About

Why Church End and why me?

Church End is where I grew up. It is situate in the southern part of the village of Redbourn in Hertfordshire, a few miles north of St.Albans. My family moved there when I was a few months old and until I left home for university it was my home and the place where my earliest experiences were forged. It is also an historic place, one of the earliest parts of the village, with many old houses (even though I grew up in one of the more modern ones). It has a pub, and in my early life had a store opposite the house as well. As the name suggests, the village parish church is at the end of the road, and acted as barometer of change in the village. Before I went into my teens, my days were measured by the chiming of the church clock, and the pulse of the village by the christenings, weddings and funerals that regularly took place there.

When I was away at college my father moved away and I never lived there again, but I still have an affinity with the place. It is a beautiful road, probably the finest in the village and with a claim to being one of the best in Hertfordshire. It’s importance is even shown on maps where it is labelled separately from the rest of the village, and until the twentieth century was often seen as ‘separate’ from the rest of the village. Incidentally, it will be very difficult to remove Church End from its immediate neighbours of West and East Common, but the principle focus will remain on Church End.

As a historian I have always maintained a desire to find out more about the street and its past. This, for what it is worth, is that attempt.

(As a part of this website I also have a blog. Apart from the occasional academic contribution to the history of Church End, I’m also going to write anecdotal memories of growing up in Church End and Redbourn more generally. Forgive me for this indulgence.)