Welwyn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Welwyn |
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 St Mary the Virgin, Welwyn |
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 Welwyn
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| Population | 8,425 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | TL225165 |
| Civil parish |
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| District |
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| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WELWYN |
| Postcode district | AL6 |
| Dialling code | 01438 |
| Police | Hertfordshire |
| Fire | Hertfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament |
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Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. A civil parish is a local government area. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. People sometimes call it Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village to tell it apart from the much newer and larger town of Welwyn Garden City. Welwyn Garden City is about a mile south of Welwyn.
Contents
What Does the Name Welwyn Mean?
The name Welwyn comes from an old English word, welig. This word means "willow". It refers to the willow trees that grow along the banks of the River Mimram as it flows through the village. The name Welwyn actually means "at the willows". This is different from nearby Willian, which simply means "the willows".
The name Welwyn might be connected to Heligan in Cornwall. Heligan comes from helygen, which is the Cornish word for "willow". Both words share a similar root.
The modern village of Digswell, near Welwyn North railway station, was once called 'High Welwyn'. This name was used when it was first built in the early 1900s.
A Look Back: Welwyn's Long History
Welwyn is in the valley of the River Mimram. People have lived here for a very long time. Stone tools from the Palaeolithic period (Old Stone Age) have been found near the river. This shows that early humans were active in the area.
Early Settlements: Bronze and Iron Ages
During the Bronze Age, people started to settle more permanently. Archaeologists have found many old items and marks on the ground from this time. These marks show where round barrows and burial mounds once stood.
Evidence of the Iron Age in Welwyn appears later, in the 1st Century BC. Important burials of local chiefs from this time have been found. These discoveries are famous across the country.
The Belgae people, a Celtic culture, settled in much of South-Eastern England in the 1st century BC. Welwyn was likely settled by the Catuvellauni tribe, who were part of the Belgae.
Roman Welwyn: Baths and Roads
After the Roman invasion, the Romans also settled in Welwyn. The area was a bit marshy, but Welwyn was a known place to cross the river. The Roman road through the village was built here. This led to the village growing around the road and the river crossing. Many Roman items have been found, including parts of Roman villas nearby.
The Welwyn Roman Baths are the remains of a Roman bath house from the third century. You can visit them today. Another dig found a large Roman cemetery very close to the current church. The church itself dates back to Saxon times and is right next to the old Roman road.
Welwyn has a continuous record of people living there from the late Iron Age to today. This means people have likely lived in Welwyn for over 2,000 years.
Anglo-Saxon and Norman Times
Welwyn was important to the Anglo-Saxon Tewingas tribe. It was also the site of an early minster church. A minster church was a large, important church in early England. In 1990, some people suggested renaming the village "Welwyn Minster".
The St. Brice's Day massacre on November 13, 1002, is said to have started near Welwyn. This was when the Saxons attacked their Danish neighbors.
Around 1190, a Norman church was built where the Saxon church stood. The main part of the current church, St Mary's, was built in the 13th century. The arch leading to the chancel is the oldest part.
Welwyn in Later Centuries
In the 1600s, Welwyn became an important stop for coaches. This was because it was on the old Great North Road. Many old coaching inns are still public houses today.
Later, the Great Northern Railway did not go through the village. This was because local landowners did not want it. Welwyn then became less important. It was once seen as a town like Hatfield and Stevenage, but it slowly became known as a village. In the 1900s, the area grew a lot, with new housing estates built around the village.
How Welwyn Was Described in the Past
Even with its long history, Welwyn was seen as a quiet place in the early 1900s. One writer said that Welwyn had "little of interest beyond many quaint cottages, and the church."
In 1870–1872, a book called Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Welwyn. It mentioned that the village had shoe-making and wool-stapling businesses. It also had a post office, a railway station, hotels, a police station, and a good old church.
A more complete history is in William Page's A History of the County of Hertford. This book is part of the Victoria County History series.
Getting Around: Transport in Welwyn
Welwyn has had traffic problems since the early 1900s. In 1927, it got what some say was the first by-pass in Britain. The A1 road north of Welwyn was made into a motorway in the 1960s. In 1973, the motorway was extended past the village, going around the old by-pass. Today, the six-lane motorway narrows to four lanes here, causing traffic jams in the evening.
There were plans to make the road eight lanes wide and change the motorway junction. These plans were put on hold. However, there have been talks about adding a climbing lane north of the village.
Bus Services
Buses in Welwyn are run by Arriva Shires & Essex and Centrebus. Arriva's 300/301 Centraline service connects Welwyn and Oaklands to nearby towns. These towns include Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St Albans, and Hemel Hempstead. It also connects to nearby villages like Woolmer Green and Knebworth.
The 301 bus goes to hospitals in Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City. The 300 bus goes directly to fun places like Stanborough Lakes in Welwyn Garden City and the Verulamium Roman town in St Albans.
Buses run every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 20 minutes on Saturdays. On Sundays, they run every hour. Centrebus also provides a service (314) every two hours, connecting Welwyn to Codicote and Hitchin.
Train Services
The closest train station to Welwyn Village is Welwyn North. It is in the nearby village of Digswell, about a mile east. Knebworth station is closer for people living in Oaklands.
Trains are run by Great Northern. From Monday to Saturday, trains run every 30 minutes south to London King's Cross and north to Hitchin and Stevenage. There is an hourly service to Letchworth and Cambridge, and to Peterborough. On Sundays, trains run hourly from London to Cambridge only. There is no bus to Welwyn North station, but buses do go to Welwyn Garden City station and Knebworth station.
Learning in Welwyn: Schools
Welwyn has two state schools and one independent school.
Welwyn St. Mary's Church of England Primary School is the larger state school. It is on London Road and teaches children aged 4 to 11 (Reception to Year 6). This school was built in 1940 as a secondary school, but it later became a primary school.
The second state school is Oaklands Primary School. It also includes Acorns Preschool and Playgroup.
Tenterfield Nursery School is on London Road, near the primary school. It teaches children aged 3 to 4 years old.
For secondary school, students usually go to schools in nearby towns. Examples include Monks Walk School and Stanborough School in Welwyn Garden City.
Sherrardswood School is an independent school on the eastern edge of Welwyn. It teaches children of all ages, from nursery to sixth form.
Sports and Fun in Welwyn
In Welwyn, you can find a tennis club, a sports and social club, and a bowls club. There is also a football club and a cricket pitch. These last two are part of clubs based in Welwyn Garden City.
Interesting Places to Visit in Welwyn
Danesbury Fernery
Near Danesbury House, which is now homes, there is a beautiful old fernery. A fernery is a garden specifically for ferns. This one was built in 1859 by James Pulham in a small chalk pit. It was designed by Anthony Parsons, who was the gardener for the Danesbury Estate. It used to be very famous, with one writer in 1883 saying it was "probably not a better fernery than at Danesbury." It has now been restored to its original beauty.
Welwyn Roman Baths
On the edge of Welwyn, you can find the remains of a 3rd-century Roman bath-house. This bath-house was part of a Roman villa called Dicket Mead. A local archaeologist named Tony Rook found the villa and bath-house in the 1960s. He dug them up with a team of volunteers. The bath-house remains are now kept safe in a special vault under the A1 motorway. The Welwyn Hatfield Museum Service looks after the site, and it is sometimes open to the public.
The Frythe
The Frythe is a large Victorian house south of the village. It was a private home until 1934, then a hotel until World War II. During the war, it was a secret factory called Station IX. This factory designed and built weapons for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). After the war, it became a research facility for companies like Unilever and Smith, Kline & French. Its successor, GlaxoSmithKline, sold it in 2010 for housing.
Welwyn Studios
Between 1928 and 1951, Welwyn Studios made films, mostly short ones. However, Welwyn Studios was actually located in Welwyn Garden City, not Welwyn village.
Vincent van Gogh's Visit
The famous artist Vincent van Gogh once walked from London to visit his sister in Welwyn. A blue plaque on a building on Church Street remembers this visit.
Welwyn's Twin Village
Welwyn is twinned with a village called Champagne-sur-Oise in France. This village is just north of Paris. The Welwyn Anglo-French Twinning Association (WAFTA) organizes the connection in Welwyn. The twinning started in 1973 after students and the headmaster from St Mary's School visited Champagne-sur-Oise. This created a cultural link that continues today.
It's interesting that Champagne-sur-Oise is only about twenty miles from the River Marne. The River Mimram in Welwyn was sometimes called the Maran, which might come from the River Marne. This connection might have started nearly 2,000 years ago. The Catalauni, a Belgic tribe from the Champagne region of France, moved to England. They were known as the Catuvellauni tribe and settled north of the Thames, including in the Welwyn area. WAFTA says they have brought back a twinning link that began a very long time ago!
Famous People from Welwyn
- Gabriel Towerson (around 1635–1697) was a theologian and was the Rector (head priest) of Welwyn from 1662 until he died.
- Edward Young (1683–1765) was a poet and philosopher. He wrote a famous poem called Night-Thoughts while living in Welwyn as its Rector.
- William Blake (1774–1852) was an economist. He bought a large estate in Welwyn in 1824 and renamed it Danesbury. He was the High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1836.
- William Wilshere (1806–1867) was a politician. He lived at The Frythe, near Welwyn, and built a large house there in 1846.
- Sir Arthur Davidson (1856–1922) was an equerry (an officer who attends a royal person). He grew up in Welwyn.
- Basil Sanderson, 1st Baron Sanderson of Ayot (1894–1971) lived in Welwyn and took his title from Ayot, which is in the parish.
- Eileen Soper (1905–1990) was an illustrator. She and her sister Eva, also an artist, moved to Wildings, Harmer Green, Welwyn, in 1908 and lived there their whole lives.
- Alan Stewart Orr (1911–1991) was a lawyer and judge. He lived at Harmer Green.
- Sir Martin Gilliat (1913–1993) was a long-serving Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. He lived at the Manor House, Welwyn.
- Matthew Marsh (born 1968) is a racing driver who was born in Welwyn.
- Rebecca Llewellyn (born 1985) is a tennis player who lives in Welwyn.
- Simon Pearce (born 1986) is a historian and podcaster.
- Major-General Eric Miles was a British Army officer who fought in both World wars. He commanded the 56th (London) Infantry Division.
See also
In Spanish: Welwyn para niños
