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Redbourn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. It is located from Harpenden, from St Albans and from Hemel Hempstead. The civil parish had a population of 6,913 according to the 2011 Census.
The village has been continuously settled in since Anglo-Saxons times at least and is recorded in the Domesday Book. Its parish church, St Mary's, was built in the early 12th century. Some fifty years later, a small priory was founded half a mile away on Redbourn Common, after the abbot of St Albans Abbey decided to consecrate the ground. Some bones had been found on the spot, reputed to be of Saint Amphibalus, the priest who had converted Saint Alban to Christianity.Hertfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes
In the 16th century, the manor of Redbourn belonged to the Reade family. Sir Richard Reade, formerly Lord Chancellor of Ireland, bought the manor when he came back to England from Ireland; he died in 1575 and was buried at the parish church. Reade left legacies to Winchester College and for the upkeep of the parish of Redbourn. The manor of Redbourn itself was inherited by his eldest son, Innocent, who also inherited the older family estate at Nether Wallop.
In 2010, Redbourn's St Mary's Church celebrated its 900th anniversary.
Silk throwing was carried out at the steam-driven Woollam's Mill, near Redbourn Common. The mill was taken over by John Mangrove & Son, but closed in 1938. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Brooke Bond took over the silk mill as a food factory. Whilst it was still open, a young man in the village fell into a vat of jam and died. After a successful lobbying campaign by schoolchildren in 2003, a memorial bench was unveiled to Sticky Joe, as he had come to be known. After the closure of the factory in 1996, the old silk mill manager's house, the grade II-listed Silk Mill House was given to Redbourn Parish Council; it became the Redbourn Village Museum, opening in May 2000. The former silk mill site is now a housing estate.
Local grocer Russell Harborough also set up a jam-making factory; in 1956, it was bought by Thomas Mercer Ltd, a marine chronometer manufacturer. The site, just off High Street, is now an industrial estate.
Old industries in the village included making Straw Plaiting and hat making. Redbourn Village Hall, in the centre of the village's High Street, was formerly a straw hat factory, which has been extensively renovated, thanks mainly to money from the National Lottery and Redbourn Parish Council.
In 1903, Mr Boucher, the local dentist, owned the first private car in the village, a 6 hp Gladiator. Several rallying were held in Redbourn in the 1900s using The Bull pub as a base. Three garages, in High Street, Dunstable Road and at Church End, have closed, leaving only a filling station next to The Chequers pub in the St Albans Road.
Bus services are operated by Centrebus (South), Red Rose Travel and Red Eagle. Routes connect the village with Borehamwood, Dunstable, Hemel Hempstead, Harpenden, Luton and St Albans.
A branch railway line, known as the Nickey Line, connected with ; it passed through . It opened on 16 July 1877 and was closed in 1979. The route is now a shared-use path.
The first idea for a Redbourn by-pass came in 1935 and one was eventually completed in 1984. A by-pass committee was established in May 1978 and objections were examined at a public enquiry held in February 1982.
Redbourn Golf Club is well known for its two golf courses and driving range. The Kinsbourne Course is considered one of the best short courses in Hertfordshire.
Transport
The nearest National Rail stations are at:
History
Owing to its proximity to London, Redbourn became an important coaching station in the 17th and 18th centuries; it was known as the "Street of Inns", with at least 25 and at its peak. However, the expansion of the railways in the 1840s sounded the death knell of .
Sport
Redbourn Cricket Club was formed in about 1823, but records show that organised cricket was played on Redbourn Common some eighty years earlier. Some Hertfordshire County histories record cricket being played there in 1666, which would make the village one of the oldest cricketing locations on record in England.
County show
The Hertfordshire County Show takes place annually in late May at a 70-acre showground site, one mile north of the village.
Awards
Redbourn has won the following awards:
Notable people
In order of birth:
See also
Further reading
Ann Roxburgh (Forward) (1986). 090539271X, Hertfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes / Countryside Books. 090539271X
External links
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