Place Name
Named after the source of the New River, the brainchild of Sir Hugh Myddelton, the Welsh cloth-maker, entrepreneur, mine-owner, goldsmith, banker and self-taught engineer. The man-made river was an ambitious engineering project to bring clean water from the River Lea, near Ware, in Hertfordshire to New River Head, London. The New River was constructed between 1608 and 1613 (and officially opened on 29 September that year), it was originally some 38 miles (60km) long. The river flows near here.
