Discover the countryside: Hertfordshire

PLACE TO EXPLORE: Find a time capsule at Ayot St Lawrence (Hertfordshire)

Peter Waine OBE, Chair of CPRE Hertfordshire, recommends Ayot St Lawrence, a tiny village set in the heart of Hertfordshire’s green belt countryside.

Its Palladian church, an 18th-century copy of the Temple of Apollo on the Greek island of Delos, is a startling sight across the meadows. It replaced the village’s medieval church, largely and illegally demolished by the lord of the manor in the 18th century, now a picturesque ruin.

Within five miles of this small village lived three queens of England, a Viceroy of India, three prime ministers, playwright George Bernard Shaw, and the exiled King of Romania during the Second World War. T.E. Lawrence was a regular visitor to Shaw’s home, discussing drafts of his book: Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

Walks from the village offer wide views across unspoilt countryside, just seven miles from a London Underground station.

CPRE Hertfordshire also lists further local places to visit across the county, from Broxbourne to Watford: https://www.cpreherts.org.uk/discover-our-countryside/