Cuffley

Last updated

Cuffley
Church of St Andrew at Cuffley - geograph.org.uk - 35943.jpg
Church of St Andrew, Cuffley
Hertfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Cuffley
Location within Hertfordshire
Population4,295  [1]
OS grid reference TL305035
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town POTTERS BAR
Postcode district EN6
Dialling code 01707
Police Hertfordshire
Fire Hertfordshire
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire
51°42′39″N0°06′48″W / 51.7109°N 0.1134°W / 51.7109; -0.1134

Cuffley is a village in the civil parish of Northaw and Cuffley, in the Welwyn Hatfield district of south-east Hertfordshire located between Cheshunt and Potters Bar. It has a population of just over 4,000 people. [1] It is part of Hertsmere parliamentary constituency since the boundary review in 2023. [2] It used to be a part of Broxbourne parliamentary constituency.

Contents

History

Originally part of the parish of Northaw, the manor of Cuffley was recorded in the 13-century as Coffele. During the reign of Charles II of England in the 17th-century, the King's Well at Cuffley was renowned as spa and was frequented by wealthy people who were accommodated in a large tent supplied by the king. At the start of the 20th-century, Cuffley was still a small hamlet, consisting of just a few cottages and a room that served as both a school and a church. [3]

The railway had an important impact on the development of the village. Cuffley was reached by the Great Northern Railway in 1910, as part of the plan to create the Hertford Loop Line, as a strategic alternative to the main line out of King's Cross to the north, by extending the line from Enfield Chase. [4]

The early history of Cuffley is recounted by one of its residents, Molly Hughes, in her autobiographical book A London Family Between the Wars.

On 3 September 1916 the German airship SL 11 was shot down and crashed in Cuffley during an aerial bombardment intended for London. [5] This incident is commemorated by a memorial on East Ridgeway to Lieutenant W. Leefe Robinson, the pilot who shot the airship down; he was awarded the Victoria Cross. [6] There is also a model of the airship in the village hall. Contrary to many reports of the incident, the SL 11 airship was not a Zeppelin but an army Schütte-Lanz airship. [5] Regardless, the local football team is still nicknamed 'The Zeps' after this event.

In 1939, the Scout Association purchased part of the Tolmers Park Estate that lies within the Parish of Cuffley. Tolmers Scout Camp was opened on Whit Saturday 1940 by Lord Wigram. [7] Today, Tolmers hosts thousands of young people annually from all over the UK and across Europe; not only Scouts and Guides but schools and youth groups as well.

Transport

Cuffley is near the M25 motorway and is part of the London commuter belt. Cuffley railway station provides a commuter service to Moorgate, Finsbury Park and King's Cross, services operated by Great Northern.

Facilities

Schools

Cuffley Primary School has occupied its present building since 1938 when it replaced the original Victorian school room.[ citation needed ]

Preschool education for children aged 2 to 5 years old is available at the youth centre (Cuffley Community Centre Pre-School).

Churches

St Andrew's Church of England parish church was built in 1965 on the site of the old school room facing the top of Station Road, replacing the "tin church" built in 1911 on Plough Hill opposite the village green. The present church was designed by Clifford Culpin and Partners and has a steep roof supported on A-shaped concrete beams. Inside there is a metal sculpture by Angela Connor and coloured glass by Alfred Fisher. [8]

Cuffley Free Church was built in 1965–67 to the design of Cyril J. Greening. [8] In May 2011 it changed its name to The Life Church and is affiliated to the Central Baptist Association. [9]

A Roman Catholic church dedicated to St Martin de Porres was built in 1963 in Church Close, and is a simple wooden building designed by Westmore and Partners. [10]

Notable people

Its most notable recent resident is Sir Terry Leahy, former CEO of Tesco, although this did not prevent locals from objecting vehemently to plans to build an "Express" store in the village replacing one of only two remaining village pubs. [11] Other famous residents include Premier League footballers Ledley King, Jermain Defoe, Niko Kranjcar, David Bentley, Kyle Walker and Armand Traoré; and also former Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan [ citation needed ] and Myleene Klass. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatfield, Hertfordshire</span> Town in Hertfordshire, England

Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, 39,201 at the 2011 Census, and 41,265 at the 2021 Census. The settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, home of the Marquess of Salisbury, forms the nucleus of the old town. From the 1930s when de Havilland opened a factory, until the 1990s when British Aerospace closed it, aircraft design and manufacture employed more people there than any other industry. Hatfield was one of the post-war New Towns built around London and has much modernist architecture from the period. The University of Hertfordshire is based there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hertfordshire</span> County of England

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Watford, and the county town is Hertford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welwyn Hatfield</span> District in Hertfordshire, England

Welwyn Hatfield is a local government district with borough status in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Welwyn Garden City. The borough borders Hertsmere, St Albans, North Hertfordshire, East Hertfordshire, Broxbourne, and the London Borough of Enfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welwyn Garden City</span> Town in Hertfordshire, England

Welwyn Garden City is a town in Hertfordshire, England, 20 miles (32 km) north of London. It was the second garden city in England and one of the first new towns. It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and exemplifies the physical, social and cultural planning ideals of the periods in which it was built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welwyn</span> Village in Hertfordshire, England

Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to distinguish it from the much newer and larger settlement of Welwyn Garden City, about a mile to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hertford</span> Town in Hertfordshire, England

Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuffley railway station</span> Station in Hertfordshire, England

Cuffley railway station serves the village of Cuffley in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire. It also serves other nearby settlements, namely Goffs Oak, Northaw and the west of Cheshunt. It is 13 miles 17 chains down the line from London King's Cross on the Hertford Loop Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welwyn Hatfield (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1974 onwards

Welwyn Hatfield is a constituency in Hertfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Andrew Lewin, a member of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broxbourne (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Broxbourne is a constituency in Hertfordshire currently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Lewis Cocking of the Conservative Party since 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goffs Oak</span> Human settlement in England

Goffs Oak is a large village in the borough of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It lies between Cuffley and Cheshunt, just north of the M25 motorway in a slightly more rural section of the London commuter belt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hertford loop line</span> Branch of the East Coast Main Line

The Hertford loop line is a branch of the East Coast Main Line, part of the Northern City Line commuter route to London for Hertford and other Hertfordshire towns and an occasional diversion route for the main line. The line is part of the Network Rail Strategic Route 8, SRS 08.03 and is classified as a London and South East Commuter line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leefe Robinson</span> British WW1 fighter pilot (1895–1918)

William Leefe Robinson VC was the first British pilot to shoot down a German airship over Britain during the First World War. For this, he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the first person to be awarded the VC for action in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northaw</span> Village in Hertfordshire, England

Northaw is a village in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Northaw and Cuffley, which was originally known as Northaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northaw and Cuffley</span> Civil parish in Hertfordshire, England

Northaw and Cuffley is a civil parish in the Welwyn Hatfield borough of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately 13.5 miles (21.7 km) north of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is a partly urbanised parish with large sections of open land. Northaw and Cuffley is a recent renaming of the ancient parish of Northaw, covering the settlements of Northaw and Cuffley. The local council is Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digswell</span> Human settlement in England

Digswell is a village and former parish in the English county of Hertfordshire which is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. The population of the urban area of Digswell in the 2011 Census was 1,632.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essendon, Hertfordshire</span> Village in Hertfordshire, England

Essendon is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, 6 miles (10 km) south-west of Hertford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tolmers Park</span>

Tolmers Park is a manor house in Newgate Street Village near Hertfordshire|Hatfield]] in Hertfordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newgate Street, Hertfordshire</span> Village in England

Newgate Street is a village near Cuffley, in Hatfield civil parish, in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, England. It is approximately six miles south-west of Hertford and has a population of 400. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the town of Hatfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northaw Great Wood</span> Woodland in Hertfordshire, England

Northaw Great Wood is a 223.6-hectare (553-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Cuffley in Hertfordshire, England. It covers Northaw Great Wood Country Park, which is managed by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, Well Wood, Justice Hill and Grimes Bottom. Part of the site is managed by Hertfordshire County Council as a schools' park. The country park is also a local nature reserve.

References

  1. 1 2 United Kingdom Census 2001 Archived 26 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Boundary review 2023: Which seats will change?" commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  3. ↑ Page, William, ed. (1908). "'Parishes: Northaw', A History of the County of Hertford: Volume 2, pp. 357-360". british-history.ac.uk. British History Online. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  4. ↑ A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain (Vol. 5 The Eastern Counties), D I Gordon, David & Charles Ltd. 1977. ISBN   0-7153-4321-1 (Pages 123-4)
  5. 1 2 First German Airship Shot Down BBC - WW1 At Home, Nov 2014. Retrieved: 24/04/18
  6. ↑ Rimell, Ray (1989). The Airship VC: the life of Captain William Leefe Robinson. Bourne End: Aston. ISBN   0946627533.
  7. ↑ The Scout Magazine: June 1940 issue p.162
  8. 1 2 Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (1977). The Buildings of England: Hertfordshire. New Haven CT: Yale University Press. pp. 136–137. ISBN   978-0140710076 . Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "Life Church". www.centralba.org.uk. High Wycombe: Central Baptist Association. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  10. ↑ "Cuffley – St Martin de Porres". taking-stock.org.uk. London: Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  11. ↑ Daily Telegraph on-line 23 July 2007
  12. ↑ Chris Lennon (29 June 2012). "Spurs star on the move?". Welwyn Hatfield Times. Retrieved 30 October 2024.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Cuffley at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.