Bishop's Stortford
[1] The district of East Hertfordshire, where the town centre is located, was ranked as the best place to live in the UK by the Halifax Quality of Life annual survey in 2020.Limited evidence of ancient Mesolithic and Microlithic peoples in the form of flakes, cores and an axe have been found on the Meads and Silverleys respectively.Most Bronze Age evidence is from the neighbouring parish of Thorley to the south as opposed to Stortford proper, but a 3,000 year old socketed spearhead has been found at Haymeads Lane within the town.[12] By the 15th century, the castle had fallen into disrepair, and the Bishop's Court (one of the administrative structures for the area) moved to Hockerill, to the east of the town.[11] In terms of governance, early medieval Stortford was part of the Braughing Hundred, but acquired burgesses and between 1306 and 1336 was taxed as a borough.[15][16] At the start of the early modern period in the mid 15th century, Stortford was a primarily agricultural community, but had also acquired a tanning industry.[17] The economic draw of the maltings and the town's market supported a large number of inns and public houses by the middle of the 16th century pointing to its prosperity.The effects of the plague were so severe that the town had to appeal to the Hertfordshire magistrates, who levied a rate on every parish in the county for the relief of Bishop's Stortford, Hoddesdon and Cheshunt.[22] King Charles II had in the 1660s been increasingly travelling from London to Newmarket for the races and disliked the noise and congestion of Stortford, with its odorous market, maltings and tanneries.Moreover, the route was not always passable as noted by diarist Samuel Pepys who in made the following entry in his diary on 23 May 1668: ‘and so to Bishop's Stafford [sic].As a result, the road from London to Newmarket was diverted to the east of the centre of Stortford, and instead ran through the outlying settlement of Hockerill.The advent of the Stort Navigation brought new industries to the town, with bargemen, lock-keepers, wharfingers, coal and timber merchants all appearing.[32] A Bishop's Stortford–Braintree branch line was built to Braintree to bring goods into Stortford from the surrounding more rural areas, with the first section to Great Dunmow opening in 1864.Stortford continued to grow as a commuter town from the second half of the 20th century onwards, spurred by the construction of the M11 motorway and Stansted Airport, as well as rail links to London and Cambridge.[1] Of the seven suburbs of Thorley, Town, Havers, Stortford Fields, Bishop's Park, St Michael's Mead and Snowley the last is a separate ecclesiastical parish east of the River Stort, centred around the old coaching inns, All Saints in Stansted Road and Snowley Parade, bordering Birchanger Woods and Essex.[19][20] By the time of the first nationwide census in 1801 Stortford's population had reached 2,305[46] spurred by the town's position on the Hockerill Turnpike[25] and the canalisation of the River Stort.[52] The number of people describing themselves as having a white background in 2011 was significantly higher than the England aggregate of 85.4%, but slightly lower than the overall East Hertfordshire figure.[74] In addition to East Hertfordshire topping the Halifax Quality of Life survey in 2020,[75] Stortford has been highlighted as a popular commuter town in articles in The Times,[76] The Evening Standard,[77] and the Metro newspaper London.[80] This is reflected in Stortford in the 2011 census having a much higher proportion of workers in managerial and professional occupations than the national average,[51] as shown in the table below.In 2017, three out of four tubes failed to meet the UK National Objective of 40μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre):[104] Stansted Airport is located to the east of the town, with rail and bus links to Stortford; it serves over 200 destinations globally.The church contains a notable rose window designed by Hugh Ray Easton and a two-manual Henry Willis II organ.[133] Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club was formed in 1948 and is based at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School, with a clubhouse and state of the art pitch.[139] Thorley Cricket Club play in Bishop's Stortford and, as of 2021, had 40 adult members and over 100 children in their summer coaching programme.Performers included David Bowie, Stevie Wonder and Lulu as well as iconic bands such as The Who, The Animals, The Moody Blues, Small Faces and Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders.[147] Located in the town centre is the Complex, Anchor Street Entertainment, a multiplex which contains a health club, bowling alley and a number of food outlets.[149] There is also a summer Carnival, involving a procession with over 100 community groups taking part, bands, fairground rides, entertainers and stalls.[151] Other public houses included the 15th-century Boars Head, 16th-century Black Lion, and the Curriers Arms was in Market Square from the 1700s until 1904, in the building which until recently was a Zizzi restaurant.Stortford has grown around the River Stort valley, with the town centre lying about 60 metres above sea level, rising to over 100 metres above sea level on the eastern and western margins of the town.Being in the south-east, the town enjoys a warmer climate than most of Britain and summer temperatures may sometimes reach the mid-30s C/ it is also one of the driest places in the country.there has been up to three inches of snow early in the year, which has resulted in minor disruption to transport and caused some schools to close for several days.The nearest weather station for which averages and extremes are available is Stansted Airport, about 2+1⁄2 miles (4 kilometres) due east of Stortford's town centre.
HertfordshireOS grid referenceCivil parishDistrictEast HertfordshireShire countyRegionCountryEnglandSovereign statePost townPostcode districtCM22, CM23Dialling codePoliceAmbulanceEast of EnglandUK ParliamentHertford and StortfordLondon commuter beltM11 motorwayStansted AirportCentral LondonLiverpool Street stationBishop of LondonRiver StortcartographersRoman eraarchaeologicalMesolithicThorleyBronze AgeBraughingLittle HallingburyStane StreetSt AlbansAnglo-SaxonNorman Conquestmotte-and-baileyWaytemore CastleKing JohnDomesday BookBraughing HundredEdward IIEdward IIItanningmaltingCharles IEnglish Civil WarParliamentariansRestorationThe Great Plague of 1666–7HoddesdonCheshuntKing Charles IINewmarketSamuel PepysEast AngliaTurnpike TrustHarlowGreat ChesterfordActs of ParliamentNorwichStort NavigationSir George DuckettBishop's Stortford Corn ExchangeBishop's Stortford–Braintree branch lineBraintreeGreat DunmowEncyclopædia BritannicaWorld War IImulti-storey car parkpenthousesAll Saintsfirst nationwide census in 1801HertfordEuropean UnionEast Hertfordshire District CouncilHertfordshire County CouncilLocal Government DistrictUrban DistrictvestryhundredPoor Law Unionlocal boardLocal Government Act 1894First World WarGeorge Jacksoncoat of armsLocal Government Act 1972successor parishBraughing Rural District CouncilHertford and Stortford (UK Parliament constituency)House of Commons of the United KingdomThe TimesThe Evening StandardMetro newspaper LondonBusiness Improvement DistrictSawbridgeworthStansted MountfitchetBBC LondonITV LondonCrystal PalaceBBC EastITV AngliaSandy HeathBBC Three Counties RadioHeart HertfordshireBishop's Stortford railway stationWest Anglia Main LineGreater AngliaLondon Liverpool StreetTottenham HaleCambridge NorthHarlow TownStratfordEast LondonEpping tube stationLondon UndergroundCentral lineEaling BroadwayCambridgeLondonM11 corridorPuckeridgeRoyston