Sandridge

Sandridge is a village and civil parish between St Albans and Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire, England.

Sandridge

The centre of Sandridge seen from the south
Sandridge
Location within Hertfordshire
Area5.86 sq mi (15.2 km2)
Population11,451 (2011)[1]
• Density1,954/sq mi (754/km2)
OS grid referenceTL175105
Civil parish
  • Sandridge
District
  • St Albans
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townST ALBANS
Postcode districtAL4
PoliceHertfordshire
FireHertfordshire
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
WebsiteSandridge Parish Council

History
St Leonard's parish church

The original name was "Saundruage" meaning a place of sandy soil serviced by bond tenants.

The earliest recorded mention of Sandridge is in the year 796 the parish being part of the revenue of the Mercian Kings. It was given by Egfrith son of Offa in the first year of his reign to abbot Eadric second abbot of St Alban's Monastery and to the monks of St Albans.

Part of the parish of Sandridge was added to the Municipal Borough of St Albans in 1887. The remainder of the parish was renamed Sandridge Rural in 1894 when Sandridge Rural Parish Council was formed. In 1913 a further 241 acres were transferred to St Albans. The parish name reverted to Sandridge in 1957.[2]

Second Battle of St Albans

In February 1461 the final skirmishes of the Second Battle of St Albans took place in and around Sandridge as the Earl of Warwick, for the Yorkists, retreated towards Nomansland.

Information
Hopkins Crescent in Sandridge pictured in November 2013.

The population of Sandridge ward at the time of the 2001 census was 4,808. This includes some people living in the Jersey Farm area of St Albans.

The village has three pubs: the Green Man, the Rose and Crown and the Queen's Head.

The village church is St Leonard's and dates back to 1114.

It also supports Sandridge Rovers F.C., who play in the Hertfordshire Senior County League.

Sandridge was one of the earlier homes of the great English general, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and his infamous wife, Sarah, a favourite of Queen Anne. The title Baron Sandridge was given to Churchill by James II in 1685, and was his first English peerage title (his earlier title, Baron Eyemouth, had been created in 1682 by James's predecessor, Charles II, in the Peerage of Scotland).

In 1939 the first Second World War secret Wireless Intercept Station was constructed by the GPO at the top of Woodcock Hill. It was the first of a group of stations dedicated to Diplomatic Interception with rows of radio operators listening to the wireless traffic between Germany, Italy, Tokyo and other enemy embassies around the world. Messages intercepted at Sandridge were sent to Bletchley Park for decryption. The results were vital to Winston Churchill who used the information to make important decisions about the course of the war. After the Second World War it became part of the Diplomatic Wireless Service under GCHQ and in 1973 the site was taken over by the Home Office for police research.

In 2008 the Woodland Trust announced plans to create a new forest north of Sandridge.[3] The 860 acres (350 hectares) of woodland are to be called Heartwood Forest.[4]

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References
  1. "Local statistics - Office for National Statistics". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  2. "Sandridge CP through time | Census tables with data for the Parish-level Unit". Visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  3. Alexandra Barham (30 July 2008). "Huge forest planned". St Albans & Harpenden Review. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  4. "Mickey Mouse brings Disney magic to Sandridge forest". The Herts Advertiser. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.

Some dates in the history of St Leonard's Church, Sandridge, A paper read at a meeting of the St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archeological Society, held at Sandridge, June 24, 1900 by the Rev J.A. Cruikshank M.A.

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