West Hyde

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West Hyde
Hertfordshire
West Hyde, The Church of St. Thomas of Canterbury - geograph.org.uk - 98113.jpg
St Thomas, West Hyde
Location
Grid reference: TQ033912
Location: 51°36’38"N, 0°30’32"W
Data
Post town: Rickmansworth
Postcode: WD3
Dialling code: 01923
Local Government
Council: Three Rivers
Parliamentary
constituency:
South West Hertfordshire

West Hyde is a little village in Hertfordshire, built around a green and beside the artificial lakes along the valley of the River Colne.

West Hyde is in the south-westernmost finger of the county, with the borders of Buckinghamshire close by to the south and the west and the border of Middlesex to the east, on the Colne. To the north is Maple Cross, Hertfordshire.

The A412 Denham Way runs by from north to south from Maple Cross to Denham, Buckinghamshire. West Hyde lies off the road of today; its main street the original route, since bypassed, and named the Old Uxbridge Road.

The parish church is St Thomas, at the north of the village.

Around and about

Lake at West Hyde

East of the body of the village is a series of manmade lakes; the result of gravel workings. By The Oaks a narrow lane, Copper Mill Lane, runs off by and threads among the lakes, the name of the lane bearing witness to the industry which was once prevalent here. It reaches the bridge over the River Colne and its canal (a section of the Grand Union Canal), squeezing over the canal bridge into Harefield, Middlesex at the Coy Carp.

In the Colne Valley here, William Bradbery of West Hyde pioneered watercress production which, though not found now on these waters, is well supported on the River Chess. A road in Maple Cross is named Bradbery to commemorate him.