King's Walden

{{Short description|Civil parish in Hertfordshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |official_name= King's Walden |static_image_name= King's Walden Village Store.jpg |static_image_caption= Village Store, Plough Lane, King's Walden |coordinates = {{coord|51.885100|-0.327719|display=inline,title}} |civil_parish= King's Walden |population_ref = 995 (Parish, 2021)<ref name=2021census>{{cite web |title=2021 Census Parish Profiles |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_pp |website=NOMIS |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=31 March 2025}} (To get individual parish data, use the query function on table PP002.)</ref> |shire_district= [[North Hertfordshire]] |shire_county= [[Hertfordshire]] |region= East of England |constituency_westminster= [[Hitchin (constituency)|Hitchin]]  |post_town= HITCHIN |postcode_district = SG4 |postcode_area= SG |dial_code= 01438 |os_grid_reference= TL151220 }}

'''King's Walden''' is a village and [[civil parish]] in the [[North Hertfordshire]] district, in the county of [[Hertfordshire]], England. The parish contains several settlements, with the largest village being '''Breachwood Green'''. King's Walden itself is a non-nucleated settlement, with several small clusters of development, notably around the parish church, at Plough Lane (where the village shop and pub are located), and at '''Ley Green'''. In 2021 the parish had a population of 995.

The parish also includes the [[Hamlet (place)|hamlets]] of '''Darleyhall''', '''Lye Hill''', '''Wandon End''', '''Wandon Green''' and '''Winch Hill'''. At the south of the parish there is '''Lawrence End''' Park. The parish covers a large rural area lying south-west of the town of [[Hitchin]], which serves as its [[post town]], and also adjoins the north-eastern edge of [[Luton]]. The end of the runway at [[Luton Airport]] was in the parish until a boundary change in 1989 transferred that area to Luton.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire (County Boundaries) Order 1989|year=1989|number=284|access-date=25 May 2024}}</ref>

== King's Walden settlement == The parish name is derived from the Old English '''walh denu','' which means a valley of [[Celtic Britons|Britons]]. The name is used by both King's Walden and the neighbouring parish of [[St Paul's Walden]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nottingham University |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Hertfordshire/Kings%20Walden |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref> Walden was cited in a charter dated AD 888, when King [[Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians|Æthelred of Mercia]] granted land to a thegn, Wulfgar.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Birch |first=Walter de Gray |url=http://archive.org/details/cartulariumsaxo04bircgoog |title=Cartularium saxonicum: a collection of charters relating to Anglo-Saxon history |date=1885 |publisher=London, Whiting & company (limited) |others=Harvard University}}</ref> At the time, it was close to the border between English Mercia and the [[Danelaw]].

[[File:St Mary, King's Walden, Herts - geograph.org.uk - 471773.jpg|thumb|left|St Mary's Church, King's Walden]] In 1086, the community of ''Waldenei'' contained 53 households, which was large compared to other Domesday era settlements in the ancient [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of Hitchin.<ref>[http://opendomesday.org/place/TL1623/kings-walden/ Open Domesday Online: King's Walden], accessed January 2018.</ref>

The community of King's Walden itself is a loose-knit dispersed settlement in a number of clusters, notably around the parish church and village hall in the south, around the village shop and pub (The Plough) on Plough Lane in the centre, and up to Ley Green in the north, all of which have King's Walden postal addresses.

==Breachwood Green== [[File:Cottages at Breachwood Green.jpg|thumb|Cottages on Chapel Road, Breachwood Green]] Breachwood Green is the largest settlement in the parish of King's Walden. Its built up area had an estimated population of 721 in 2022.<ref name=bua>{{cite web |title=Population estimates - small area (2021 based) by single year of age - England and Wales |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/advanced.aspx |website=NOMIS |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=19 April 2025}} To get data for individual built-up areas, query the 'Population Estimates / Projections' dataset, then the 'Small area (2021 based) by single year of age - England and Wales' and then choose '2022 built-up areas' for the geography.</ref> It lies 1 mile south-west of King's Walden itself. Breachwood Green has one pub, the Red Lion, which is owned by [[Greene King]]. The village has the only school in the parish, Breachwood Green JMI, which was built in 1859.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.breachwoodgreen.herts.sch.uk/school_history.htm |title=Breachwood Green JMI - School History |access-date=2008-09-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040806132252/http://www.breachwoodgreen.herts.sch.uk/school_history.htm |archive-date=2004-08-06 }}</ref> [[File:Red Lion, Breachwood Green.jpg|thumb|The Red Lion at Breachwood Green]] During the 1970s, there was a separate Post Office and Village Stores located in different parts of the village. The Post Office was originally located in Chapel Road next to the Red Lion. This moved a few hundred yards along the road north, near St Mary's Rise. It then moved again in the mid-1970s to the village store on retirement of the village postmistress. The Village Store closed during the 1990s and has become part of a neighbouring car showroom which was formerly the village petrol station.

[[File:Baptist Church, Breachwood Green (18807237403).jpg|thumb|Breachwood Green Baptist Church]] The village also has a large Baptist chapel, built in 1904 in a free [[Arts and Crafts movement|Arts and Crafts]] style with [[Perpendicular Gothic]] references.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Breachwood Green Baptist Church|num=1347430|grade=II}}</ref>

[[File:Breachwood Green Windmill.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Breachwood Green Mill, King's Walden|Converted windmill at Breachwood Green]]]] To the north of the village is [[Breachwood Green Mill, King's Walden|Breachwood Green Mill]], a partially restored windmill (without sails).<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Windmill about 230 metres to west of Roundabout Plantation|num=1347456|grade=II}}</ref>

==Darleyhall== '''Darleyhall''' lies ½ mile west of Breachwood Green.

==Lye Hill== '''Lye Hill''' lies ½ mile south of Breachwood Green.

==Wandon End== '''Wandon End''' lies 1 mile west of Breachwood Green.<ref name=ODOw>[http://opendomesday.org/place/XX0000/wandon-end-and-wandon-green/ Open Domesday Online: Wandon End and Wandon Green], accessed January 2018.</ref>

==Wandon Green== '''Wandon Green''' lies 1 mile south of Breachwood Green and includes Diamond End.<ref name=ODOw />

==Winch Hill== '''Winch Hill''' lies 1 mile south-west of Breachwood Green. It is made up of several houses and a derelict farm adjacent to Eastern perimeter of [[London Luton Airport]]; much of the land here is owned by the [[Crown Estate]].

==Governance== [[File:Breachwood Green Village Hall.jpg|thumb|Breachwood Green Village Hall]] There are three tiers of local government covering King's Walden, at [[Parish council (England)|parish]], [[non-metropolitan district|district]], and [[non-metropolitan county|county]] level: King's Walden Parish Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, and [[Hertfordshire County Council]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref> The parish council meets at Breachwood Green Village Hall on Chapel Road.<ref>{{cite web |title=King's Walden Parish Council |url=https://kingswaldenparish.co.uk/kings-walden-parish-council/ |access-date=4 May 2025}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|King's Walden}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20051001011413/http://www.aqzf75.dsl.pipex.com/history.htm History of Breachwood Green in the parish of King's Walden]

[[Category:Villages in Hertfordshire]] [[Category:Civil parishes in Hertfordshire]] [[Category:North Hertfordshire District]]