Our Society was founded in 1996 and is run by a small group of people from the village. We share a passionate interest in our community, its people and how it has come to be the way it is. We also understand the importance of recording and maintaining stories, records and artefacts from the village and surrounding areas for the benefit of future generations.
We hold a regular calendar of well-attended talks and lectures in Sarratt Village Hall - meetings take place on Tuesdays at 7:30 for 8pm, with members attending free. Our Annual General Meeting takes place in January and we publish a programme of events every Spring.
We also arrange occasional ‘one-off’ walks of historical interest, and special exhibitions linked to specific historical anniversaries and commemorations.
A programme of events is published each Spring and sent to members. Membership is open to all and, as we research the history of local places and people, we encourage everyone to share their local knowledge with us.
Between August 1940 and January 1941 there were 24 air raids over Watford and a further six VI rockets landed in the town in the summer of 1944, with 58 people losing their lives. This presentation tells the story of those nights: the shelters, the first aid posts, the Air Raid Protection teams and rescue squads, the Town Hall underground control centre, the roads where the bombs fell, and the records that were kept of all incidents.
We are always looking for anyone who is interested in Local History to join the Committee of the society, please contact Sue Clark, Chair SLHS if you would like to come on board.
Our Usual Meeting place: Sarratt Village Hall
Time: 7:30 for 8
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to access the documents presented at the 2024 AGM
The great Roman writers on gardening were full of gardening tips such as averting hail by carrying a crocodile skin through your garden. Over the centuries gardening evolved from subsistence to market gardening and then pleasure gardening. The literature on how to garden is immense: from Palladius (quoted above) to Thomas Tusser's 500 points of good husbandry in 1573 to Mr Middleton, the great gardening broadcaster of WWII. This talk will look at what and how plants were grown in a very quick run through of the last 2000 years.
To celebrate the life of our past Chair Pam Turner - a passionate mediævalist- author and historian Michael Long, who has written many articles on Mediæval and Tudor history, will be sharing with us the fascinating history of (Kings) Langley Palace. Home of Plantagenet Kings and Queens, site of the parliament during the plague and one of the most sophisticated buildings of its age.
Drinks and nibbles will be served from the earlier time of 7.15 pm
Gregory Edmund grew up in Sarratt and has been a member of the Local History Society for many years. He is now a leading Numismatist at Spink and Son and his credits include the most valuable mediæval English coin ever sold at auction, and the recent sale of the Ellerby Hoard. Join Greg for a lively talk about his work and views on the new Charles III coinage!
While the present house dates back to the early 1700s, there has probably been a dwelling at Goldingtons since the time of the Romans. Sue will look at how the house and gardens have changed since mediæval times, and introduce the interesting and diverse range of people who have lived “above and below” stairs over the centuries.
Members of the Local History Society will be delving into the Great Sarratt Scrapbooks and other archives to find the myths and legends that have grown up about the village and Sarratt families. Please come along and share your own stories about our village and its curious past.
Stephen Morrill, will talk to us about pubs local to the Sarratt area, past and present, giving us an insight into how their role in our communities has changed over the years.
Education in Sarratt
Society President Dawn Pitts will deliver the inaugural Pam Turner Memorial Lecture on Education in Sarratt. Pam was Chair of the Sarratt Local History Society for many years and prior to that a Headmistress at an east end secondary school. Join us in a celebration of Pam’s life and contribution to Sarratt Local History.
Dr Wendy Morrison is a Senior Associate Tutor for Archaeology at Oxford University researching Prehistoric Landscape Archaeology. She currently works for the Chilterns Conservation Board as Project Manager of the Beacons of the Past Hillforts project. Wendy will take us on a short archaeological walk in the Chess valley.
West Hertfordshire in the 18th and 19th centuries was home to a number of families who owned slave estates in the Caribbean. Brian Thomson will focus on four families and explore these local links with Britain’s colonial past.
Roger Yapp, Chairman of the Abbots Langley Local History Society will share his research on the role of the Polish Resistance, based in Kings Langley, during the second world war. Explaining the role they played in British intelligence.
Andrew York will update us on all the latest developments at Chiltern Open Air Museum.
Sarratt Village Hall
Sarratt WD3 6AS
The Village Hall is next door to the Cricketers pub, and close to the crossroads between the Green/Dimmocks Lane and Church Lane/George V Way
Membership is open to all. An annual fee of £12 per adult is payable upon joining, and is renewable at the following AGM. Members are entitled to attend SLHS meetings without charge; the entry fee for non-members is £4, payable at the door.
Please download and complete a Membership Form and send your payment to the Treasurer.
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