Baldock
Encyclopedia
Baldock is a historic market town in the local government
district of North Hertfordshire
in the ceremonial county of Hertfordshire
, England where the River Ivel
rises. It lies 33 miles (53 km) north of London, 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Bedford
, and 14 miles (23 km) north northwest of the county town
of Hertford
. Nearby towns include Letchworth
and Hitchin
to the southwest and Stevenage
to the south.
(also the name of the town's secondary school
) in the 1140s . Perhaps for this reason, one theory of the origin of the name Baldock is as a derivation from the Old French name for Baghdad
: Baldac which the Templars had hoped to conquer during the Crusades
. A rival etymology, suggesting a derivation from "Bald Oak", perhaps meaning a dead oak
, is superficially plausible, but the early forms of the name are against it. Although the Templars' connections to Baghdad were "tenuous", it was widely regarded as the most prosperous market in the world and the Templars perhaps hoped that the name would confer a similar prosperity on their own market town in England. The modern layout of the town, and many buildings in the centre, date from the sixteenth century , with the earliest dating from the fourteenth century .
The town grew up where the old Great North Road and the Icknield Way
crossed. Despite the construction of the A1(M) motorway
in 1963, which bypassed the town (and which was called the Baldock Bypass for some years), it was still a major traffic bottleneck until March 2006, when a new bypass removed the A505 road
(part of the old Icknield Way
to the east of Baldock) from the town.
Thanks to its location, the town was a major staging post between London
and the north: many old coaching inn
s still operate as pubs and hotels, and Baldock has a surprising number of pubs for its size. From the 1770s until 2008 the high street was very wide, a typical feature of medieval market place
s where more than one row of buildings used to stand. In the case of Baldock, the bottom of the High Street had three such rows, until Butcher's Row was demolished by the Turnpike authorities in the 1770s. In late 2008, a town centre enhancement plan included a narrowing of the road and subsequent widening of paved areas.
Since the 16th century, Baldock has been a centre for malting, subsequently becoming a regional brewing
centre with at least three large brewers still operating at the end of the 19th Century, despite a decline in demand for the types of beer produced locally. The 1881 Census records approximately 30 drinking establishments (the town's population was at that time around 1900). Throughout the early 20th century a large number of pubs continued to operate, many of which were sustained by the adjacent and much larger town of Letchworth
, which had no alcohol retailers prior to 1958, and had only two pubs and a single hotel bar until the mid 1990s. Its larger population had for many years visited both Baldock and Hitchin
for refreshment.
The Wynn almshouse
s, in the High Street, were founded in 1621 and were endowed "To the World's End" by John Wynne, a cloth merchant from London who left £1000 in his will of 1614 for their upkeep .
Since 1850, the town has a railway station
which today operates on the line between London Kings Cross and Cambridge
. With frequent services to London, including fast services of around 30 minutes, the town is home to many commuters.
There has been human activity on the site well before the modern town was founded. Prehistoric remains on Clothall Common date back as far as c 3000 BCE . Many Roman
remains have been discovered during building work in and around the town, and the core of the Roman
settlement lies between Walls Field and Bakers Close. Earlier Iron Age
remains have also been uncovered in the same general location, which may be the earliest town ever to develop in Britain.
A medieval leper colony
, on Royston Road, was located during excavations in 2003, having been thought for many years to lie to the south-east of the town on the former Pesthouse Lane (now Clothall Road), the A507.
From 1808 to 1814, Baldock hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain that connected the Admiralty in London to its naval ships in the port of Great Yarmouth
.
An authoritative history of "Baldock's Middle Ages" (ISBN 0-905858-97-2) was compiled by Vivian Crellin, a former headmaster of the Knights Templar School
, while local archaeologists Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews and Gilbert Burleigh published 'Ancient Baldock: the story of an Iron Age and Roman town' in 2007.
Baldock's position at the crossing of two important thoroughfares, the Great North Road and the Icknield Way
has made it a stopping point for a number of illustrious visitors, including Charles I
, who passed through Baldock en route for London after his arrest in 1648 and supposedly Dick Turpin
. Preacher John Wesley
came to the town in 1747 However, perhaps one of the town's most famous visitors was Ludwig II of Bavaria
, (builder of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle) who came to the town in 1879 on the recommendation of Sir Richard Wallace, to whom he had written for advice on England's medieval architecture
. Wallace advised Ludwig to take a tour of the English countryside in order to survey a variety of ecclesiastical buildings, that he might draw inspiration from them for future building projects. In a letter to Wallace, Ludwig expressed particular admiration for the buildings of Hertfordshire, which he toured extensively. It is thought that Ludwig intended to use the tower of St Mary's Church as a model for a planned castle construction at Pfronten
.
In the 1960s and 70s Baldock was a centre of laser
research at a MOD laboratory called SERL (Services Electronics Research Laboratory). This facility closed in the late 1970s and some projects and staff were transferred to RSRE (Royal Signals & Radar Establishment) near Pershore
.
Baldock was formerly the location of a film processing factory which folded before the company (originally based in Letchworth Garden City) could move in; local folklore has it that it was a silent film studio, but this is not the case. The building was then bought by the Full-Fashioned Hosiery Company from Halifax
, later becoming the Kayser Bondor ladies stocking factory (which temporarily produced parachutes during World War II
). Its Art Deco
facade still stands as the largest Listed Building in the town; it was converted to a Tesco
supermarket in the late 1980s. Another notable building in the town is the thirteenth century Baldock Parish Church
of St. Mary. Malting and brewing were formerly major industries in the town, but apart from some light industry
, today it is mostly a commuter town
.
In the past few years, many businesses have shut down in Baldock. Baldock lost its local football team, Baldock Town F.C.
in 2001, after nearly 100 years of existence.
Located to the east of the town there is a large residential estate that was built in several phases. This is known as Clothall Common. Some residents are lobbying to have one green space given village green status. A significant archeological dig took place in this part of Baldock in the late 80s.
.
The Baldock Festival is a cultural festival which started in 1983 and takes place on the first weekend in May. The festival consists of numerous events throughout the town and the local area, such as museum trips, a barn dance, car treasure hunt, clairvoyance evening, cricket match, comedy sketches, family quiz night, mystery tour, open gardens, history talks, and several music events, some of which feature local bands. The festival culminates in the Medieval Street Fair held in the historic High Street, on the second and final weekend where many stallholders dress in clothing of the era and help to portray what life was like in the medieval town.
In parallel, the Baldock Beer Festival takes place during the first weekend where local and national real ales, real ciders and continental lagers may be sampled. There is also children's entertainment and often local bands playing.
Baldock's Charter fair
dates back to 1199, when King John granted to the Templars the right of holding a yearly fair at Baldock on St. Matthew's Day and for four days following.
This would mean the original fair was held on 21–25 September, but with the Calendar reform
of 1752 the dates are now 2, 3 and 4 October. Today the principal part of the fair is a visiting Amusement Fair which sets up in the High Street.
's Poirot Investigates
(1924), a collection of short stories about her fictional detective Hercule Poirot
, Christie writes that in The Case of the Missing Will, Poirot is late for an appointment in Cambridge
when his car breaks down in Baldock.
The events of Porcupine Tree
's song "Heartattack in a Layby" from their In Absentia
album takes place in a layby, according to the protagonist, "east of Baldock and Ashford
". The band were formed in frontman Steven Wilson
's hometown of Hemel Hempstead
, Hertfordshire.
Baldock is one of the waypoints on Warren's long drive up the Great North Road, which brings about the occasion for the novel's plot, the rescue of the shipbuilding town of 'Sharples' (Blyth), in "Ruined City," by Nevil Shute
.
The author Monica Dickens
, who lived in nearby Hinxworth
for four years after World War II
, refers to her regular visits to Baldock and to The George and Dragon public house
in particular, in her 1978 autobiography
An Open Book.
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
district of North Hertfordshire
North Hertfordshire
North Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the amalgamation of the urban districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Royston and the Hitchin Rural District.From eastward clockwise,...
in the ceremonial county of Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England where the River Ivel
River Ivel
The River Ivel is a river in the east of England. It is a tributary of the River Great Ouse.-Course of the Ivel:The river Ivel rises just north of Baldock in Hertfordshire, but most of its course lies within Bedfordshire. It flows through Stotfold, Arlesey, Henlow, Langford, Biggleswade, Sandy and...
rises. It lies 33 miles (53 km) north of London, 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, and 14 miles (23 km) north northwest of the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of Hertford
Hertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
. Nearby towns include Letchworth
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...
and Hitchin
Hitchin
Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...
to the southwest and Stevenage
Stevenage
Stevenage is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated to the east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1, and is between Letchworth Garden City to the north, and Welwyn Garden City to the south....
to the south.
History
Baldock was founded by the Knights TemplarKnights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
(also the name of the town's secondary school
Knights Templar School
Knights Templar School is a co-educational secondary school located in the market town of Baldock in North Hertfordshire, England. In a February 2006 OFSTED report, the school was described as "outstanding", one of only eight secondary schools in Hertfordshire to be so recognised. It retained its...
) in the 1140s . Perhaps for this reason, one theory of the origin of the name Baldock is as a derivation from the Old French name for Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
: Baldac which the Templars had hoped to conquer during the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
. A rival etymology, suggesting a derivation from "Bald Oak", perhaps meaning a dead oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, is superficially plausible, but the early forms of the name are against it. Although the Templars' connections to Baghdad were "tenuous", it was widely regarded as the most prosperous market in the world and the Templars perhaps hoped that the name would confer a similar prosperity on their own market town in England. The modern layout of the town, and many buildings in the centre, date from the sixteenth century , with the earliest dating from the fourteenth century .
The town grew up where the old Great North Road and the Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
crossed. Despite the construction of the A1(M) motorway
A1(M) motorway
The A1 is a motorway in England that upgrades sections of the A1 road that connects London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland...
in 1963, which bypassed the town (and which was called the Baldock Bypass for some years), it was still a major traffic bottleneck until March 2006, when a new bypass removed the A505 road
A505 road
The A505 is an A-class road in the United Kingdom. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path.-Bedfordshire:...
(part of the old Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
to the east of Baldock) from the town.
Thanks to its location, the town was a major staging post between London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the north: many old coaching inn
Coaching inn
In Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
s still operate as pubs and hotels, and Baldock has a surprising number of pubs for its size. From the 1770s until 2008 the high street was very wide, a typical feature of medieval market place
Market Place
Market Place is the financial programme broadcast Monday to Friday at 10:30pm in Hong Kong by television channel TVB Pearl....
s where more than one row of buildings used to stand. In the case of Baldock, the bottom of the High Street had three such rows, until Butcher's Row was demolished by the Turnpike authorities in the 1770s. In late 2008, a town centre enhancement plan included a narrowing of the road and subsequent widening of paved areas.
Since the 16th century, Baldock has been a centre for malting, subsequently becoming a regional brewing
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
centre with at least three large brewers still operating at the end of the 19th Century, despite a decline in demand for the types of beer produced locally. The 1881 Census records approximately 30 drinking establishments (the town's population was at that time around 1900). Throughout the early 20th century a large number of pubs continued to operate, many of which were sustained by the adjacent and much larger town of Letchworth
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The town's name is taken from one of the three villages it surrounded - all of which featured in the Domesday Book. The land used was first purchased by Quakers who had intended to farm the...
, which had no alcohol retailers prior to 1958, and had only two pubs and a single hotel bar until the mid 1990s. Its larger population had for many years visited both Baldock and Hitchin
Hitchin
Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...
for refreshment.
The Wynn almshouse
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
s, in the High Street, were founded in 1621 and were endowed "To the World's End" by John Wynne, a cloth merchant from London who left £1000 in his will of 1614 for their upkeep .
Since 1850, the town has a railway station
Baldock railway station
Baldock railway station serves the town of Baldock in Hertfordshire, England. It is on the Hitchin-Cambridge Line and is located on the outskirts of Baldock on Station Road.-History:...
which today operates on the line between London Kings Cross and Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. With frequent services to London, including fast services of around 30 minutes, the town is home to many commuters.
There has been human activity on the site well before the modern town was founded. Prehistoric remains on Clothall Common date back as far as c 3000 BCE . Many Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
remains have been discovered during building work in and around the town, and the core of the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
settlement lies between Walls Field and Bakers Close. Earlier Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
remains have also been uncovered in the same general location, which may be the earliest town ever to develop in Britain.
A medieval leper colony
Leper colony
A leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine leprous people.-History:Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, and often run by monastic orders...
, on Royston Road, was located during excavations in 2003, having been thought for many years to lie to the south-east of the town on the former Pesthouse Lane (now Clothall Road), the A507.
From 1808 to 1814, Baldock hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain that connected the Admiralty in London to its naval ships in the port of Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
.
An authoritative history of "Baldock's Middle Ages" (ISBN 0-905858-97-2) was compiled by Vivian Crellin, a former headmaster of the Knights Templar School
Knights Templar School
Knights Templar School is a co-educational secondary school located in the market town of Baldock in North Hertfordshire, England. In a February 2006 OFSTED report, the school was described as "outstanding", one of only eight secondary schools in Hertfordshire to be so recognised. It retained its...
, while local archaeologists Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews and Gilbert Burleigh published 'Ancient Baldock: the story of an Iron Age and Roman town' in 2007.
Baldock's position at the crossing of two important thoroughfares, the Great North Road and the Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
has made it a stopping point for a number of illustrious visitors, including Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, who passed through Baldock en route for London after his arrest in 1648 and supposedly Dick Turpin
Dick Turpin
Richard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher,...
. Preacher John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
came to the town in 1747 However, perhaps one of the town's most famous visitors was Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...
, (builder of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle) who came to the town in 1879 on the recommendation of Sir Richard Wallace, to whom he had written for advice on England's medieval architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. Wallace advised Ludwig to take a tour of the English countryside in order to survey a variety of ecclesiastical buildings, that he might draw inspiration from them for future building projects. In a letter to Wallace, Ludwig expressed particular admiration for the buildings of Hertfordshire, which he toured extensively. It is thought that Ludwig intended to use the tower of St Mary's Church as a model for a planned castle construction at Pfronten
Pfronten
Pfronten is a municipality in the district of Ostallgäu in Bavaria in Germany.-External links: German Wikipedia article...
.
In the 1960s and 70s Baldock was a centre of laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
research at a MOD laboratory called SERL (Services Electronics Research Laboratory). This facility closed in the late 1970s and some projects and staff were transferred to RSRE (Royal Signals & Radar Establishment) near Pershore
Pershore
Pershore is a market town in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. Pershore is in the Wychavon district and is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2001 census the population was 7,304...
.
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
, later becoming the Kayser Bondor ladies stocking factory (which temporarily produced parachutes during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
). Its Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
facade still stands as the largest Listed Building in the town; it was converted to a Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
supermarket in the late 1980s. Another notable building in the town is the thirteenth century Baldock Parish Church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of St. Mary. Malting and brewing were formerly major industries in the town, but apart from some light industry
Light industry
Light industry is usually less capital intensive than heavy industry, and is more consumer-oriented than business-oriented...
, today it is mostly a commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
.
In the past few years, many businesses have shut down in Baldock. Baldock lost its local football team, Baldock Town F.C.
Baldock Town F.C.
Baldock Town F.C. is an English association football club based in Baldock, Hertfordshire. The club existed from 1889 until 2001, when it folded but the name Baldock Town was revived in 2006 when a club previously called simply Baldock changed its name...
in 2001, after nearly 100 years of existence.
Located to the east of the town there is a large residential estate that was built in several phases. This is known as Clothall Common. Some residents are lobbying to have one green space given village green status. A significant archeological dig took place in this part of Baldock in the late 80s.
Baldock events
Several events take place in Baldock throughout the year. The largest two are the Festival and the Charter fairCharter fair
A charter fair in England is a street fair or market which was established by Royal Charter. Many charter fairs date back to the Middle Ages, with their heyday occurring during the 13th century...
.
- Baldock Festival
The Baldock Festival is a cultural festival which started in 1983 and takes place on the first weekend in May. The festival consists of numerous events throughout the town and the local area, such as museum trips, a barn dance, car treasure hunt, clairvoyance evening, cricket match, comedy sketches, family quiz night, mystery tour, open gardens, history talks, and several music events, some of which feature local bands. The festival culminates in the Medieval Street Fair held in the historic High Street, on the second and final weekend where many stallholders dress in clothing of the era and help to portray what life was like in the medieval town.
In parallel, the Baldock Beer Festival takes place during the first weekend where local and national real ales, real ciders and continental lagers may be sampled. There is also children's entertainment and often local bands playing.
- Baldock Charter Fair
Baldock's Charter fair
Charter fair
A charter fair in England is a street fair or market which was established by Royal Charter. Many charter fairs date back to the Middle Ages, with their heyday occurring during the 13th century...
dates back to 1199, when King John granted to the Templars the right of holding a yearly fair at Baldock on St. Matthew's Day and for four days following.
This would mean the original fair was held on 21–25 September, but with the Calendar reform
Calendar reform
A calendar reform is any significant revision of a calendar system. The term sometimes is used instead for a proposal to switch to a different calendar.Most calendars have several rules which could be altered by reform:...
of 1752 the dates are now 2, 3 and 4 October. Today the principal part of the fair is a visiting Amusement Fair which sets up in the High Street.
Baldock in literature
In Agatha ChristieAgatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's Poirot Investigates
Poirot Investigates
Poirot Investigates is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in March 1924. In the eleven stories, famed eccentric detective Hercule Poirot solves a variety of mysteries involving greed, jealousy and revenge. The American version of...
(1924), a collection of short stories about her fictional detective Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...
, Christie writes that in The Case of the Missing Will, Poirot is late for an appointment in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
when his car breaks down in Baldock.
The events of Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree
Porcupine Tree is a progressive rock band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. Their music is difficult to categorise, being associated with both psychedelic rock and progressive rock, yet having been influenced by trance, krautrock and ambient due to Steven...
's song "Heartattack in a Layby" from their In Absentia
In Absentia
In Absentia is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. It was their first release on a major record label, Lava Records. It is Metal Storm's number 3 of the Top 20 albums of 2002 and number 49 on the Top 100 albums of all time...
album takes place in a layby, according to the protagonist, "east of Baldock and Ashford
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
". The band were formed in frontman Steven Wilson
Steven Wilson
Steven John Wilson is an English musician, best known as the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree...
's hometown of Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
, Hertfordshire.
Baldock is one of the waypoints on Warren's long drive up the Great North Road, which brings about the occasion for the novel's plot, the rescue of the shipbuilding town of 'Sharples' (Blyth), in "Ruined City," by Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute Norway was a popular British-Australian novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer. He used his full name in his engineering career, and 'Nevil Shute' as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.-...
.
The author Monica Dickens
Monica Dickens
Monica Enid Dickens, MBE was an English writer, the great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens.-Biography:...
, who lived in nearby Hinxworth
Hinxworth
Hinxworth is a village and civil parish in North Hertfordshire, England. It sits just off the Great North Road between Baldock and Biggleswade...
for four years after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, refers to her regular visits to Baldock and to The George and Dragon public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in particular, in her 1978 autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
An Open Book.
Primary education
- St Mary's Church of England (VC) Junior School
- Hartsfield Junior Mixed and Infant School
- St John Roman Catholic Primary School
Nearby villages
- AshwellAshwell, HertfordshireAshwell is a village and civil parish situated about four miles north of Baldock in Hertfordshire.It has a wealth of architecture spanning several centuries. The dates almost entirely from the 14th century and is renowned for its ornate church tower which stands at , and is crowned by an...
- BygraveBygraveFor the Bygrave position line slide rule, see Bygrave slide ruleBygrave is a village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about 2 miles north-east of Letchworth. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 271...
- CaldecoteCaldecote, HertfordshireCaldecote is one of the smallest civil parishes in Hertfordshire, England. It covers only .Situated to the west of Ashwell. Caldecote consists of a cluster of cottages around the redundant Church of St. Mary Magdalene...
- ClothallClothallClothall is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England with a population of 358. It is situated south-east of Baldock, and is in the district of North Hertfordshire. The village contains the Church of St Mary the Virgin, which was built of flint and stone around 1350–70, though parts of...
- HinxworthHinxworthHinxworth is a village and civil parish in North Hertfordshire, England. It sits just off the Great North Road between Baldock and Biggleswade...
- NewnhamNewnham, HertfordshireNewnham is a small village near Ashwell in Hertfordshire, England. It has about 100-200 inhabitants. it is also the name of the civil parish.The parish church is St Vincent's and has several medieval wall murals visible.-External links:...
- RadwellRadwell, HertfordshireRadwell is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated north of Baldock, and is in the district of North Hertfordshire.-External links:*...
- WallingtonWallington, HertfordshireWallington is a small village and civil parish in the county of Hertfordshire, near the town of Baldock. Nearby villages include Rushden and Sandon.-George Orwell:...
- WestonWeston, HertfordshireWeston is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England.It is located between Stevenage, Letchworth and Baldock. just east of the A1 junction 9. The Baldock bypass passes through the Weston Hills between Weston and Baldock in a cut-and-cover tunnel...
See also
- Baldock Town F.C.Baldock Town F.C.Baldock Town F.C. is an English association football club based in Baldock, Hertfordshire. The club existed from 1889 until 2001, when it folded but the name Baldock Town was revived in 2006 when a club previously called simply Baldock changed its name...
- Jack o' Legs Legendary 14th century "giant" associated with the town