Westmill is an English village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, with an area of 1036 hectares. A population of 264 was recorded in the 2001 National Census.[2] It lies just to the south of Buntingford, beside the River Rib.
Westmill | |
---|---|
St Mary the Virgin, Westmill | |
Westmill Location within Hertfordshire | |
Population | 264 [1] 305 (2011 census)[1] |
OS grid reference | TL368270 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BUNTINGFORD |
Postcode district | SG9 |
Dialling code | 01763 |
Police | Hertfordshire |
Fire | Hertfordshire |
Ambulance | East of England |
UK Parliament | |
The Prime Meridian passes to the east of Westmill, as does the Roman road Ermine Street, which ran from London to Lincoln and York.[3] Its route is followed here by the A10 trunk road. There is a skeleton bus service to Buntingford.[4]
West Mill railway station on the Great Eastern Railway's Buntingford Branch Line from St Margarets to Buntingford opened on 3 July 1863. Passenger traffic thrived until the mid-1950s and the rise of car ownership. The line and station closed to passengers on 16 November 1964. The station buildings had been demolished by 1968.[5]
The large medieval parish church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and restored in the 19th century, shows signs of a Saxon origin.[6] It is one of a large number of historic buildings in the village. One, a thatched cottage named Button Snap at Cherry Green, was owned by the writer Charles Lamb from 1812 to 1815.[7] It was through the widow of his godfather, Francis Fielde (died 1809) that Lamb, as he put it, "came into possession of the only landed property which I could ever call my own."[8]
The church is part of a joint benefice of Aspenden and Buntingford.[9] The commons were enclosed in 1819.[3]
The former 16th century watermill is now a private house.
The village has a pub/restaurant, the Sword Inn Hand,[10] and a village hall,[11] where a children's nursery is held.[12]
18 'Hertfordshire History: the Westmill Murder' on YouTube.