Hunton Bridge

Hunton Bridge, Abbots Langley
Hunton Bridge, Abbots Langley
 Hunton Bridge, Abbots Langley shown within Hertfordshire
Population 327 (Census 1991)
OS grid referenceTL067030
DistrictThree Rivers (district)
Shire countyHertfordshire
RegionEast
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town KINGS LANGLEY
Postcode district WD4
Dialling code 01923
Police Hertfordshire
Fire Hertfordshire
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK ParliamentHemel Hempstead
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire

Coordinates: 51°41′37″N 0°26′04″W / 51.693714°N 0.434516°W / 51.693714; -0.434516

Ordnance survey map from 1898

Hunton Bridge is a small settlement near Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England, with a historic royal connection. Its population in the 1991 census was 327.[1]

Hunton Bridge enjoyed its greatest prosperity during 1810-26, when the Sparrows Herne turnpike ran through the village. Prior to that date the turnpike had run along Gypsy Lane and Upper Highway. In 1810 it was rerouted along Old Mill Lane to the village, and up the hill to reconnect with Upper Highway. By 1826 the presence of the canal and the works associated with it had dried out the bottom land sufficiently for the turnpike to be rerouted along what is now the A41 avoiding the climb up Hunton Bridge Hill.

Today the village is situated between the M25 London orbital motorway and a spur of the motorway leading to Watford. The A41 trunk road runs just west of the village. The Hunton Bridge filling station just off the Watford spur (Junction 19 of the M25) is a local landmark.

History

Public houses

Hunton Bridge currently has three public houses. It used to have five, having lost the Maltsters Arms in 1963, and the Farriers Arms in 1965.[2]

The remaining pubs are :

1 Bridge Road

The land adjacent to the Grand Union Canal and to the north of Bridge Road was in industrial use from the opening of the canal. A coal wharf known as Hunton Bridge Wharf was established approximately 100 years after the opening, consisting of a tramway, warehouse and managers dwelling. Of these buildings only the cottage remains at 1 Bridge Road.

The Old School House

The original house was demolished and replaced with the current fine brick early Georgian building which was built in the late 1720s. Subsequent changes were made during the 1800s such as the addition of the library joining the main house to the servant wing.

The schoolhouse was used for Church of England services until the building of St Paul's church across the road in Langleybury.[3]

Hunton Canal Bridge

The original structure was demolished in 1932 and replaced with an ornate reinforced concrete skew arch. The structure includes an ornate cornice to the parapet and balustrades. The existing western edge beam was demolished in 1983 due to a vehicular impact with a new aluminium parapet. The structure was Grade II listed in 1985.

Images of Hunton Bridge
Hunton Bridge filling station 
Kings Head 2008 
1 Bridge Road 1999 
The Old School House 1999 

Planning history

On 28 June 1984, Three Rivers District Council Planning Committee resolved that an area of Hunton Bridge, should be designated as a Conservation Area, and subsequently extended in 1990 in terms of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

Listed buildings within the boundary include

Grade II* Listed

Grade II Listed

Locally Important Buildings

See also


References

  1. "Fact file: Hunton Bridge". Retrieved 2007-10-18.
  2. Hastie, Scott (1996). A Hertfordshire Valley. Kings Langley: Alpine Press. p. 96. ISBN 0-9528631-0-3.
  3. "Consecration of St Paul's Church, Langleybury". Hertford Mercury and Reformer. 19 November 1864. Retrieved 15 Aug 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).

External links

Media related to Hunton Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

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