Editing London Colney (section)

==History==
Colney was first recorded in the 13th century.  It takes its name from the [[River Colne, Hertfordshire|River Colne]], with the [[Old English]] suffix ''ēa'', meaning "river".  The name London Colney, first recorded in 1555, referred to "Colney on the road to London", and distinguished the place from [[Colney Street]].<ref>{{Citation | contribution = Colney | year = 2010 | title = The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names | editor-last = Watts | editor-first = Victor | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn=9780521168557 }}</ref>

The village was on the boundary of the 1860s [[Coal-tax post|London Coal Tax]] area; two posts still stand.

London Colney was historically part of the ancient parish of [[St Albans St Peter]].  In 1894 it became part of the civil parish of [[St Peter Rural]],<ref>{{cite vob|name=St Albans St Peter|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10038327|accessdate=25 March 2019}}</ref> which was abolished in 1947 when London Colney became a separate civil parish.

London Colney Primary School was initially due to open on 4 September 1939. It was then closed on the same day, as war was declared. It opened properly a day later.

In the early morning of 12 May 1941, a German spy, [[Karel Richard Richter|Karel Richter]], descended by parachute near London Colney. Richter buried his equipment and hid for a couple of days. Driven out by hunger (he had mistakenly buried his food parcel as well), Richter was approached by two lorry drivers who asked him the way to London. Suspicious of Richter's non-committal reply and foreignness, the lorry drivers then approached Constable Alec Scott and mentioned the strange man. Scott found Richter who asked to be taken to a hospital as he was feeling unwell. Scott called his superiors who quickly sent a car to pick up Richter and take him to jail.<ref>Hayward, p.248</ref>