Northaw
A ridge-top village beside an ancient wood
Northaw is a village on a wooded ridge in south Hertfordshire, between Potters Bar and Cuffley, with historic inns, a church on the hill and the ancient Northaw Great Wood on its doorstep.
Choose your adventure
- 01Eat and drinkA Tudor inn by the church, dining on the green and a king's favourite alehouse.
- 02Walks and wildlifeAncient hornbeam woods, bracken glades and three waymarked trails.
- 03Heritage and legendsA king's fund, a royal spa and the night an airship fell.
- 04AdventuresOlympic white water, treetop zip wires and woodland bushcraft.
- 05Gardens and days outShow gardens, a vineyard, gunpowder mills and a Jacobean palace.
- 06Village lifeVolunteers, publicans and the people who make Northaw.
- 07Plan a dayOur 24-hour adventure, a royal hunting trail and five favourite walks.
- 08Family funAirship tales, adventure camps and big cats nearby.
- 09Stay the nightCountry-house hotels beyond the wood and inns in the towns nearby.
About 120 hectares of country park · Open all year
Ancient woodland · Open all year
Northaw Great Wood: Northaw's ancient forest
Ancient hornbeam and oak woodland, bracken glades and three waymarked trails, open all year.
Explore the Great Wood Read the village historyA village on the ridge
Northaw stands on a high ridge on the southern edge of Hertfordshire, with views over wooded valleys. Its houses gather around a triangular green beside the church and two listed inns.
To the north lies Northaw Great Wood, the heart of a Norman forest and one of the county's most extensive areas of ancient hornbeam. Central London is only about 15 miles away.
- Village population
- About 590
- Parish
- Northaw and Cuffley, 6,086 (2021 census)
- District
- Welwyn Hatfield
- Postcode
- EN6
- Nearest towns
- Potters Bar and Cuffley, each about 2 miles
Local favourites
All things to do-
Pubs and food
The Two Brewers
A Grade II listed village pub said to date from 1572, beside the church.
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Adventures
White-water rafting at the Olympic course
Ride the rapids built for the London 2012 canoe slalom, about 20 minutes from Northaw.
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Heritage
The Leefe Robinson memorial
Where the first German airship destroyed on British soil fell in flames, in September 1916.
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Pubs and food
The King & Tinker
A Grade II listed country pub where, legend says, King James I drank with a tinker.
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Pubs and food
Judges, on the village green
A Grade II listed former coaching inn, The Sun, reborn as a restaurant and cocktail bar.
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Adventures
Treetop adventures at Go Ape, Trent Park
Zip wires, Tarzan swings and high ropes in an ancient-woodland country park.
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Heritage
St Thomas à Becket Church
A Grade II* Victorian church, rebuilt after a fire, with a medieval font in the churchyard.
What's on
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From the blog
All posts24 hours in Northaw: a woodland adventure
Ancient woods, a Tudor inn, a royal spa and the night an airship fell: a perfect day and night.
5 November 2026The royal hunting trail: kings, tinkers and a lost deer park
Follow James I from Northaw Common to Theobalds and the alehouse where he met a tinker.
5 November 2026Autumn colour in Northaw Great Wood
Why late October and November are the best weeks of the year to visit.
4 November 2026
Staying nearby
Spend a woodland weekend at a country-house hotel beyond the Great Wood, or choose from hotels in Potters Bar, Cuffley, Hatfield and Enfield. Compare prices and book through Booking.com.
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