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Much Hadham, formerly known as Great Hadham, is a village and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, England. The parish of Much Hadham contains the hamlets of Perry Green and Green Tye, as well as the village of Much Hadham itself and Hadham Cross. It covers . The village of Much Hadham is situated midway between Ware and Bishop's Stortford. The population of the parish was recorded as 2,087 in the 2011 census, an increase from 1,994 in 2001.
The parish has been occupied at least since the Roman period. There were pottery kilns in the parish in the Roman period, and a Roman coin hoard has been found nearby.
Written records of Much Hadham go back to the time of King Edgar. The village was a possession of the Bishops of London before the Norman Conquest and it appears in Domesday Book as ‘Hadham’. The parish church was built from 1220–1450. The village was a staging point on the road from London to Cambridge and Newmarket, and the Olde Red Lion Inn, built in the 15th century to serve this traffic, survives.
The Bishop's Palace was used as an asylum from 1817–1863.
During the First World War, there was a British Red Cross/Order of St John auxiliary hospital in Much Hadham. Today a plaque on the front of Woodham House commemorates it.
During the Second World War Much Hadham was the site of Prisoner of War camp 69. The camp was opened in 1939, housing Italian prisoners of war and later German prisoners, as well as housing American and Gurkha soldiers as they prepared for the D-Day landings. The camp closed around 1950.
Peter Townsend, a noted Battle of Britain pilot later romantically linked to Princess Margaret, married his first wife, Rosemary Pawle, in St Andrew's in 1941."In the ancient church at Much Hadham, we vowed – alas, all too hastily – to be one another’s for ever." Townsend, Peter. 1978 "Time and Chance: An Autobiography." London: Collins
The more recent Congregational church dates from 1872.
There are many listed buildings in Much Hadham, including four listed Grade I. These are St Andrew's Parish Church, Much Hadham Hall, Moor Place and the boundary wall at Yewtree Farmhouse at Hadham Cross. The many Grade II* Listed buildings in the parish include The Lordship, The Red House, Yew Tree Farmhouse and Much Hadham Palace, the site of a residence of the Bishops of London.
The Henry Moore Foundation can be found in Perry Green and includes Moore's home. In December 2005 thieves stole a 1970 bronze of a reclining figure from the site, which was melted and sold for scrap metal.
The Red Lion coaching inn, now converted into private houses, was built in the 15th century. It was a stopping point on the old road from London to Cambridge. Legend has it that the inn is connected to St Andrew's by a tunnel, possibly built during the time of Oliver Cromwell as an escape route for the clergy. This is highly unlikely given the height of the water table.
Outside the village of Much Hadham in the hamlet of Perry Green there is St. Elizabeth's School and residence for children and young adults with epilepsy, established in 1903, the second largest employer in the District.
Much Hadham has a small museum, The Forge Museum, which contains preserved Elizabethan wall-paintings as well as information about local history. The Henry Moore Foundation in Perry Green houses a large collection of the artist's work.
Much Hadham Cricket Club (founded in 1889) withdrew from the Herts & Essex League in 2007 and cricket is now no longer played. The village has a football team and Tennis and Bowls Clubs are open to anyone to join for an annual fee, all on the Recreation Ground.
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