Our History

The Parish

St Andrew’s is in the Diocese of St Albans (Previously it was in Rochester, and before that in Lincoln) and the Monarch, through the Duchy of Lancaster is the patron of the living of "Hertford St Andrew, with St Nicholas and St Mary". 

A church of St Mary stood until the early 16th Century on the old  site of the public library at Old Cross. St Nicholas Church stood in Maidenhead Yard (behind Maidenhead Street). During the 16th Century the population decreased and both churches fell into disuse;  they were closed and the parishes annexed to St Andrew's early in the 18th Century.

From the Castle westward, the parish comprises the centre of the town bounded by the river Beane to the north and the rivers Lea and Mimram to the south. Beyond the housing estates of Sele Farm and Hertingfordbury Road it is bounded to the west by the rural parishes of Waterford, Tewin, Bramfield and Hertingfordbury. The total population of the parish is around 7500.

St Andrew was  fisherman, brother of St Peter. He is depicted in Christian art holding the Gospel in his right hand and leaning on the diagonal cross, on which he is said to have been crucified in about 70 AD at Patrea. St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and Russia. The figure above the north porch (the entrance to the church), in its stone shelter, represents him. This was put up in 1870 and was the subject of some adverse criticism at the time.