1836

The London and Birmingham Railway is built, complete with a 355¼ yard railway tunnel in Northchurch [click here to read more]. The building of the railway brings Northchurch and Berkhamsted into easy reach of London.

“At about the middle of it we pass through the North Church Tunnel, the length of which is one fifth of a mile. It has two handsome fronts of stone, with side walls of brickwork, and is the same height and proportions as the Watford Tunnel.” The London and Birmingham Railway, Roscoe and Lecount (1839).

1840s – 1860s

New ‘large houses’ are built: Rossway, Norcott Court, Northchurch Hall, Lagley, Woodcock Hill, Northchurch Rectory. There is a stark contract between the pictures of these grand houses and the rather smaller terraced cottages built in Bell Lane to house local workers.

1840

Baptist Chapel in Bell Lane opens [click here to read more]

1864

Village school built on land donated by Lord Brownlow.

1882

A North aisle is added to St Mary’s church to accommodate more people. Two articles from the Bucks Herald indicate how the church was thriving:

• The Church Sunday School Treat 1985: "Headed by the Temperance Drum and Fife Band, the children marched to the meadow." Bucks Herald, Saturday 27 July 1895
• The Church with new North aisle 1889: "At the early morning service the communicants numbered 124 and at the subsequent one 72, altogether 196, the largest number ever known here."  Bucks Herald, Saturday 27th April 1889