Thorley
Thorley maps (2 available)
Map of Hertfordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Hertfordshire
Personalised maps
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Thorley books (11 available)
Stevenage Town Walk Guide
Paperback
- 1 photos on Thorley appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Thorley
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Thorley and Hertfordshire
Thorley memories
Read and share memories of Thorley and Hertfordshire inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Hertfordshire below.
Hertfordshire memories
Coopers
I remember this building being Handscombes Ironmongers. And one end of it being a pram shop in the early 80's I think . I bought my parents their 25th wedding anniversary present in Handscombes... a dinner service in a Poppy design. Full service with tureens etc only cost £24.99! This was in 1978. They held their party at the Bell in Stanstead.
A memory of Bishop's Stortford contributed by Sue Spooner
Where we used to go some Saturday nights
In the 50s my mum used to take us to see our Great Uncle Herb and Aunt Nell at Sawbridgeworth. He used to take my sister and I to his allotment, buy us both a toy then listen to the sports report and take us down the Old Bull Pub for a lemonade and crisps. Great Aunt Nell was bedridden and died soon after. Great Uncle Herb was a very nice old man.
A memory of Sawbridgeworth contributed by eddie tait
A good time in Much Hadham
I spent about one year in Much Hadham as German prisoner of war, 1946 till
July 1947, working for the Hertfordshire War Agricultural Executice Committee; I specially was engaged in our camp labour office as clerk, under Mr. Wooley and later Mr. Smolenski, two wonderful men. We enjoyed already a lot of liberty, and I really loved this little village, which I visited once again in the late sixties, when I still discovered some remainders of one of our old Nissen huts! These months in Hertfordshire had an immense positive influence on all my further life, especially when I then worked in out of school civic education. Thank you, Much Hadham!
Walter Scharnagl, Dechant-Heimbach-Str. 43, D-53177 Bonn, Germany.
A memory of Much Hadham contributed by Walter Scharnagl
The Picketts of Standon
The majority of my father's family lived in and around Standon from 1600 onwards and one of them was the Sexton of St. Mary's and another was the innkeeper of The Three Horseshoes at Farnham in 1881. My Grandfather was born in the Three Horsehoes. Does anyone have any connections with the Pickett family?
A memory of Standon contributed by Angela Kenny
Extracts From Thorley & Hertfordshire books
Some visitors to Hertfordshire think that Thorley lies on the main road between Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth - this should, correctly, be called Thorley Street. Frith has photographed the church at the true village of Thorley about a mile to the west of the town. In 1899 it was a declining community, with a few cottages and this isolated church. The recent boom in housing development has seen the expansion of Bishop’s Stortford up to the edge of Thorley but the church, parts of which date from the 12th century, and the cottages survive at the southern end of Church Lane, close to the pond. Francis Burloes, who was given the living of Thorley in 1594 by Queen Elizabeth I, was one of the translators of the Authorised Version of the Bible.
An extract from from"North and East Hertfordshire Photographic Memories".
In 1901, Hermitage Road was a pleasant, open avenue. The building on the left in view
46642, left, is the Hermitage, home of Frederick Seebohm; very little of it still remains.
Windmill Hill is just visible in the background.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
A view of St Marys church in 1931, with the War Memorial in the foreground. In 1752, the Rewd William Cole wrote that the tower was `one of the most clumsy and heavy ones I ever saw`. Perhaps `solid` is a kinder description.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
In the 1960s, the Sun Hotel’s yard did not include
fire escapes from the upstairs rooms, as it does now.
Otherwise, there is little but the parked cars to give
a clue to the date of this photograph. The timber-
framed buildings, on the left, are believed to date
from the 16th century.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".
This 1908 view of the churchyard from the south shows the gates that once protected the dead from body snatchers. J Shipley Slipper, a
dentist, held a surgery at Waldock’s on the left, but only on alternate market days - a long wait if you’d just missed him. George Savage’s
draper’s shop is by the gates on the right, and next door to him is Allsop’s, trading as a cash tailor under the slogan: ‘The Novelty House
for Neckwear’. The façade of his shopfront has been rendered, and scoured with lines to give the impression that it is built of stone.
Unfortunately, the years have taken their toll and the render is slowly falling off. Halsey’s is on the right: an advertisement in the window
draws attention to ‘Halsey’s Dog Food’ - packets of puppy biscuits surround it. Strictly speaking, the buildings from Savage’s to Halsey’s are
in the Market Place, whilst those on the other side are in the Churchyard.
An extract from from"Hitchin Town and City Memories".