formerly known as the
Arts Educational School, Tring Park) is an independent specialist performing arts and academic school. It is located in Tring Mansion,
Tring ParkTring Park is a large country house near Tring, Hertfordshire.The early history of the site is not clear, although a house was in Royalist hands in the times of Charles I. When Charles II came to the throne in the English Restoration in 1660, he gave the house to his Groom of the Bedchamber, Henry...
.
Tring has four state junior schools, Bishop Wood CE Junior School, Dundale Primary and Nursery School, Goldfield Infants and Nursery School and
Grove Road Primary SchoolGrove Road Primary School is a Primary School located in Tring, Hertfordshire, England and is one of the four state junior schools in Tring, the others being, Bishop Wood CE Junior School, Dundale Primary and Nursery School, and Goldfield Infants and Nursery School. The current headteacher is Mr...
.
Tring has a Youth Club - The Tring Youth Project- for those between 11 and 18 at the Temperance Hall in Christchurch Road
External links