On 3rd April 1850 ten gentlemen gathered in the library of Hartwell House in Lower Hartwell. They had gathered “to form a society the objects of which should be the advancement and extension of meteorological science by determining the laws of climate and of meteorological phenomena in general”. Thus was the British Meteorological Society born.

Over the years the village has had various names Herdewelle in the Domesday Book, Herdwell and Herde-Welle. It has been said that the name derives from the Saxon Herd, a shepherd or a flock and Welle, a spring of water. Alternatively it is said to be derived from the Old English heorot meaning hart and wella meaning spring or stream, thus ‘a spring or stream frequented by harts or stags’.