EARLY records show the name as "Bissei", meaning a wooded place but Bushey has long been a busy place - the village stood astride the road from London to Kings Langley, where royalty lived and hunted the king's deer, and Berkhamsted Castle, scene of the Saxons' surrender after 1066.

Bushey Heath was once the haunt of highwaymen, including Dick Turpin, who robbed stagecoach passengers the length and breadth of the country, if legend is to be believed. Today, traffic heads into and out of Greater London at a slower pace.

As one enters the parish (and Hertfordshire), the light-grey tower of St Peter's Church heralds an approach to more rural surroundings. The day I was there, a notice outside the church said "open", as though there could be any doubt that a church would be otherwise. Sadly, many churches close their doors these days. Another, more amusing sign can be seen on the door of the gents' in the Queen's Arms: "Dirty old men need love too", it declares. How reassuring.

The old blue lamp still hangs proudly outside the Victorian police station, with "Metropolitan Police", carved into the stone above the door, although the area is now policed by the county constabulary. I consulted the noticeboard: "Closed Bank Holidays", it said, and underneath: "Tell us what you think about your police service". I kept my counsel: most do, I suspect.

Further on, the curiously-named Sparrows Herne evidently derives from Sparweshous, a name dating back to 1351. Further on, I turned down Melbourne Road, eager to see all that remains of "Herkomer's Castle", so-called after Sir Hubert von Herkomer, a Bavarian artist who had the idea of building a unique home to celebrate the art of his family. Work started in 1888 and, when complete, the house was named Lululaund, after his second wife. Sadly, the "castle" was demolished before the Second World War and all that survives is a brick-arched portal, still visible above the door of the Royal British Legion headquarters.

Herkomer was a noted portrait painter who, in 1883, set up an art school at which young artists were trained. Not far away, the Rose Garden was formerly the garden of Lululaund, and the cloisters have been re-created with bricks from the original building.

A noticeboard proudly bears an old photograph of Herkomer himself. In the centre of the garden stands a splendid monument, designed on Bhuddist philosophical principles, just off High Street, one can sit in peace, surrounded by a myriad of trees and shrubs as a few yards away drivers stuck in traffic queues impatiently sound their horns.

Herkomer was knighted by King Edward VII, and also honoured by the German Kaiser. He died just before the First World War. A pity, because one wonders if someone held in reverence by these two opposing heads of state might have somehow bonded them.

Further along the High Street, beyond the curiously-named Koh-i-Noor Avenue (it means "mountain of light") I crossed to St James's Church, which was reputedly founded as long ago as 1006.

The list of rectors dates back to William, son of Robert de Saxby, in 1334. The pond in front of the church is also ancient, but not so the lych gate, which was built in 1996 to replace an earlier one bombed during the Second World War. The new one is dedicated to those killed in both world wars.

Once you are through the gate, the steady noise of traffic seems at once to fade, as though prevented from passing into the churchyard by an invisible shroud. I explored in the peace all churchyards seem to bring, then sat by the green, opposite the old cottages which are missed by disinterested motorists, but can be admired by those who would sit and look.

On one, a plaque proclaims that the artist Lucy Kemp-Welch lived there; another, number 20, was once the Robin Hood inn, and a third was a 15th century yeoman's house, but now hidden behind a modern frontage. An ancient wisteria somehow survives amid the bricks and mortar.

Who would have thought Bushey would have so much to offer? Back at the Greater London frontier, an old boundary post stands aslant on the footpath marking the traveller's arrival at Middlesex, a county which now exists largely in name only.

The old post seems to defy change, but then, change is not usually something people take to.

Approximate distance: 4 miles

Start and Finish: Hertfordshire/Middlesex border, opposite Broadfield Court in High Road, Bushey Heath

Route

Bushey Heath to St James's parish church, Bushey High Street, and return, visiting the site of the former "Herkomer's Castle" (British Legion, Melbourne Road), and the Rose Garden

Directions

North-west along High Road, right-side footpath, turning right from High Street into Melbourne Road (passing the British Legion). Turn left into Herkomer Road, past Castle Close, left into Rose Garden. Through Garden to High Street, turn right to St James's Church and churchyard. Retrace your steps to start, noting other points of interest: details available from Bushey Library, Sparrows Herne (01923 471333) and Bushey Museum, Rudolph Road (020 8950 3233). Check for opening times.

Pubs

Numerous on the route

Reproduced from Limited Edition magazine, exclusive guides to living in Hertfordshire, Middlesex and the London Borough of Barnet (01923 216295).

For a printable map of the walk, please click the image below.