Great Hormead Park

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.

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.

Brent Pelham Windmill is a Grade II listed smock mill at Brent Pelham, Hertfordshire, England which is derelict.

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.

Bozen Green is a hamlet in Hertfordshire, England. It includes the lost settlement of Bordesden. It is in the civil parish of Braughing

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.

Dassels is a hamlet in the district of East Hertfordshire, in the county of Hertfordshire. Nearby settlements include the town of Ware and the village of Braughing. It is on the B1368 road. It is near the River Quin.

Hare Street House is a Grade II* listed building in the hamlet of Hare Street that lies between Buntingford and Great Hormead in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is mainly associated with the Roman Catholic priest and writer Robert Hugh Monsignor Benson, who owned the house from 1906 until his death in 1914.The earliest parts of the building date from the late 16th or early 17th century. The brick frontage was added in the early 18th century, possibly for William Benn (Sheriff of Hertfordshire and Lord Mayor of London in 1747). The house was in disrepair when Benson saw it in 1903 and purchased it for "an extraordinarily low sum". Benson carried out many internal alterations, with the help of the artist Gabriel Pippet. Monsignor Benson left Hare Street House to the Archdiocese of Westminster following his death. It has been used as a country retreat for the archbishop and remained under the ownership of the archdiocese until 2019. Further restoration was carried out in 1962 for William Cardinal Godfrey who had earlier appointed the poet and mystic John Bradburne to be caretaker.A charitable trust "to generate income for the upkeep and repair of Hare Street House" was maintained by the Archdiocese of Westminster. Cardinal Hinsley died at Hare Street House in 1943.It was reported in 2018 that the archdiocese could no longer afford the upkeep and was putting the property up for sale. It was sold in October 2019. A 17th century brewhouse in the grounds was converted to a chapel by Benson. This too has listed status as do the gates to the grounds. A further chapel stands in the grounds of the house, built over the former grave of Monsignor Benson and dedicated to St Hugh. The Benson Memorial Church, dedicated to St Richard of Chichester, is a Roman Catholic church in Buntingford. Benson helped fund construction of the church and laid the foundation stone but died before the building was completed.

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.

Albury is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about five miles west of Bishop's Stortford. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 537, increasing in the 2011 Census to 595.Albury lies between Little Hadham to the south and Furneux Pelham to the north and includes the hamlets Albury End, Clapgate, Patmore Heath and Upwick Green. The 1894–1895 edition of The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales listed the hamlets: Albury End, Church End, Clapgate, Gravesend, Patmore Heath, and Upwich. An earlier gazetteer, the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales dated 1870–1872 stated that the north-lying Patient-End is an Albury hamlet. Gravesend and Patmore Heath are 400 metres apart. The name "Albury" derives from the Old English ald (old) and burh (fortification).To the northwest of the village stood Albury Hall, a three-storey manor house believed to have been re-built by MP John Calvert, around 1780 after an earlier house was demolished. Calvert's son, also named John and also an MP, inherited it in 1808, and successive owners modified the house, the army requisitioned it during World War II, and it was demolished around 1950.There is one public house in Albury, The Catherine Wheel which dates from c.1765. The original building was destroyed by fire in 2004 and a replacement building on the same site reopened in 2007. Historically there were another four public houses in Albury, The Fox at Albury End (closed late 1970s), The Labour in Vain at Church End (closed in the 1950s), The Royal Oak at Clapgate (closed 1985) and Jolly Butchers at Clapgate (closed c.1900).

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.

Patmore Heath is a 7.6 hectares (19 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in East Hertfordshire, England, 2 kilometres north-east of Albury. The site was notified in 1985 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Patmore Heath is home to a large amount of dry grass, as well as marshy areas. Much turf throughout the site is dominated by Deschampsia, as well as occurrences of Anthoxanthum odoratum.The site is managed by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. It is accessed by a path from Albury Road and is open at all times.Patmore Heath is also the name of a nearby hamlet.