MARKING SARRATT'S
PLACE IN HISTORY
Our Society was founded in 1996 and is run by a small group of people from the village. We share a passionate interest in our community, its people and how it has come to be the way it is. We also understand the importance of recording and maintaining stories, records and artefacts from the village and surrounding areas for the benefit of future generations.
We hold a regular calendar of well-attended talks and lectures in Sarratt Village Hall - meetings take place on Tuesdays at 7:30 for 8pm, with members attending free. Our Annual General Meeting takes place in January and we publish a programme of events every Spring.
We also arrange occasional ‘one-off’ walks of historical interest, and special exhibitions linked to specific historical anniversaries and commemorations.
A programme of events is published each Spring and sent to members. Membership is open to all and, as we research the history of local places and people, we encourage everyone to share their local knowledge with us.
EIGHTY YEARS ON...
Captain Hottenstein
2/Lieutenant Cotterman
PFC Windham
1/Lieutenant Thornburg
2/Lieutenant Shirley
A Walk In Time Through Sarratt Bottom
Highlights of our March Meeting
Memories of a Child in the Chess Valley
The meeting featured a memoir written by "'bottomer" Betty Healing (née Simmons), who grew up in the valley
Get to Know Us...
Our Next Meeting
Tuesday 13 May
The Pam Turner Memorial Lecture
Digging for Gold "ingtons"
Dr. Morrison is a Senior Associate Tutor for Archaeology at Oxford University and is currently the Heritage and Archaeology Manger for Chiltern National Landscape. She will share with us the findings from the Archaeological Dig of the Goldingtons Lynchets, which took place in August 2024 and her more recent geophysical survey work, and how this is informing her plans for the summer 2025 excavation.
We are always looking for anyone who is interested in Local History to join the Committee of the society, please contact Sue Clark, Chair SLHS if you would like to come on board.
Our Usual Meeting place: Sarratt Village Hall
Time: 7:30 for 8
Click for more details
AGM Documentation
Click here
to access the documents presented at the 2025 AGM
OUR 2023 PROGRAMME
Tuesday 21 March
Gardens/Gardening Through the Ages
The great Roman writers on gardening were full of gardening tips such as averting hail by carrying a crocodile skin through your garden. Over the centuries gardening evolved from subsistence to market gardening and then pleasure gardening. The literature on how to garden is immense: from Palladius (quoted above) to Thomas Tusser's 500 points of good husbandry in 1573 to Mr Middleton, the great gardening broadcaster of WWII. This talk will look at what and how plants were grown in a very quick run through of the last 2000 years.
Tuesday 16 May
The Pam Turner Memorial Lecture
The Palace and the Plantagenets:
The story of Langley Palace
To celebrate the life of our past Chair Pam Turner - a passionate mediævalist- author and historian Michael Long, who has written many articles on Mediæval and Tudor history, will be sharing with us the fascinating history of (Kings) Langley Palace. Home of Plantagenet Kings and Queens, site of the parliament during the plague and one of the most sophisticated buildings of its age.
Drinks and nibbles will be served from the earlier time of 7.15 pm
Tuesday 6 June
An Evening with Gregory Edmund from Spink
Gregory Edmund grew up in Sarratt and has been a member of the Local History Society for many years. He is now a leading Numismatist at Spink and Son and his credits include the most valuable mediæval English coin ever sold at auction, and the recent sale of the Ellerby Hoard. Join Greg for a lively talk about his work and views on the new Charles III coinage!
Tuesday 19 September
From the Romans to Four Weddings and a Funeral
While the present house dates back to the early 1700s, there has probably been a dwelling at Goldingtons since the time of the Romans. Sue will look at how the house and gardens have changed since mediæval times, and introduce the interesting and diverse range of people who have lived “above and below” stairs over the centuries.
Tuesday 14 November
History of a Local Family: The Biggerstaffs
The Biggerstaff family have been a key part of village life for over 100 years through their eponymous garage, the development of which reflected changes in Sarratt through the 20th Century - from bicycles to SUVs!
Tuesday 16 January 2024
Annual General Meeting and Myths and Legends of Sarratt
Members of the Local History Society will be delving into the Great Sarratt Scrapbooks and other archives to find the myths and legends that have grown up about the village and Sarratt families. Please come along and share your own stories about our village and its curious past.
OUR 2022 PROGRAMME
Tuesday 22 March
The story of our locals
Stephen Morrill, will talk to us about pubs local to the Sarratt area, past and present, giving us an insight into how their role in our communities has changed over the years.
Tuesday 17 May
The Inaugural Pam Turner Memorial Lecture
Education in Sarratt
Society President Dawn Pitts will deliver the inaugural Pam Turner Memorial Lecture on Education in Sarratt. Pam was Chair of the Sarratt Local History Society for many years and prior to that a Headmistress at an east end secondary school. Join us in a celebration of Pam’s life and contribution to Sarratt Local History.
Saturday 16 July
An archaeological walk in the Chess Valley, following the Latimer loop
Dr Wendy Morrison is a Senior Associate Tutor for Archaeology at Oxford University researching Prehistoric Landscape Archaeology. She currently works for the Chilterns Conservation Board as Project Manager of the Beacons of the Past Hillforts project. Wendy will take us on a short archaeological walk in the Chess valley.
Tuesday 20 September
Slave Owners in West Herts
West Hertfordshire in the 18th and 19th centuries was home to a number of families who owned slave estates in the Caribbean. Brian Thomson will focus on four families and explore these local links with Britain’s colonial past.
Tuesday 15 November
Poles Apart – WW2 Polish Resistance
Roger Yapp, Chairman of the Abbots Langley Local History Society will share his research on the role of the Polish Resistance, based in Kings Langley, during the second world war. Explaining the role they played in British intelligence.
Tuesday 17 January 2023
AGM and The Chiltern Open Air Museum
Andrew York will update us on all the latest developments at Chiltern Open Air Museum.
Our Meeting Venue:
Sarratt Village Hall
Sarratt WD3 6AS
Zoom in on Sarratt...
The Village Hall is next door to the Cricketers pub, and close to the crossroads between the Green/Dimmocks Lane and Church Lane/George V Way
Interested in
Membership of the Society?
Membership is open to all. An annual fee of £12 per adult is payable upon joining, and is renewable at the following AGM. Members are entitled to attend SLHS meetings without charge; the entry fee for non-members is £4, payable at the door.
Please download and complete a Membership Form and send your payment to the Treasurer.
It will open in a separate window, from which you may download it
Contact Us
Biggerstaffs Garage
The first 100 Years
A family and a business
SLHS member Tony Bond has delved into the century-old story of the family behind this iconic village institution. Priced at a very reasonable £10, his fascinating book is on sale at the Village Shop, which is where all proceeds will go.
News from the Chilterns Heritage & Archaeology Partnership (CHAP)
Unearthing surprises at Goldingtons
Iron Age Earthworks: the mystery of Grim’s Ditch
The Celts, Pumpkin patches and the Chilterns
Sign up here to receive the CHAP newsletter
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