Puckeridge

Puckeridge is a hamlet in East Hertfordshire, England.

The earliest settlers in the area were the Belgae, who arrived around 180 BC. A Roman town existed just to the north of the existing village and the village is at the cross roads of two major Roman roads, Ermine Street and Stane Street. The neighbouring villages of Standon and Braughing are recorded in the Domesday Book but Puckeridge is not although it was probably in existence. It survived the Black Death in the 14th century. A number of charities were established in Puckeridge in the 17th century, which gave grants of land that enabled the expansion of the village. The village developed and thrived because it was on the coaching route between London and Cambridge; Samuel Pepys records that he stopped at the Falcon (now the Crown and Falcon). Eventually the coming of the railway in the 19th century led to a decline in the fortune of the many Taverns and Inns in the village. The village is now a popular place to live close to good road networks leading into and around London. The village shares its name with HMS Puckeridge, a Hunt class destroyer named after the Puckeridge Hunt Puckeridge Hunt website(located in nearby Brent Pelham), which was lost to enemy action during World War II.

The village houses three schools, small convenience stores and a pub with a mixture of old and relatively new houses.

Near Puckeridge, there is Puckeridge DECCA tower, a free-standing tower radiator used for DECCA.

Trivia

Puckeridge is the name of a third-string theater critic in Tom Stoppard's drama The Real Inspector Hound

External links

• Village website
• Puckeridge Hunt website
• White Hart Pub
• Crown and Falcon
• Puckeridge on A Guide to Old Hertfordshire]