Croxley Green

Croxley Green
Hertfordshire
The Green, Croxley Green
Location
Grid reference:	TQ075955
Location:	51°38’49"N, 0°26’42"W
Data
Population:	12,000
Post town:	Rickmansworth
Postcode:	WD3
Dialling code:	01923
Local Government
Council:	Three Rivers
Parliamentary constituency:	South West Hertfordshire

Croxley Green is a village of some 5,000 homes and 12,000 people, between Watford and Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire.

Croxley is about 20 miles north-west of London and is popular as a commuter village; Croxley Station is on the Metropolitan Line and has a 40-minute service to Baker Street Station.

Croxley Green's central feature is a large village green of almost 19½ acres, surrounded by some of its oldest buildings. On the Green are held many events in the summer, most famously "Revels on The Green", an annual village fair. Other events on the Green include a firework display on New Year's Eve organised by the Parish Council. Beside the Green is a historic orchard.

In 2008 a group of residents were successful in gaining a second "village green", obtaining that status for a small area of woodland known as "Buddleia Wood" to the south of the village, to protect the area from a proposed development by London Underground.

About the village

Grand Union Canal at Croxley Green

Croxley has a large village green, which is the heart and glory of the village and hidden away, a second, recently established village green; Buddleia Wood.

A section of the Grand Union Canal runs by Croxley, south of the village, between it and Croxley Common Moor, with a lock and many moored houseboats. The canal towpath provides miles of pleasant walking and across it the moor.

The new neighbourhood of Bywaters sits on the south side of the canal, isolated from the village.

The parish has 18 designated public footpaths a total of 5 miles long mainly through woodlands and adjacent countryside within the parish boundary.

• Croxley Common Moor is a 100 acres of open grassland serving as a local nature reserve. It lies to the south of the village between the Rivers Gade and Colne. It was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1986.

• Croxley Great Barn is a 600 year old monastic barn, now owned by Hertfordshire County Council.

• Croxley Windmill is a private house converted from a windmill, Grade II* listed.

The Croxley Revels

The Croxley Revels or Revels on The Green are held on the Green every June, organised by the Revels Committee, a voluntary group.

The Revels begin with a carnival procession around Croxley finishing on the Green. Stalls set up by local organisation surround a central arena where performances and schools sports competitions take place throughout the afternoon, the latter culminating in a junior schools' pushball championship.

The traditional maypole dance forming a central feature of the Revels used to be illustrated on the road signs on entering the village.

The revels were featured in Metro-land, a television documentary made in 1973 by John Betjeman, who referred to the Revels solemnly as "a tradition dating back to 1952".

Development

The village began around the Green, where several houses dating from the 17th century stand.

There is extensive building from the 19th Century centred around New Road. Croxley Mill was built in 1830 adjacent to the Grand Union Canal by the paper manufacturer John Dickinson, who laid out Dickinson Square to house his managers. Croxley Script stationery used to be produced there by John Dickinson and Co Ltd. but is now made elsewhere.

A great number of houses were built in the 1930s, when the Metropolitan Line reached Croxley, a trend which continued after the interruption of the Second World War.

Churches

• Church of England
  • All Saints' Church, The Green
  • St Oswald's Church, Malvern Way
• Baptist: Croxley Green Baptist Church, Baldwin's Lane
• Evangelical: Christ First, Fuller Way
• Methodist: Croxley Green Methodist Church, New Road
• Roman Catholic: St Bede's, Baldwins Lane

Local organisations

Croxley Green is rich in local clubs and societies. It has busy churches, an active Residents' Association and a Parish Council and is also the home of an array of local organisations dedicated to pastimes and leisure.

The Croxley Green Society run the "Revels" and there are many and various clubs including the Camera, Needlecrafters, Wine, Vineyard, Bicycle, Jazz, and Folk to mention but a few who appear at the Revels and take part in the life of the village.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Croxley Green)

• Croxley Green community website
• Croxley Green Local History
• Croxley Green Residents' Association
• Croxley Great Barn
• Map of Croxley Common Moor SSSI
• Croxley Green Parish Council
• Events:
  • Croxley Revels
  • Croxfest music festival on the Green
  • FestivOs - St Oswald's Church 75th anniversary celebrations in 2012