Hartham Common

Hartham Common is a large well established public open space in the centre of Hertford, comprising wildlife-rich river corridors, cattle-grazed meadows, and a network of paths and various recreational facilities. It is now owned and managed by East Herts Council.

With over 1,000 years of recorded history and located close to the centre of Hertford, Hartham Common has a range of facilities including a leisure centre and swimming pool, two well-equipped play areas, a skate park, football pitches, bowling green, tennis courts and ample public parking, as well as extensive riverside and woodland walks. A network of Public Rights of Way connect with and through the open space, linking Hertford and Ware. In 2013 it was dedicated as a Queen Elizabeth II Field in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

To guide work and future plans a management plan has been developed, and we are now working on several projects to make significant improvements in the open space.  These include new signage and notice boards at the main entrances, conservation works to extend the grazing meadows and improvements to the wildlife habitats and river corridors as part of the new Hartham Common 4 Rivers Project. Hartham Common will soon be supported by its very own Friends Group.

There is more information about the new management plan, becoming a Friend of Hartham Common and current project work in the open space below.

Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, located approximately 25 miles north of London. The town is easily accessible by road via the A10 and A414, with convenient links to the M25, M11 and A1(M) motorways.

You can find information on the locations and charges for car parks in Hertford on our car park pages. Some of our car parks have designated motorcycle bays.

There are regular rail services from London Liverpool Street to Hertford.
 

Play Areas

There are two playgrounds over Hartham Common plus a Skate Park.  Playground one is designed for older children with the following features;

  • Freerider Swing Unit
  • Single Low Rotator Unit
  • Multi-Unit with Rotating Section (Galaxy style)
  • Climbing Boulder
  • Mobulus Rotating / Rocking Unit

Playground two is designed for younger children and was redeveloped in 2020/21.

The younger children's play area includes swings for various ages, a roundabout, sandpit with water play (in the summer months) and dinosaur bones, a Viking swing and lots more.

The redevelopment aimed to make it a destination play area and also features the impressive, crowdfunded, two bird nest towers - including slides, rope ladders and a rope tunnel connecting the two together.

There are plenty of benches and spaces to set up a picnic blanket so make sure to visit.

3G Mini Football Pitches

There are 10 outdoor junior and adult pitches available throughout Hartham Common and the Connected Hartham Meads broken down into;

  • 5 senior pitches (3 at Hartham, 2 across the River at the Meads)
  • 2 Junior Pitches ( 1 each across the two sites)
  • 3 Mini pitches (all at Hartham Meads)

In addition to the grass pitches, there are two smaller 3G pitches available for hire.

To book any pitches, you can book these online using the Hartham Leisure Centre Website.  If you are looking to book outdoor pitches, please either search 'pitch' or 'outdoor courts & pitches'

Alternatively you can contact Hartham Leisure Centre on 01992 584 000.

4 Rivers Project 

We have been working with the Countryside Management Service (CMS) to deliver the 4 Rivers Project which will improve areas of Hartham Common for both wildlife and people.  
For further information see River Lea Catchment Partnership website.

Medow grazing and ponds

Together with the Environment Agency, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT) and the Countryside Management Service (CMS), the Council has developed an area of Hartham Common near St Leonard's Church into an enclosed grazing meadow of wetland grassland with new ponds. An additional small grazing meadow was created as part of the Hartham Common 4 Rivers Project in 2015. 

Circular walks 

Three new circular walking routes have been mapped out as part of an initiative connecting communities in and around Hertford to green open spaces, encouraging low impact exercise and to help improve general health and wellbeing.

Developed by Hertfordshire County Council’s Countryside Rights of Way on behalf of East Herts District Council – these colour coded routes utilize the existing Rights of Way network and guide walkers out of Hartham to explore open green spaces, ancient woodlands and many points of interest along the way.  

There is a map by the skate park near the main entrance introducing the initiative and colour coded directional way markers have been fixed along each of the routes to guide walkers.  These were kindly installed by volunteers as part of our commitment to engage the local community in their environment.

East Herts Council has worked with the Countryside Management Service (CMS) to create a new, updated five year action plan for Hartham Common in Hertford. The vision over the next five years is to maintain and enhance Hartham Common, keeping up the same high standards that visitors have come to expect while doing all we can to support and benefit local wildlife and habitats.

After comments on the action plan we have now created a new action plan which will form an appendix to the Hartham Common Greenspace Action Plan (GAP) 2018-23 because the objectives of this document have not changed. Access the final document: Hartham Common Green and Action Plan 2018 to 2023 with Action Plan 2023 to 2028.

You can see a summary of the main comments received from the engagement process on Hartham Common Draft Action Plan (GAP) 2023-28 within the Hartham Common Action Plan Public Engagement Response Document.
 

 

Friends of Hartham Common get involved with caring for their local green space through practical conservation work, decision making, organising community events, fundraising and much more. 

See more on the Friends of Greespaces website. 

Address

Hartham Lane
Hertford
SG14 1QR
United Kingdom

Feedback