Little Horwood is lucky enough to have a spacious and picturesque green in the centre of the village. It is surrounded by old properties such as the Old Sweet Shop, and The Old Crown. The road layout is as it would have been hundreds of years ago and there are surviving photographs dating to the end of the 19th century showing the Green, Clays Lane, the brook and Church Street.
In his book, Terry Smith recounts how Kate Shillingford who lived in the village towards the end of the 19th century described how a crier would go around the village in the morning crying “Tomlin on the green tonight”. She recounted ‘during the day a van would arrive with a wonderful supply of goods of all kinds spread on the village green; pots, pans and crockery of every description. In the evening the women in their clean white aprons would wend their way to the green, accompanied by children and sometimes menfolk to look at the goods, buy what they needed and of course have a chat.’
The village green was purchased in 1967 by the parish council from the estate of G.W Selby Lowndes who was the last Lord of the Manor. Apparently these were lengthy negotiations, taking 10 years from his death in 1957.
Today it is the location of the annual Christmas tree around which torchlit Carols on the Green event takes place for villagers. The brook that runs through the village at the bottom of the Green is the setting for the longstanding annual Boxing Day duck race. Once featuring live ducks, villagers and their visiting families now turn out to cheer on their rubber racing ducks to much festive merriment!
In 2025, the bus stop opposite the green was made into a library of books and jigsaw puzzles – highlighting the wonderful sense of community in the village.