Brent Pelham Windmill

Brent Pelham is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It lies 5 miles (8 km) east of Buntingford, its post town. It is one of the three Pelhams, along with Stocking Pelham and Furneux Pelham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 198. It shares a grouped parish council with the neighbouring parish of Meesden. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin dates from the 14th century. It contains a tomb of earlier date, likely the 1200s, on which have been carved the name Piers Shonks and the date, 1086. By tradition, Shonks was a local lord who killed a dragon or, less commonly, a giant. The emblems of the Four Evangelists – angel, eagle, lion, and bull – have been carved around a dragon's mouth. The church is part of a benefice with Anstey, Brent Pelham, Hormead, Meesden and Wyddial. Near St Mary's church are ancient stocks which could accommodate up to three people. A derelict windmill survives in the village. There is a Royal Observer Corps observer post just outside the village, but it is now in a state of disrepair. It has an Orlit, which is rare for posts in this area.

Meesden is a village and civil parish of the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. Nearby settlements include Anstey and Brent Pelham. Meesden's Grade II* listed church is dedicated to St Mary.

Great Hormead Park is a 15 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Great Hormead in Hertfordshire. The local planning authority is East Hertfordshire District Council. The site is coppiced ancient woodland on boulder clay. It has diverse tree species, including wych elm and hornbeam, resulting in a rich ground flora. Dog's mercury is dominant over most of the woodland floor, with plants such as angelica sylvestris and tufted hair grass in wetter areas. There is access by footpaths from Great Hormead, Little Hormead and Furneux Pelham.

Furneux Pelham or Furneaux Pelham is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The village is one of the Pelhams, part of an early medieval larger swathe of land known as Pelham including Brent Pelham to the north and Stocking Pelham to the east and north-east. The village is largely linear covering much of the width of the parish from east to west and is buffered by gently sloped fields with some woodland to all sides. It is known for its ford (Violet's Lane) to the north along the upper Ash which is over 1 kilometre (1,100 yd) long traversable by 4x4 enthusiasts most of the year and in the periods of least flow by experienced off-road motorcyclists.

Stocking Pelham is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located on the border with Essex, around 6 miles (10 km) east of Buntingford.The village is one of the three Pelhams, along with the nearby Brent Pelham and Furneux Pelham. Stocking Pelham is home to St. Mary's Church in the Church of England Diocese of St Albans. The aerial view of Stocking Pelham shows that the settlements are sparsely positioned from one another. Close by the village is a major electrical substation of the National Grid.

For the historic house in Essex called Langley's, see Great Waltham. Langley is a village and civil parish near Clavering in the English county of Essex, seven miles west-south-west of Saffron Walden.

Hillcollins Pit or Furneux Pelham Gravel Pit is a 0.2-hectare (0.49-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Furneux Pelham in Hertfordshire. The local planning authority is East Hertfordshire District Council. it was identified as a site of national importance in the Geological Conservation Review in 1988.This is a disused gravel pit which exposes the Westland Green Gravels, which were laid down by the ancestral River Thames 1.6 to 1.8 million years ago. At this time the Thames flowed from Oxford through the Goring Gap to Norwich, and the Gravels show the ancient course of the river. As the original site where the Gravels were identified is now completely degraded, Hillcollins Pit is now considered the type site for the Westland Green Gravels, and is of considerable importance in reconstructing the evolution of the geography of southern Britain.There is access to the site from a track between Furneux Pelham and Gravesend.

Anstey is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Stevenage. According to the 2001 census the population of the parish was 338, reducing to 299 at the 2011 census.The name "Anstey" derives from the Old English ān (narrow, or one-way) and stīg (footpath).There are at least two books on the history of this village. The first is Anstey, a Hertfordshire Parish, written in 1929 by Rev Frank Ricardo Williams, MA, who was the rector from 1907 to 1928 (died 19 May 1937). The second is Anstey: Our True Surname Origin and Shared Medieval Ancestry by GM Anstey and TJ Anstey in which it is shown that all bearers of the surname 'Anstey' worldwide can trace their surname origin to Anstey in Hertfordshire. The Church of England parish church of Saint George is a cruciform building of flint with stone dressings. Its earliest parts are the chancel, transepts and crossing tower, all of which were built in the 12th century. The church was altered in the 13th century and the nave was rebuilt in the 14th century. The south porch and the top stage of the tower are 15th century. The church was restored in 1871–72 under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect William Butterfield. Repairs in 1907 were directed by the architect Arthur Blomfield. St George's is a Grade I listed building. The lychgate is a separate Grade II listed building, as it incorporates a lockup which was apparently used until the beginning of the 20th century.In his book 'England's Thousand best churches' (revised edition 2002), Simon Jenkins refers to a near-miss when a fully-loaded WW2 bomber nearly crashed into the church. This is reference to the crash of a Flying Fortress which crashed on take-off en route to Cologne: all ten crew were killed. Jenkins refers to the church as 'full of Norman mystery'. He pays particular interest to the church font, in which (and very unusually) four mermen are carved into the stone. Jenkins refers to the carvings as '...the rarest of pagan emblems'. A folk tale tells of a fiddler from Anstey named Blind George, who disappeared while exploring an underground passage. He is said to have entered the tunnel playing his fiddle, which could be heard above ground. He stopped suddenly, and screams were heard, and he was not seen again.The village has a pub, The Blind Fiddler, which used to be called The Chequers.

Anstey Castle was in the village of Anstey, Hertfordshire. It was a 12th-century stone motte and bailey fortress that, according to tradition, was founded by Eustace II, Count of Boulogne. It was either him, or one of his immediate progeny who established the first earthwork castle here. The castle had most probably been in existence for some time when the estate was acquired by Geoffrey de Mandeville, for he sought to strengthen his estate in the surrounding valley. It passed into the hands of the de Anstey family in the middle of the 12th century and was strengthened during the First Barons' War of 1215–1216 by Nicholas de Anstey, an opponent of King John, fighting for the barons. After the war ended de Anstey was commanded in 1218 to destroy the castle, with only those parts to remain that had been built before the war. The material from this demolition was supposed to be used in order to repair the nearby church, therefore the crest and shield from the castle feature in the church graffiti.After the death of de Anstey in 1225, the castle and the surrounding estate was seized by the king from his daughter who was a minor at that time. He tasked William Fitz Baldwin to acquire the estate and deliver it to Robert de Rokele, who shall keep it on behalf of the Bishop of Canterbury. the castle is mentioned as such in 1304, but by 1314, it is mentioned as merely a manor, not as a castle.Today, the remains of the castle include a large motte around 8.2 metres (27 ft) in height and measuring 75 by 65 metres (246 by 213 ft). A 10-metre (33 ft) ditch filled with water surrounds the motte, while the bailey to the north and the east is surrounded by a dry ditch. A large mound also remains on the site, which was excavated in 1902–1903 by R.T. Andrews and W. B Gerish but their findings about the age of the castle and when it was built were inconclusive.

Berden Hall is a Grade II* listed Elizabethan country house in Berden, in the Uttlesford District of Essex, England. The house was built in the 1580s. In 2012 the house was on the market for £3.5 million.

St Nicholas' Church is a Grade I listed parish church in the village of Berden, Essex, England. Of the Early English Gothic style, the church has a Norman nave with 13th-century transepts and a tower dated to the 15th century. It underwent major restoration in 1868. The church held a 20th-century 38-year revival of a "Boy Bishop" miracle play. It contains memorials to significant families of the local Berden Hall and Berden Priory, and to a murdered Berden parish constable. St Nicholas' is part of a joint benefice—sharing a common priest— in the Deanery of Saffron Walden of the Diocese of Chelmsford. Other churches in the group are St Mary the Virgin at Manuden; St Simon and St Jude at Quendon; and All Saints at Rickling.

Berden Priory was a priory in Essex, England. This site now has a Grade II* listed late 16th-century timber-framed house, the centre of Berden Priory Farm.