London is known for being bustling and full of people wherever you look. You’ll often find Londoners taking themselves off for weekends away to quiet country destinations to briefly get away from the busyness of the city.
But I don’t think you’ll find anywhere quite as quiet as this little village in Essex not far from the hustle and bustle of the capital.
Strethall, Essex
According to the 2021 census, Strethall has just 27 residents and 11 houses, making it the quaintest of quaint locations close to London.
Spread over 600 acres and set in the Uttlesford District, west of Saffron Walden, the parish is home to a Grade I listed building, the Saxon church St Mary the Virgin. The church dates back to c.1010, is constructed of flint and stone and is the real jewel in the crown of the village.
Strethall’s oldest house is a 15th-century house called Manor Cottage, formerly known as “Motts” and was believed to have been built around c.1435.
Strethall is also known as a “Thankful village.” Locations are named as such when no men from the village were lost in World War I. To show you how rare that was, out of 16,000 villages in England, only 32 can call themselves thankful villages, according to journalist Arthur Mee.
Getting to Strethall from London
The village is 39.5 miles from London and the fastest way to get there is to drive, which takes around 90 minutes from central London. Alternatively, you could catch a train to nearby Audley End because Strethall doesn’t have its own train station, which is expected given the low number of residents.
If you don’t fancy travelling just to see the small village, the Icknield Way Path passes through Strethall and is a nice way to make a day of it. This path is a 110-mile route linking Ivinghoe Beacon (Buckinghamshire) and Knettishall Heath (Suffolk).
