Markyate is situated on the A5, the old Roman Road, north of junction 9 on the M1. The total population of Markyate is approximately 3,000.
In medieval times a community of Benedictine nuns was established in Markyate by Christina. On the ruins of the original priory a manor house, Markyate Cell, was built, many additions have been made to the house, over the centuries, but parts of the original Tudor building are intact. Markyate’s Parish Church, St John the Baptist, stands on a corner of the grounds of Markyate Cell.
One of the most notorious residents of the Cell was Lady Katherine Ferrers, known as ‘The Wicked Lady’. According to legend she was in an unhappy marriage and repressed by a bullying and overbearing husband. She rebelled by dressing as a man and using a secret stairway to escape to farm stables, from where she ventured out at night to become a highway robber. Rumour has it she can still be seen riding across the fields.
Markyate houses many businesses: the High Street has a well-known local Bakery (est. 1928) and Bakers shop, a Dispensing Chemist, a well-stocked village store (One Stop) with integral post office and ATM open from 6 am to 10 pm, restaurants, two pubs, two takeaways, a coffee shop, a gym, mechanics, a car wash, barber and hairdresser and beauty parlours, as well as dog training classes.
For the young people, there is a thriving village school. There are scouts, mothers & toddlers, a day nursery, youth club, church children’s groups, after school club and a baby clinic. There is a Football and Cricket Club.
For the young at heart, there is the a community choir and church choir, pilates, yoga, martial arts, allotments, an art group, various coffee mornings, Markyate Health Walkers and Local History Society, with bhangra dance coming soon.
Today Markyate enjoys a real community spirit where you will always receive a warm welcome.