Category:Digswell

English: Digswell is the name of an ancient village in Hertfordshire, UK, which is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. The name may be derived from Deacon's Well. There were two Manors, with 2 water Mills, much land under plough, and a large area of woodland. Little changed until 1922 when part of the estate once belonging to Lord Cowper of Panshanger was sold at auction, and bought by a group of pioneers of the Garden City Movement including Ebeneezer Howard. On this land which included much of the old Parish of Digswell and further acquisitions nearby, was built Welwyn Garden City. The name Digswell is now used to describe an essentially 20th century residential area centred around Welwyn North railway station, on the northern outskirts of the original Parish, but the Church of St John the Evangelist (13th century, much altered) (3) and the 19th century Digswell House built on the site of a much earlier residence (3) still mark the original centre. The impressive Digswell Viaduct built by Lewis Cubitt in 1850 carries the Great Northern Railway over the valley of the River Mimram (River Maran) on some 40 brick arches. The residential workshop for sculptors, artists and musicians sponsored by the Digswell Arts Trust, was once located in Digswell House. Part of the southern Parish Boundary Baulk (raised bank) between the ecclesiastical parishes of Digswell and Hatfield may still be seen in Sherrardspark Woods, a local woodland, nature reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest.(5) Much of Digswell is now part of the Borough of Welwyn and Hatfield.