Overlooking the River Lea Valley, just west of Hatfield, sits the affluent village of Essendon in southeast Hertfordshire. Known for its sprawling countryside mansions and picturesque period properties, Essendon has developed a unique reputation as one of the most desirable locales in Hertfordshire, with its combination of splendid properties and proximity to Hatfield’s major railway line. Although recent terraced properties have levelled out this affluence, with the average house price ranging at £500,000. However, there are significant outliers, with a 6 bedroom manor house currently listed for £4.5 million!

Not much evidence points to a substantial settlement in the Essendon area, except for the local church. St Mary the Virgin church is believed to have been originally built in 1213, with Norman fragments discovered during its 19th century renovation. It was not recorded in the Domesday Book following the Norman invasion in 1066, and no significant archaeological discoveries have been made in the local area. With this medieval church, however, its likely that the first settlement of Essendon appeared conjunctively to this period - although only the church stands as a remnant of this medieval history. Curiously enough, for this small village, a wealth of international history has sparked from here. At Essendon Place, just south of the main village, was the seat of Baron Thomas Dimsdale - a doctor and politician. Famous for his method of smallpox inoculation, in 1768 Dimsdale travelled to Russia to inoculate the infamous Queen Catherine the Great - to which she granted him a Russian Barony!

But not just queens of land and country have connections to Essendon - but also queens of literary history. Camfield Place, a 13th century manor house renovated in Italianate style in 1867, was once home to the queen of romance Barbara Cartland. Famous for her prolific romance novels, her extravagant dress-sense, and her lifelong bitter rivalry with fellow romance novelist Jackie Collins - Camfield Place is still owned by the Cartland’s today!

Essendon is a semirural parish flanked by much larger locales - such as Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City. This ruralised fabric and proliferation of grand stately homes has meant that development has been slow to come to Essendon. Part of the Welwyn and Hatfield Borough Council (WHBC), the council has been applying pressure to infill the gap between Essendon and Welwyn Garden City - which has been met with fierce opposition from Essendon’s residents. Whilst no housing infrastructure has been immediately allocated to Essendon, just north of the village planning permissions have been green-lit for a huge multi-use development known as Birchall Garden suburb, with plans for the construction of over 2,600 new homes!