Radlett Revealed: Romans, Murder & Millionaires
From ancient trackways to notorious crimes and celebrity mansions on Hertfordshire's most exclusive village trail
Radlett, Hertfordshire · 15 stops · 6.1 km · ~1.8 h · Generated
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1. Radlett Railway Station
Radlett Railway Station, Station Approach, Watling Street, Radlett WD7 7AP
Take a look around you. You're standing at Radlett Railway Station... and this unassuming stop on the Thameslink line holds one of the most remarkable stories of transformation in all of British suburban history.
The very name of this village comes from the Old English "rad-Gelaete," meaning a junction of roads. The first recorded reference to "Radelet" dates all the way back to fourteen fifty-three. But for centuries, this spot was practically Nothing. A painting from seventeen ninety-six shows just a tiny cluster of farm buildings and an inn at a crossroads. That's it. That was Radlett.
Then, in eighteen sixty-eight, the Midland Railway built this station as part of its grand extension to Saint Pancras. And here's a curious detail... the railway company originally intended to name it Aldenham Station, after the ancient parish. Had that name stuck, the entire identity of this village might have been different.
But what really made this station necessary in the first place? Not passengers... there were hardly any! It was the mineral workings on Shenley Hill. A network of service tramlines ran from those quarries right into the station's marshalling yards. Industry, not commuters, justified building a fully equipped station in the middle of farmland.
Now, before the railway put Radlett on the map for progress, it was actually Infamous for something far darker. In eighteen twenty-three, a man named John Thurtell lured solicitor William Weare out from London on a supposed gambling weekend. On a dark lane near Watling Street, Thurtell shot Weare in the face... and when the gun failed to kill him, finished him off with a knife. The crime became a national Sensation, inspiring books, plays, and even a visit from Sir Walter Scott. The lane where it happened became known simply as Murder Lane.
But the railway erased that grim reputation. In the early twentieth century, Walter Phillimore, who owned much of the land, began building houses, transforming Radlett into one of Britain's First true commuter villages. The station you see today, though, is not the Victorian original. In nineteen seventy-nine, it was completely rebuilt at a cost of five hundred thousand pounds as part of the Midland Suburban Electrification scheme... and was formally opened by the local MP, Cecil Parkinson.
Today, a train from this platform reaches Saint Pancras in just twenty-one minutes! Radlett has become one of the wealthiest places in Britain and the second most expensive town to buy a house outside London. All because someone decided to put a station... right here... in the middle of a handful of farms.
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2. The Flint Cottages
Watling Street, Radlett WD7 7NP
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3. Newlands Avenue — Millionaire's Row
Newlands Avenue, Radlett WD7 8EL
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4. St John's Church, Gills Hill Lane
St John's Church, Gills Hill Lane, Radlett WD7 8DU
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5. Gills Hill Lane — 'Murder Lane'
Gills Hill Lane, Radlett WD7 8DU
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6. Loom Lane — Site of a Roman Pottery
Loom Lane, Radlett WD7 8JJ
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7. Tabard RFC — Above the Roman Pits
Tabard Rugby Football Club, Cobden Hill, Radlett WD7 7EB
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8. Brunton Memorial Cricket Ground
Brunton Memorial Ground, Cobden Hill, Radlett WD7 7DX
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9. Cobden Hill — Roman Clay Pits
Cobden Hill, Radlett WD7 7DX
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10. Watling Street — Britain's Oldest Road
Watling Street, Radlett WD7 7JJ
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11. Christ Church Radlett
Christ Church, Watling Street, Radlett WD7 7JJ
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12. Radlett Village Institute & District Museum
Radlett Village Institute, 413 Watling Street, Radlett WD7 7JG
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13. Radlett Centre
Radlett Centre, 1 Aldenham Avenue, Radlett WD7 8HL
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14. The Red Lion
78-80 Watling Street, Radlett WD7 7NP
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15. Radlett United Synagogue
Radlett United Synagogue, 24 Watling Street, Radlett WD7 7PT
