Stanstead Abbotts
Stanstead Abbotts photos (15 available)
Stanstead Abbotts maps (2 available)
Map of Hertfordshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of Hertfordshire
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Stanstead Abbotts books (12 available)
St Albans Town Walk Guide
Paperback
- 7 photos on Stanstead Abbotts appear in 3 Frith books - View photos of Stanstead Abbotts
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Stanstead Abbotts and Hertfordshire
Stanstead Abbotts memories
Read and share memories of Stanstead Abbotts and Hertfordshire inspired by Frith photos
Netherfield House
Netherfield House is now up for sale, the estate agent lists it beautifully, I have photos of the house as it was, and am glad to see that the current owners kept it beautifully as a house of that age should be
Contributed by Marlene Harris
Easneye Children's Home
I have a sketchy memory of my childhood in Easneye, between the ages of around 3-5 years old. I remember my mother dropping me off and being terrified. She said I was having a holiday but never came back for me. All I can remember of my time was the dormitory, just a row of unfriendly beds, and the "farm" with the white wood swing gate that we kids got told off for climbing on. I don't remember much more than having to eat spinach because I got painful leg boils! Apparently this was common in undernourished children of that time. I still hate all vegetables to this day. Does anyone know what this building might have been called? The Mansion ...read more here
Contributed by Jackie Macklin
What was at the top of the hill?
At the top of Cats Hill were three large houses, one was called Netherfield House and had been donated by the Booth family to the Salvation Army. My father ran the house as a residential home for 29 gentlemen, and I worked with him for several years. The house now, I believe has been converted into luxury apartments, and I would love to have some pictures of it, any of the past and some of it now. The family next door and opposite were called Prior. My father was called Harold Finney, I remember our cook and gardener, Mr and Mrs Barnes, lived in the village, and I also remember another lady who lived in a cottage in the High Street, ...read more here
Contributed by Marlene Harris
Hertfordshire memories
Netherfield House
Netherfield House is now up for sale, the estate agent lists it beautifully, I have photos of the house as it was, and am glad to see that the current owners kept it beautifully as a house of that age should be
A memory of Stanstead Abbotts contributed by Marlene Harris
Extracts From Stanstead Abbotts & Hertfordshire books
The church of St James
in Stanstead Abbots
contains a monument
to Sir Felix Booth
(1775-1850); in
1829 he set out in the
‘Endeavour’ to find the
North-West Passage, but
discovered instead the
magnetic north pole.
An extract from from"50 Classics - Beautiful Villages".
The fine saloon car in the foreground, probably a year-old Morris 20, bearing the registration number YU6523, appears in many contemporary photographs of Stanstead Abbots - does it still survive today? On the right is John William Hodgin's draper's shop, which was earlier the post office and run by A Blackby. Further down was William W Ray, a confectioner and tobacconist; he offered afternoon teas, and was an agent for Daren Bread. Next was Frank Andrews, a saddler, who supplemented his income by repairing cycles. On the left was Mrs Mabel Harwood, a milliner, whose business was in competition with the Misses M & H Bishop, then J Catesby, the 'cheapest ironmonger in town.' Just visible is the Three Fishes, which also served as the post office.
An extract from from"North and East Hertfordshire Photographic Memories".
The network of canals developed mainly in the 18th century before the arrival of the railway. The complex of rivers and canals at Stanstead St Margarets and Stanstead Abbots bring together the Lea, the New River, Stanstead Mill Stream and, slightly further to the south, the River Stort. It has been a source of confusion to visitors that the river is called the Lea, whilst the Navigation is called the Lee! No one seems to know the reason for the difference.
An extract from from"North and East Hertfordshire Photographic Memories".
Originally called Isneye, Easneye was bought by Thomas Fowell Buxton in 1866. A new house was built to a design by Alfred Waterhouse, the architect of St Pancras Station and London’s Natural History Museum. Its Gothic exterior is particularly attractive to film makers, and Easneye became St Trinian’s School when the stories by Ronald Searle were filmed. Today Easneye is the All Nations College for Missionaries.
An extract from from"Hertfordshire Living Memories".
Running downhill into Stanstead Abbots from the north-east, Cats Hill presents a formidable hazard to modern motorists. It was not so in the 1960s, without a vehicle in view. In the 1600s it would not have been the horse-drawn wagons that the visitor first noticed, but more likely the smell, for Stanstead Abbots was a centre for the manufacture of woad. Queen Elizabeth would not have a woad mill within five miles of any of her palaces, and it is reported that at Stanstead visitors were 'constrained to stop their nosses as they go bye, the stink is so grate'. Today, Cats Hill is notorious for out-of-control vehicles careering into the dwellings.
An extract from from"North and East Hertfordshire Photographic Memories".