Willian, Hertfordshire

Willian

All Saints church, Willian
Willian
 Willian shown within Hertfordshire
OS grid referenceTL225308
DistrictNorth Hertfordshire
Shire countyHertfordshire
RegionEast
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY
Postcode district SG6
Dialling code 01462
Police Hertfordshire
Fire Hertfordshire
Ambulance East of England
EU Parliament East of England
UK ParliamentNorth East Hertfordshire
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire

Coordinates: 51°57′38″N 0°13′17″W / 51.9606°N 0.2215°W / 51.9606; -0.2215

Willian is a small village in North Hertfordshire, with a population of approximately 326. Along with Norton and Old Letchworth, it is one of the original villages which the garden city of Letchworth Garden City (where the 2011 Census population was included) grew up around. Despite this, it retains a distinctive character. The village was referred to in the Domesday Book as "Wilie", and the name probably derives from a word meaning "willows".[1][2]

The village has two pubs, the Fox, which used to boast a bar with 16th century beams and low ceilings, now replaced by modern decor, and the Three Horseshoes, a Village Stores and Post Office and a large pond. The original parish church, All Saints', has a tower with clocks on two sides; two sides are blank, supposedly so that farm labourers would not be able to tell when to leave work. This continues to be an active parish church in the village. Its daughter church of St Paul's, Letchworth became a separate parish church in 1963.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Willian, Hertfordshire.
  1. Eilert Ekwall (1960). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. Oxford: OUP.
  2. Stokes, H.G. (1948). "A Land of Woods and Water". English Place-Names. Edinburgh: B. T. Batsford Ltd. p. 8.
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