Whitwell is a village in the parish of St Paul's Walden

St Paul's Walden

St Paul's Walden is a village about five miles south of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. The civil parish of St Paul's Walden also includes the village of Whitwell...

 about six miles south of Hitchin

Hitchin

Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 30,360.-History:Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people mentioned in a 7th century document, the Tribal Hidage. The tribal name is Brittonic rather than Old English and derives from *siccā, meaning...

 in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Situated on a tableland, a spur of the Chilterns

Chiltern Hills

The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...

, Whitwell is about 400 feet above sea level. The soil is mostly clay with flints.

It contains a number of early brick and half-timbered houses

Timber framing

Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...

, several of which are of the 18th century. Local attractions include Waterhall Farm (an open farm and craft centre), and two country pubs, The Bull Inn and The Maidens Head. With the River Mimram

River Mimram

The Mimram Valley is named after the River Mimram, which rises from a spring to the north of Whitwell, in North Hertfordshire, England, and makes its confluence with the River Lea near Horn's Mill in Hertford. At Whitwell there are cress beds which have existed since Roman times and these are fed...

 running north-west to south-east through Whitwell, the village has been noted (apparently since Roman times) for its production of prime watercress

Watercress

Watercresses are fast-growing, aquatic or semi-aquatic, perennial plants native from Europe to central Asia, and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by human beings...

.

Roman coins

Roman currency

The Roman currency during most of the Roman Republic and the western half of the Roman Empire consisted of coins including the aureus , the denarius , the sestertius , the dupondius , and the as...

have been found in Whitwell.

Whitwell AFC, the village football club, was established in 1908 and currently plays in the Hertfordshire Senior County League.