Great Amwell

Great Amwell
Hertfordshire
Poet's Corner on The New River
Location
Grid reference:	TL370124
Location:	51°47’40"N, 0°-0’51"W
Data
Postcode:	SG12
Local Government
Council:	East Hertfordshire

Great Amwell is a village in Hertfordshire, a mile and a half south of Ware.

Great Amwell is about twenty miles north of London, and was once the source of much of its water, for the New River begins here, taken for the well that gives the village its name, and conveyed by channels and pipes towards the city. The New River, which still flows south, is celebrated in a standing museum exhibit in the village.

The East India College was founded here in 1806, for the education of young men intended for the civil service of the East India Company in India. It is now a public school; Haileybury College.

On a hill above the church is an ancient mound, the remains of a fortification; and in Barrow field, on the road to Hertford, is a large barrow.

Parish church

St John the Baptist, Great Amwell

The parish church is dedicated to St John the Baptist. Great Amwell has been the residence of some celebrated literary characters, among whom are: Izaak Walton, (1593–1683) the noted angler. John Scott of Amwell, (1730–83), author of several poems and tracts, who built a grotto, containing several apartments, which still exists. John Hoole, (1727–1803), the distinguished translator of Tasso, and biographer of Scott. The remains of William Warner, (1558?-1609), the poet and historian, are interred in the churchyard. Also buried here in 1978 was Harold Abrahams, the Olympian who was depicted in Chariots of Fire. Richard Warren (d 1628) a passenger on the Mayflower in 1620, who settled in Plymouth Colony and co-signed the Mayflower Compact, married on April 14, 1610 at St. John the Baptist Anglican Church, Great Amwell, Elizabeth Walker, daughter of Augustine Walker. Richard and Elizabeth are the ancestors of two US Presidents, Ulysses S Grant and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The New River

Memorial stone on the New River

Main article: New River

The New River is an artificial waterway; a Jacobean scheme created to supply fresh water to London. It was opened in 1613, taking its water from the River Lea and from Amwell Springs (the latter however ceased to flow by the end of the 19th century), and other springs and wells along its course.

The New River head today is in fact above Great Amwell, taken off the Lea between Hertford and Ware, but Amwell is its foundation and a little museum is found here telling the story of the project. A delightful memorial stone stands by the river too, with the legend:

“

AMWELL perpetual be thy Stream Nor e'er thy Spring be left Wych thousands drink who never dream Whence flows the boon they bless Too often thus ungrateful Man Blingd and unconscious lives Enjoys kind Heav'n's indulgent plan Nor thinks of him who gives

”

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Great Amwell)

• Amwell (A Guide to Old Hertfordshire)
• A Brief History of Hertford Heath based on a note written by Esme Nix of Rush Green and describing Little Amwell

References

Books

• Heath, Cyril The Book of Amwell Barracuda Books Limited, 1980 ISBN 0-86023-085-6
• Doree, Stephen and Perman, David Amwell and Stanstead's Past in Pictures Publisher: The Rockingham Press 1997, ISBN 1-873468-57-1