Bishop's Stortford
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| Bishop's Stortford | |
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| Population | 45,000 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| Parish | Bishop's Stortford |
| District | East Hertfordshire |
| Shire county | Hertfordshire |
| Region | East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BISHOP'S STORTFORD |
| Postcode district | CM23 |
| Dial code | 01279 |
| Police | Hertfordshire |
| Fire | Hertfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | Hertford and Stortford |
| European Parliament | East of England |
| List of places: UK • England • Hertfordshire | |
Bishop's Stortford is a market town in east Hertfordshire, England, just touching the border with Essex. A small area of Bishop's Stortford is actually located in Essex. It is situated just west of the M11, is the closest town to London Stansted Airport and is part of the London commuter belt.
It has a population of about 45,000 and is administered by the East Hertfordshire district council.
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[edit] History and naming
There was nothing significant in the Bishop's Stortford area until it became a small Roman settlement on the Roman road of Stane Street between St Albans and Colchester. After the Roman empire broke down, the small town was abandoned.
A new Saxon development grew up on the site. At that time, the settlement was known as Esterteferd, probably because a family called Estere owned or controlled the river crossing around which the settlement was based. Over time, this became Stortford. In 1060, William, Bishop of London bought the Stortford manor and estate for 8 pounds, and the town has been known as Bishop's Stortford ever since. At the time of the Domesday book the town had a population of around 120. The Normans built a wooden castle in the town, but by the Tudor period it was in ruins (the mound still remains). Development of the town increased with the presence of a river and the roads. A weekly market was set up for farmers to sell their goods.
Despite outbreaks of the plague in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the town continued to grow with an approximate population of 1,200 by this point.
Interestingly, the River Stort is named after the town, and not the town after the river. When cartographers came to the town in the early 1600s, they reasoned that the town must have been named for the ford over the Stort and assumed the river was called the Stort. Ever since, it has been. Until then, there was no official name for the river.
After 1769 the River Stort was made navigable, further transport links improved the town when the town was made a stagecoach stop on the road between Cambridge and London.
By 1801 Bishop's Stortford had become a market town, a corn exchange had been established, whilst the main industry was malting. In 1842 the railway came to Bishop's Stortford; another Victorian era introduction was the opening of a hospital in 1895.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, in 1901, the population was over 7,000. By 1951, Bishop's Stortford had expanded further to 13,000. During World War II, Bishop's Stortford was the evacuation center for many Britons, including the entire Clapton Girls Technology College. The second half of the twentieth century saw further growth as it became a commuter town. The M11 motorway, nearby Stansted Airport, and the train links to London and Cambridge have contributed to the town having a population of around 35,000 in the late 1990s but now in the early 21st century the population is around 40,000 with further growth expected.
Currently, the town centre is undergoing many changes, with the demolition of the old multi-storey car-park and surrounding area to make way for a new town centre area and the building of new flats. The developments are happening quickly and are almost finished. There are many plans for further expansion and development of the town due to its continued growth and the expected enlargement of Stansted Airport. Bishop's Stortford is a town that is useful for lots of east (Hertfordshire) and also for North and West (Essex) as many villages are in this area and most of the nearby towns (excluding (Harlow) are small and Bishop's Stortford is a place where there needs are met.
[edit] Politics
The town is generally seen as a conservative area, and this can be backed up by the fact that in the 2005 national elections Mark Prisk was elected for the Conservative Party with a majority of the votes cast (50.5%) and conservative parties (including United Kingdom Independence Party) gained 53.8% - although general election results cannot be used as a way of measuring the ideological stance of the constituents, and the fact that the constituency Bishop's Stortford is in covers many other settlements, including Hertford. A recent addition to the Conservatives' new shadow cabinet under new leader David Cameron is also from the town.
The most popular political issue for the town is the expansion of Stansted Airport and opposition to any new runways or any kind of growth taking place there (there are no pro-expansion lobbies).
The town also has a Youth Council that meets up once a month. It is made up of students from the local schools where many local and youth issues are discussed.
[edit] Economy
Bishop's Stortford is a particularly affluent area and this is partly due to the town's status as a commuter town for the (mainly financial) workers in London. The town is also home to many people working in the tourist related industry, including hotels, catering and airline staff, because it is the closest large town to Stansted Airport. In total, about 85% work in the services sector (2001 census). Bishop's Stortford is served by a variety of shops, both high street chains and long-established family firms. The main retail streets are South, Potter, North, Hockerill Streets. Jackson Square is a modern shopping complex under cover and presently undergoing development. Market days are Thursday and Saturday.
[edit] Transport
Bishop's Stortford owes its growth to developments in transport. It is well serviced by all forms of transport:
[edit] Rail
It is on the London to Cambridge mainline. This line is operated by 'one'. The reasonably rapid connections to London allow Bishop's Stortford to be part of the London Commuter Belt.
[edit] Road
Bishop's Stortford is reached by junction 8 of the M11 motorway, which also runs from London to Cambridge, meaning the town is a frequent stop-off point for travellers using the nearby airport. To the north of the town is the A120, a road that joins the A10 in the west to the A12 to the east.
[edit] Air
Stansted Airport is on the town's doorstep, with easy transport via rail between there and the town. This airport mainly flies to Europe and is the third largest of the four major airports serving London.
[edit] Bus
The town has many bus routes, including the 308/309 main bus route for travel within Bishop's Stortford and to Stansted Airport. Other, longer routes like the 510 (Stansted Airport - Harlow) and 333 (Stansted - Epping) link Bishop's Stortford with other nearby towns.
[edit] Famous inhabitants
Bishop's Stortford is the birthplace of Cecil Rhodes, born in 1853 and the effective founder of the state of Rhodesia, De Beers diamond company and the Rhodes Scholarship. There is a museum for him that is inside the house he lived in.
It is also the birthplace of Frederick Scott Archer who invented the collodion process, the first photographic emulsion used to create glass negatives.
Although not strictly a famous inhabitant, Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London, owned land in Bishop's Stortford, though there is no record of his having visited the town. The town's Richard Whittington Primary School and the road Whittington Way are both named after him.
[edit] Twin towns
Bishop's Stortford is twinned with the following towns:
[edit] Education
The county council (Hertfordshire) is responsible for education. Being in England, Bishop's Stortford follows the English schools model of primary, secondary, and further education. There are 13 primary and 5 secondary schools (two of which are single sex). The town does not have any further education colleges for post 16 education, as all post 16 education is received at the secondary schools in the form of sixth form.
There is also an independent school, the Bishop's Stortford College[1], which covers the whole educational spectrum from the ages of 4 to 18, and provides facilities which are enjoyed by the whole town.
Many of the secondary schools in the Bishop's Stortford area have gained special college status, variously for technology, sciences, languages or performing arts. Secondary schools include St Mary's Catholic School, Birchwood, Hockerill Anglo-European College, The Bishop's Stortford High School (commonly referred to as the 'Boys High')[2] and The Hertfordshire and Essex High School. The latter two schools are single sex schools, for boys and girls respectively, although both have mixed gender sixth-forms.
[edit] Leisure and entertainment
[edit] Sports
Bishop's Stortford has many sports facilities, including the Grange Paddocks Pool & Gym, and various leagues are based in the town. Sporting facilities consist of the Bishop's Stortford rugby club, the cricket club, the tennis club, [3] the squash club [4] and the Bishop's Stortford Golf Club. Bishop's Stortford also boasts two football teams - Bishop's Stortford F.C., who play in the Conference South, and Bishop's Stortford Swifts F.C., who play in the Essex Olympian Football League.
[edit] Other
Located in the town centre is Anchor Street Entertainment, a multiplex which hosts an Empire cinema, a Bowling alley with a bar and arcade, Cannon's Health Club, and a McDonald's.
There are only a few nightlife-spots in Bishop's Stortford including a Chicago Rock Cafe, a couple of nightclubs; Flaunt and JR's and an over 22's club called The Attic. The popular restaurant, Host, has recently (December 2006) opened a private members' bar above their restaurant in the Corn Exchange building. The bar is open to members and their guests until 1am, or 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Rhodes Arts Complex [5] benefitted from a lottery grant in 2006 and is now the main venue for live music and theatre.
Apart from that, the closest to a live music venue in Bishop's Stortford, supporting rock, blues and folk bands is The Half Moon at the top end of North Street. It is a cosy, traditional and somewhat untouched pub that has a reasonably small back-room with stage.
Being a market town, Bishop's Stortford also has many large public houses within the town centre, most notably The Boars Head in the High Street (rumoured to date back to the early 1400s was once visited by the famous diarist Samuel Pepys) offers hostel accommodation, live sporting events and delicious food served all day.
[edit] Climate
Being in the south east of England, the town enjoys a warmer climate than most of the United Kingdom and has some of the hottest summers in Britain; it is also one of the driest places in the country. Temperatures may sometimes reach the mid-30s celsius in the summer. Snow is often seen in the winter months because the town is near to the east coast, where cold, moist air is brought in from the North Sea. In recent years there has been up to three inches of snow early in the year which has resulted in minor disruption to transport and caused some schools to close for several days. However, the snow tends not to persist for a significant length of time in any noticeable quantity.
[edit] Trivia
Bishop's Stortford was mentioned in a sketch on the TV show Vic Reeves Big Night Out. When Vic mentioned the Bishop of Stortford.
[edit] External links
- Bishop's Stortford Town Council
- Largest Residents Association
- Detailed history
- Brief history
- Stop Stansted Expansion
- Local MP site
- Bus Services
- [6] Bishop's Stortford Business Connections - a local business network
