The architect Henry Keene designed the ruined Hartwell Church. Completed in 1756, it is one of the most important early Gothic Revival churches in England and is now a Grade II* listed building.

 

The church once had a plaster fan vault but this has now fallen in, and the church’s windows are now boarded up, with it now appearing more as a garden folly than a former place of worship.

 

The author, Anthony D. Hippiseley Coxe describes it as having a very “poignant atmosphere”.

The Hartwell Spring is situated down a dead-end lane, in a structure built during the Victorian era. The structure is an alcove in which are inscribed Egyptian symbols. The water from the spring is caught in a stone trough, which in turn has a niche that allows the water to flow into the ditch beside the road. The local legend states that when Julius Caesar invaded Britain, he came here and saw a deer drinking at the spring, hence the place earning its name.

 

Historically, it is believed that Julius Caesar could never have been in the area but that the name is nonetheless derived from the spring, which was once a drinking place for deer.