Why visit Ashwell
Townapedia lists 6 museums and landmarks, 3 parks and trails, 3 places to eat, 2 places to stay and 2 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Ashwell Village Museum, Arbury Banks, Ashwell Springs and Ashwell Quarry & Quarry Springs.
Weather in Ashwell
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Ashwell
Ashwell is a village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It lies 4 miles (6 km) north-east of Baldock.
From the Wikipedia article Ashwell, Hertfordshire (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do2
Museums and landmarks6
Ashwell War Memorial
Monument and historic site · 0.5 mi
War memorial in Ashwell, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Parks, trails and playgrounds3
Restaurants and cafes3
History
To the southwest of the village is Arbury Banks, the remains of an Iron Age hill fort which have been largely removed by agricultural activity.
In 2002, local metal detectorists found a silver Roman figurine of a goddess, Dea Senuna. A subsequent archaeological dig over four summers revealed 26 more gold and silver objects situated in a major open-air ritual site.
The Buckinghamshire family of Nernewt (Nernuyt) held land in the village in the 14th century, which was originally part of the Abbot of Westminster's manor. This land became the manor of Westbury Nernewtes.
The village has a wealth of architecture spanning several centuries. There was also a great fire of Ashwell on Saturday 2 February 1850, without fatalities.
Read more of the history
The village itself is generally well-maintained, encompassing the medieval cottage, town house. Listed buildings include the St. John's Guildhall of 1681, the Foresters Cottages, the Chantry House, the 16th-century town house (now Ashwell Museum), the Maltings (now converted into flats), and a small brick house which was first built in 1681 as a school by the Merchant Taylors. Ashwell Bury, a large Victorian house, which was remodeled by Edwin Lutyens in the 1920s. Lutyens also designed the Grade II listed Ashwell War Memorial, unveiled in 1922. Ashwell also has a village lock-up that was used to detain the intoxicated as well as suspected criminals. The village at one point was home to a number of local breweries and, accordingly, a variety of public houses, but currently has just three pubs: The Rose and Crown, the Three Tuns and the Bushel and Strike.
Since 1850 the village has been served by Ashwell and Morden railway station which is roughly a mile and a half from the centre of the village in the hamlet of Odsey in Cambridgeshire.
From the History section of Ashwell, Hertfordshire on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
More about Ashwell
Geography
Ashwell Springs, a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, is a perennial source of the River Cam. The water of the chalk springs contain a rare species of stenothermic flatworm (Platyhelminthes; Tricladida) associated with cold surface waters or subterranean groundwater localized to this location within East Anglia. The springs now depend upon artificial flow augmentation during dry seasons, due to the impact of local groundwater abstraction from the chalk aquifer for public water supply.
The village possesses a number of trees, contrasting with the surrounding landscape dominated by intense agricultural production, principally of wheat.
From the Wikipedia article Ashwell, Hertfordshire, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Notable people from Ashwell
William BillEnglish priest and academicPhoto: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0- Jonathan E. SheppardAmerican horse trainer (1940–2023)
- William GentleBritish dog racer and mayor; (1865-1948)
Born in Ashwell, according to Wikidata (CC0). Each name links to its Wikipedia article.
Where to stay2
Churches and places of worship11
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries1
Healthcare1
Map of Ashwell
30 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
London Luton Airport (LTN) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 14 miles away.
- Baldock 4 mi southwest, about 6 min by car
- Letchworth Garden City 5 mi southwest, about 8 min by car
- Royston 6 mi east, about 9 min by car
- Henlow 6 mi west, about 9 min by car
- Biggleswade 6 mi northwest, about 9 min by car
- Hitchin 8 mi southwest, about 13 min by car
- Sandy 8 mi northwest, about 14 min by car
- Meldreth 8 mi northeast, about 13 min by car
- Meppershall 8 mi west, about 13 min by car
- Stevenage 10 mi south, about 16 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Towns near Ashwell
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Keep exploring
Local news
Headlines from INDB.
Reviews, tips and questions
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- GOC Ashwell to Guilden Morden 066 Digswell Manor, Ashwell (26147655805), Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- GOC Ashwell to Guilden Morden 065 Bacon's house and 84 High Street, Ashwell (26121708106), Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- GOC Ashwell to Guilden Morden 068 73 High Street, Ashwell (26072961732), Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Bear House, Ashwell, AnemoneProjectors, CC BY-SA 4.0
- GOC Ashwell 083 (14967412062), Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Church of All Saints, Radwell, AnemoneProjectors ( talk ), CC BY-SA 2.0
- St Margaret Church Bygrave 359743 00faaf1c, John Salmon, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Church of St Vincent Newnham, Jack1956, CC0
- St George's Church, Edworth, Alexander P Kapp, CC BY-SA 2.0
- St Mary's Church, Ashwell, 2014-03-02, AnemoneProjectors, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Arbury banks, A2-33, CC BY-SA 3.0
- GOC Ashwell 085 The Ashwell Village Museum (14944773976), Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- GOC Ashwell to Guilden Morden 017 Ashwell Springs (25485138933), Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- GOC Ashwell 086 Bushel and Strike (14978158592), Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- GOC Radwell-Rivers and Meadows 021 Church of St Mary the Virgin. Stotfold (9894374073), Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Church of St Nicholas, Hinxworth (5628312350), AnemoneProjectors ( talk ) ( Flickr ), CC BY-SA 2.0
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