Heritage & History…

All the buildings in St Andrew Street have a long history, being either built or reconstructed upon an ancient site. Numbers 58 and 60 are reputed to be the oldest, perhaps 14th Century or earlier.

Beautiful Heritage

No 43, now Beckwiths, is dated to 1450 and is perhaps the most picturesque in the street and Nicholas Pevsner called Yeomanry House (1725) "one of the best houses in Hertford". At the former Three Tuns, now the Baan Thitiya Thai restaurant, an 18th Century front has been added to a much earlier rear.

Ancient properties line St Andrew Street and the majority of them are listed. From the late 18th Century until more recent times there were habitable yards, of which only two names remain: Brewhouse Lane – which was rebuilt in a traditional style – and Victoria Place - now extended.

The former Fiddle Yard is now Arbon Court, with newly-completed houses for sale. Other yards and property were swept away by the relief road in the 1960s and the Oaken Buildings were eventually replaced by the St Andrew Street car park.

Building on History

The Church of St Andrew’s was possibly of Saxon origin and additions to the original building failed to accommodate sufficient of its worshippers. By the mid 19th Century, the old church was in a "parlous state" and re-building was thought necessary. The new church was consecrated on 24th March 1870, with its old tower.

Six years later, by the generosity of Earl Cowper of Panshanger and Mr. Robert Smith of Goldings, the tower was replaced. The architect was J. Johnson of Moorgate Street and the style is of the transitional period between Early English and decorated styles of Medieval architecture.

A Link to the Past

St Andrew Street has always been the west entry to the town of Hertford, leading from a junction of Hertingfordbury and North Roads, to Old Cross and Millbridge (the River Lea crossing). Hertingfordbury Road is now a relief road & by-passes St Andrew Street. The street widens after its junction with Brewhouse Lane, suggesting an entwhile market place or, perhaps, lost front gardens.

For further reading, please find the Hertford Civic Society’s 2006 Edition "Buildings of Hertford" – available from the Hertford Museum and the T.I.C.

All images are copyright of the Hertford Museum.