Hatfield Broad Oak (also known as HBO or Hatfield Regis) is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, about five and a half miles south-east of Bishop's Stortford. Near the church of St Mary the Virgin is former Benedictine priory Hatfield Regis Priory.
At around 8,800 acres (36 km2) the parish is one of the largest in Essex, stretching four miles (6 km) north of the village, and was formerly divided into four "quarters": Town Quarter, Woodrow Quarter, Heath Quarter, and Broomsend Quarter. At the north end of the parish lies Hatfield Forest, known for its large oak trees.
The name Hatfield Broad Oak has been used since at least 1136, and the eponymous oak was mentioned in record in 1295. The forest still contains the fenced remains of a very large oak known as the "Doodle Oak", estimated as 850 years old, though it is believed to be a different tree to that which gave the parish its name. Hatfield forest is now in the possession of the National Trust.
Hatfield was at one time a thriving market town. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 1,600.
Read more about Hatfield Broad Oak: History, Church, Village Life
Famous quotes containing the words broad and/or oak:
“A church that can never have done with excommunicating Christ while it exists! Away with your broad and flat churches, and your narrow and tall churches! Take a step forward, and invent a new style of out-houses. Invent a salt that will save you, and defend our nostrils.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I could lecture on dry oak leaves; I could, but who would hear me? If I were to try it on any large audience, I fear it would be no gain to them, and a positive loss to me. I should have behaved rudely toward my rustling friends.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)