Great Amwell is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Ware and about 20 miles (32 km) north of London. In 2011 the parish had a population of 2353.
History
On a hill above the church there are some traces of an Iron Agehill fort, but more substantial remains of the earthworks were destroyed by landscaping of the Old Vicarage gardens in about 1840.[2] To the west, on the road to Hertford, is a large tumulus at Barrowfield.[3]
In the Domesday Book of 1086 Great Amwell and neighbouring Little Amwell were a single parish recorded as "Emmewell".[4] By the 17th century, the name of the village was recorded as Amwell Magna, Much Amwell or Great Amwell.[3] The name is probably derived from a spring to the northeast of the village called Emma's Well, which was used by Sir Hugh Myddelton as one of the sources of the New River in the early 17th century. It is believed to have been named after Queen Emma of Normandy, wife of King Cnut the Great.[3] A nearby white stone memorial is inscribed with verses from by the Quaker poet, John Scott of Amwell (1730-1783).[5]
The village has no railway station, the nearest being Ware or St Margarets both of which are on the Hertford East branch line which passes through the parish. There are a few bus routes, these are:
