Wadesmill
A hamlet in Hertfordshire, located on the south side of the River Rib with an estimated population of 264. Running through the centre of Wadesmill is the road formerly known as the A10 - the main London to King's Lynn (via Cambridge) road. But now that the A10 by-pass has been built, Wadesmill and surrounding villages have returned to the quiet of former times. The route that was formerly the A10 is an ancient one with portions of it following the line of the ancient Roman Road of Ermine Street. Ermine Street also figures as the former main street in Wadesmill's adjacent village Thundridge. To the east of Wadesmill is the picturesque estate of Youngsbury.
Wadesmill has two pubs both with restaurants and one has bed & breakfast rooms. The Anchor Inn & The Feathers Inn and Hotel.
Wadesmill History
Historically Wadesmill is particularly notable for two features - it is the location of the first Turnpike in England (and therefore the world), and the presence of the Clarkson Memorial halfway up nearby High Cross Hill, a memorial to Thomas Clarkson's rest point in his travels, at which he decided to devote much of the rest of his life to ending the slave trade in England.
