Wadesmill
Encyclopedia
Wadesmill is a hamlet
in Hertfordshire
, England
, located on the north side of the River Rib
with an estimated population of 264http://www.hertfordshire.com/pages/towns/show-data.asp?id=620. Running through the center of Wadesmill is the road formerly known as the A10 - the main London to King's Lynn (via Cambridge) road - but now that the A10 by-pass has been built, Wadesmill and surrounding villages have returned to the quiet of former times. The route that was formerly the A10 is an ancient one with portions of it following the line of the Roman Road Ermine Street
. Ermine street also figures as the former main street in Wadesmill's adjacent village Thundridge
.
rest point in his travels at which he decided to devote much of the rest of his life to ending the slave trade.
The Wadesmill Turnpike was created by Act of Parliament ("The Turnpike Act") in 1663 as a result of serious deterioration of the "Old North Road" due to travel by laden barley wagons supplying the brewing trade in the nearby maltings town of Ware. As with most government-imposed taxations however, routes to circumvent the turnpike were quickly established, resulting in one instance in the increased use of what became known as "The Great North Road" - the A1.
To the east of Wadesmill is the picturesque estate of Youngsbury, some history and description of which is admirably described on a Herts. County Council websitehttp://enquire.hertscc.gov.uk/landscsh/Areas/area90.htm:
Youngsbury consists of an 18th-century park and woodland with 4 hectares of garden around the house, the front part of which is dated 1745, the back early 19th century, with 18th-century stables. There are extensive 16th to 18th-century walled kitchen gardens, an arboretum, an icehouse and tumuli and Roman barrows within the grounds, which extend to the river Rib. Capability Brown's involvement included widening the river and creating two islands, designing a ha ha and placing small groups of trees in open parkland. Nineteenth-century development of the kitchen garden was re-created in the late 20th century, with notable mixed borders. There is a moat and church in a bend of the river on the southern edge of the parkland.
Capability Brown
is actually said to have reviewed the rolling parkland surrounding Youngsbury house and observed that he need do nothing to improve upon what nature had already achieved!
The moat and church referenced in the HCC quote are in fact Thundridge Bury and Thundridge old church, neither of which are still standing in entirety.
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England
England
England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, located on the north side of the River Rib
River Rib
The River Rib originates near the East Hertfordshire village of Buckland and runs parallel with the A10 through Buntingford, Westmill, Braughing, Puckeridge and Standon until it reaches its confluence with the River Lea near Hertford.-History:...
with an estimated population of 264http://www.hertfordshire.com/pages/towns/show-data.asp?id=620. Running through the center of Wadesmill is the road formerly known as the A10 - the main London to King's Lynn (via Cambridge) road - but now that the A10 by-pass has been built, Wadesmill and surrounding villages have returned to the quiet of former times. The route that was formerly the A10 is an ancient one with portions of it following the line of the Roman Road Ermine Street
Ermine Street
Ermine Street is the name of a major Roman road in England that ran from London to Lincoln and York . The Old English name was 'Earninga Straete' , named after a tribe called the Earningas, who inhabited a district later known as Armingford Hundred, around Arrington, Cambridgeshire and Royston,...
. Ermine street also figures as the former main street in Wadesmill's adjacent village Thundridge
Thundridge
Thundridge is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire District, in the county of Hertfordshire.- Location :It is about two miles away from the town of Ware and about seven miles away from the large town of Hertford - Nearby settlements :Nearby villages include Wadesmill and Tonwell,...
.
History
Historically Wadesmill is particularly notable for two features - it is the location of the first Turnpike in England (and therefore the world), and the presence of the Clarkson Memorial halfway up nearby High Cross hill, a memorial to Thomas Clarkson'sThomas Clarkson
Thomas Clarkson , was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended British trade in slaves...
rest point in his travels at which he decided to devote much of the rest of his life to ending the slave trade.
The Wadesmill Turnpike was created by Act of Parliament ("The Turnpike Act") in 1663 as a result of serious deterioration of the "Old North Road" due to travel by laden barley wagons supplying the brewing trade in the nearby maltings town of Ware. As with most government-imposed taxations however, routes to circumvent the turnpike were quickly established, resulting in one instance in the increased use of what became known as "The Great North Road" - the A1.
To the east of Wadesmill is the picturesque estate of Youngsbury, some history and description of which is admirably described on a Herts. County Council websitehttp://enquire.hertscc.gov.uk/landscsh/Areas/area90.htm:
Youngsbury consists of an 18th-century park and woodland with 4 hectares of garden around the house, the front part of which is dated 1745, the back early 19th century, with 18th-century stables. There are extensive 16th to 18th-century walled kitchen gardens, an arboretum, an icehouse and tumuli and Roman barrows within the grounds, which extend to the river Rib. Capability Brown's involvement included widening the river and creating two islands, designing a ha ha and placing small groups of trees in open parkland. Nineteenth-century development of the kitchen garden was re-created in the late 20th century, with notable mixed borders. There is a moat and church in a bend of the river on the southern edge of the parkland.
Capability Brown
Capability Brown
Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
is actually said to have reviewed the rolling parkland surrounding Youngsbury house and observed that he need do nothing to improve upon what nature had already achieved!
The moat and church referenced in the HCC quote are in fact Thundridge Bury and Thundridge old church, neither of which are still standing in entirety.