St Paul's Walden

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St Paul's Walden
Hertfordshire
All Saints, St Paul's Walden, Herts - geograph.org.uk - 443328.jpg
All Saints, St Paul's Walden
Location
Grid reference: TL193223
Location: 51°53’12"N, 0°16’4"W
Data
Post town: Hitchin
Postcode: SG4
Local Government
Council: North Hertfordshire

St Paul's Walden is a village in Hertfordshire about 5 miles south of Hitchin. The wider civil parish includes the village of Whitwell and the hamlet of Bendish.

St Paul's Walden has two 18th-century mansions, both standing in parks of great beauty:

  • Stagenhoe (once owned by the Earls of Caithness) and
  • St Paul's Walden Bury (owned by the Bowes-Lyon family)

The parish church is not "St Paul's" but All Saints. The parish also includes the Church of St Martin in Preston.

St Paul's Walden Bury

St Paul's Walden Bury is a stately home and surrounding gardens located in St Paul's Walden. It is a home of the Bowes-Lyon family, the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne. The house is best known for its connection with one daughter of that family; the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. St Paul's Walden Bury was of her childhood homes, it was possibly the site of her birth. It was here that she finally accepted a proposal of marriage from Prince Albert, who became King George VI.

The estate has been in the possession of the Bowes-Lyon family since 1725. The gardens are large and set in extensive woodland. The gardens are Grade I listed by English Heritage on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The gardens were designed in part by Geoffrey Jellicoe.

Outside links

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References