| Ashwell village in Hertfordshire rich in history |
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Ashwell is a village situated about four
miles north of Baldock in Hertfordshire. It has a wealth of architecture
spanning several centuries. The parish church dates almost entirely from the
14th century and is renowned for its ornate church tower which stands at
176 feet (54 m), and is crowned by an octagonal lantern with a leaded
'spike'. The church also contains some medieval graffiti carved on its walls
which highlights the plight of survivors of the bubonic plague pandemic known
as the Black Death The village itself is mostly
in a fine state of preservation, from the medieval cottage to the fine town
house, plastered or timbered, thatched or tiled, in Tudor, Carolean or Georgian
brick. 'Scheduled' listed buildings include the St. John's Guildhall of 1681,
and the carefully restored Foresters Cottages, Chantry House with its
15th-century window, the 16th-century town house (now a local 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, was remodelled by Lutyens in the 1920s. Ashwell also has a village
lock-up that was used to detain drunks and suspected criminals. The village
used to be home to a number of local breweries and, accordingly, a variety of
public houses in its past, but currently has just three pubs: The Rose and
Crown, the Three Tuns and the Bushel and Strike. Ashwell also has several
successful sports teams from under-12s to veterans. The adult first football
team have won several trophies and are currently in the Hall's of An attractive natural
feature are 'The Springs', a perennial source of the River Cam The cool water
of the chalk springs contain a rare species of stenothermic flatworm (Platyhelminthes
Tricladida) associated with cold surface waters or subterranean groundwater
that is only known from this location within East Anglia. The springs now
depend upon artificial flow augmentation during drier periods, due to the
impact of local groundwater abstraction from the chalk aquifer for public water
supply. The village is served by Ashwell
and Morden railway station which is about a mile and half from the centre of
the village in the hamlet of Odsey in Cambridgeshire |
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