Rickmansworth is an attractive small town in south-west Hertfordshire with its origins as farmsteads owned by the Abbey of St Albans. From this time (in the early fifteenth century) a Great Barn was built. In later centuries, sitting on a road that became a route to the north, and with the coming of the Grand Union Canal and the Metropolitan railway line, the town grew and churches, schools, public houses, almshouses and grand houses were built – and many have survived. Nearby are manor houses and country mansions including a magnificent eighteenth-century Palladian mansion, Moor Park, owned by earls and an admiral. In 1944 Moor Park, having been taken over by the army, became the planning headquarters for the air assault on Arnhem. Rickmansworth and its surrounding area also became famous as 'Metroland', praised for its suburban charm in poems by John Betjeman. Around Rickmansworth are attractive areas and villages – Moor Park, Croxley, Chorleywood and Sarratt – each with their own distinctive character and buildings. This history of fifty buildings in the Rickmansworth area – illustrated with fine new photographs – will appeal to local residents and to every reader with an interest in Britain's domestic architecture and local history.
