Ashwell is the most northerly parish in North Hertfordshire. Its northern ‘tongue’ borders Bedfordshire to the west and Cambridgeshire to the east. It contains the communities of Ashwell, the main settlement, and Redlands, on the county boundary to the east of the village.
St Mary’s Church, Ashwell
History links
Ashwell has its own village museum, which has a collection of objects from the parish and surrounding area, including a Roman marble statue of Venus. Its website gives details of opening hours and online resources.
The village’s page on the Hertfordshire Memories website.
A brief history by David Short.
The Archaeology of Ashwell part 1, a talk by Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews from 2013. This talk deals with prehistory.
The Archaeology of Ashwell part 2, a talk by Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews from 2013. This talk takes you from the Roman Conquest to the Norman Conquest.
The Archaeology of Ashwell part 3, a talk by Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews from 2016. This talk deals with the medieval town.
Ashwell, Hertfordshire, from the Access Cambridge Archaeology website, details the results of archaeological test pits dug in 2011 and 2012.
Domesday Book
Ashwell’s entries in Domesday Book, compiled in 1086.
Family history links
The Uk and Ireland Genealogy website explains where to find parish registers.
The Family Search website links to free and subscription resources.
Further reading
Beldam, J 1859 Memoir on excavations at Arbury Banks. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London 4 (Ser 1), 285-90
Burleigh, G R 1976 An early pagan Saxon cemetery, near Slip End, Ashwell. Hertfordshire’s Past (1), 18
Burleigh, G R 2005 Fieldwork at the Near Baldock hoard site, Hertfordshire. CBA Mid-Anglia Newsletter (Spring 2005)
Burleigh, G R 2006 The Senuna temple: fieldwork at the Near Baldock hoard site, Hertfordshire. Journal of Roman Archaeology
Jackson, R 2004 The Near Baldock hoard. Treasure Annual Report 2002
Jackson, R 2004 The Near Baldock hoard. Instrumentum 20
Jackson, R & Burleigh, G R 2005 From Senua to Senuna. British Museum Magazine 52
Jackson, R & Burleigh, G R 2017 Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, HertfordshireLondon: British Museum
McCarroll, P A 1992 More Archaeological Finds from the Garden of ‘The Steppes’, Springhead, Ashwell, Hertfordshire: additional catalogue. Letchworth: North Hertfordshire District Council
Short, D 1977 Ashwell. In: Dulley, F, Burleigh, G, Sawford, B, Rowe, S & Short, D 1977 Hedges and Local History. Hertfordshire’s Past (3), 22-24
Short, D 1997 Snippets of Ashwell’s History (Volume 1), illustrated by Phil Collins. Ashwell Education Services
Short, D 2012 Snippets of Ashwell’s History (Volume 2), illustrated by Phil Collins. Ashwell Education Services
Went, D A & Colley, C 1990 A Catalogue of the Archaeological Finds from the Garden of ‘The Steppes’, Springhead, Ashwell, Hertfordshire. Letchworth: North Hertfordshire District Council