About Wheathampstead
Brief History of Wheathampstead
People have lived in the area of Wheathampstead for many years. The earliest evidence of occupation was found during excavations in St. Helen's Churchyard in 1969, when an area of Mesolithic (8500-4000 BC) occupation was discovered.
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| Devil's Dyke |
Wheathampstead is reputed to have been the site of the battle at which Julius Caesar defeated the local tribe, known as the Catuvellauni, during his invasion
of Britain in 54 BC. The remains of an impressive dyke (known as Devil's Dyke) probably datingfrom this period, can be visited behind Dyke Lane, a quarter of a mile east of the village centre.
Excavation has also shown that there was extensive 'Belgic' occupation
to the north ofthe river.
By 1000 AD Wheathampstead must have been a fairly well established community. Its first Church, St.Helen's, was already standing and excavations in the churchyard have produced several mid to late Saxon burials.
The Manor of "Huuaethamstede", meaning 'homestead where wheat is grown', was the property of the crown, but was granted by Edward the Confessor under a charter dated 28th December 1065 to the Abbot and Convent of Westminster, confirmed by the Queen, Edith and also signed by Harold Godwinson.
Wheathampstead is recorded in the Domesday Survey as "Watamstede in the hold of the abbot of St.Peter's of Westminster. "There was a "priest and 15 villiens having 5 ploughs between them and there are 12 borders, 9 cottars and 4 mills worth 40 shillings". The manor was valued at £16.
The earliest village would have centred around the Church. By the 17th century Wheathampstead had still not outgrown its medieval core. Bury Green, west of the Church and then including Church Street, was the centre of the abbey's estate. There were few buildings west of Bury Green, no buildings east of the junction of High Street and Marford Road, and only a few houses to the south on Wheathampstead Hill.
By the 18th century, however, buildings had spread up both Wheathampstead and Brewhouse Hills. This development continued into the 19th century