Hemel Hempstead

Hemel Hempstead is a town in the Dacorum district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located about 24 miles northwest of London. Nearby places include Watford, St Albans, and Berkhamsted. In the 2021 census, the town had a population of 95,961 people.

The town has a long history, existing since at least the 8th century. It received its town charter from Henry VIII in 1539. In the years following the Second World War, Hemel Hempstead grew significantly after being named a New Town.

History

Toponymy

The town was called Henamsted or Hean-Hempsted in old times and later Hemel-Amstede. The name likely comes from old words meaning “place,” like places such as Hamstead and Berkhamsted nearby.

One idea is that “Hemel” came from an older name, Haemele, which might have been the name of a local area or landowner.

People from Hemel Hempstead started a town in America called Hempstead, New York, in 1644.

Early history

The town was first mentioned when land was given to a church leader in 705 AD. By 1086, it had about 100 people. A tall church tower was built in the 12th century.

After a big change in history, the town was given to a powerful family. Over time, it was owned by different people and groups.

In 1539, the town got special rights to hold markets and fairs. In the 1500s, wall paintings were found in a house.

People in the town took land to keep it open for everyone. Roman buildings and a temple were found nearby.

18th to mid-20th century

In the 1700s and 1800s, Hemel Hempstead was a market town where farmers sold their goods. Big houses were built for rich families.

As travel grew, the town became a stop between London and the Midlands. A canal was built nearby, and later, railways came through, changing how people moved around.

During World War II, bombs fell on the town, and factories that made weapons were targets.

New town

After World War II, the government chose Hemel Hempstead to be a new town to house people from London. Building began in 1949, and the town grew quickly with new neighborhoods, factories, and schools. The town center was redesigned, and new roads and parks were added. The town continued to grow through the 1980s.

Geography

Hemel Hempstead is located in a shallow valley where the rivers Gade and Bulbourne meet, about 27 miles northwest of London. The town grew up the valley sides and onto a plateau above the original town.

To the north and west are farms and woods with small villages, part of the Chiltern Hills. Nearby towns include Berkhamsted to the west, Watford and the start of Greater London to the south, and St Albans to the east. A good view of the town can be seen from the top of Roughdown Common, a chalk hill south of Hemel Hempstead.

Districts

The town of Hemel Hempstead has many different areas or districts. Each area has its own special features and history.

Some of the main districts include:

• Adeyfield – This was the first area of the new town to be built, starting in 1950.
• Apsley – Known for its paper mills, this area now has shops, offices, and a large supermarket.
• Bennetts End – One of the original districts of the new town, building started here in 1951.
• Boxmoor – A Victorian-era area that grew up near a train station.
• Chaulden – An early district of the new town, started in 1953, with its own shopping centre.
• Grovehill – A large housing estate with shops, schools, and sports facilities.
• Leverstock Green – A village that existed before the new town and still keeps its old village centre.
• Nash Mills – An area with a long history of water mills, now a mix of industry and homes.
• Warner's End – One of the original new town districts, building began here in 1953.
• Woodhall Farm – A housing estate built in the 1970s with shops and schools.

Over the years, new developments have added more homes, shops, and leisure facilities. Areas like Jarman Park now offer sports and entertainment options for the town.

Places of worship

Hemel Hempstead has many places where people can gather for worship. Some of these include St Mary's in Old Town, St John's Church in Boxmoor, and The Church of the Resurrection in Grovehill. There are also churches like St Francis of Assisi in Hammerfield and the Methodist Church on Northridge Way.

Other spots for worship are the Parish Church of St Alban in Warners End, St George's United Reformed Church in Long Chaulden, and St Stephen in Chaulden. The town also has the Our Lady, Queen of All Creation R C Church in Bennets End and the Hemel Hempstead Seventh-day Adventist Church, also in Bennets End. Additionally, there is Christ Church in Bennets End, St Benedicts C of E Church in Bennets End, and Belmont Road Baptist Church in Bennets End.

Commerce, industry and agriculture

Historically, Hemel Hempstead was known for its farming, especially growing grains. The land was very good for crops, and the town had many watermills. Over time, the town developed other industries. It became a place for making bricks, paper, and straw goods. In the 1800s, it was also famous for growing watercress, a type of leafy vegetable.

Later, Hemel Hempstead had factories for making engineering tools, paper, and fireworks. In the mid-20th century, it was home to a special newspaper that tried new ways of reporting. Today, the town has many companies that work with engineering, technology, and communications.

Transport

Waterways

In 1798, the Grand Junction Canal reached Hemel Hempstead. Now part of the Grand Union Canal, it is a popular route for narrowboat pleasure craft and is maintained by the Canal & River Trust.

Rail

Hemel Hempstead railway station is located 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the town centre in Boxmoor, on the West Coast Main Line. London Northwestern Railway operates frequent services between London Euston, Tring and Milton Keynes Central.

Hemel Hempsted (Midland) station also served the town on the former Nickey Line to Harpenden. It was closed to passenger services in 1947, along with the line, and it was demolished in 1969.

Buses

The town is served by Arriva Herts & Essex, Centrebus (South), Red Rose Travel and Red Eagle; key routes link the town with Aylesbury, Harpenden, High Wycombe, Luton, Rickmansworth, St Albans and Watford. The bus interchange is situated in Waterhouse Street. In 2013, Dacorum Council announced that the former bus station would be demolished and replaced next to the Marlowes Shopping Centre on Bridge Street; the project was completed in September 2014.^{[needs update]}

Roads

In the 1990s, the A41 dual carriageway was built with a link to the town across the upland chalk plateau. Hemel Hempstead is linked to the M1 motorway to the east and the M25 to the south.

Future plans

Hertfordshire County Council is considering proposals to develop an east–west transit system, Hertfordshire Essex Rapid Transit (HERT) across the central belt of Hertfordshire, which could run from Hemel Hempstead to Harlow in Essex via St Albans. The project is not confirmed and remains unfunded, and HERT vehicles have not been specified, but proposals indicate that zero-emission passenger vehicles are being considered, including trams, guided busways, or trackless trams.

Education

Hemel Hempstead has seven state secondary schools, including Adeyfield Academy, The Astley Cooper School, Laureate Academy, The Hemel Hempstead School, John F. Kennedy Catholic School, and Longdean School. There are also three independent schools nearby: Abbot's Hill School, Lockers Park School, and Westbrook Hay School. The town also has a campus of West Herts College.

In 2006, local leaders thought there were too many places at primary schools and suggested combining some schools or closing a few.

Governance

Hemel Hempstead is part of the Hemel Hempstead parliamentary constituency. Over the years, members from the Conservative and Labour parties have been elected. The current MP is from Labour, elected in the 2024 General Election.

The town has two levels of local government: Dacorum Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council. It has been an unparished area since 1974, meaning it does not have its own town council. Historically, the town had special rights granted by Henry VIII in 1539, allowing it to hold markets and fairs. These rights made Hemel Hempstead unique, but its local government changed over time. In 1898, it became a municipal borough, and later, in 1974, it became part of the Dacorum district.

Notable features

Hemel Hempstead is known for its unique "Magic Roundabout", also called the Plough Roundabout. It is a special traffic system where six roads meet at one spot, allowing cars to go in both directions around a central circle.

The town also has Britain's first free-standing multi-storey car park. The new town centre features beautiful gardens and water areas called the Watergardens, home to many ducks. The main shopping street, Marlowes, was made pedestrian-friendly in the early 1990s.

Nearby, you can spot aircraft from Heathrow Airport as they circle in the sky. The town's tallest building, the 20-storey Kodak building, has been turned into flats.

Notable events

In December 2005, there were explosions and fires at the Buncefield oil depot. Many news reports said it was the largest explosion in Europe during peacetime, though this was not clearly proven.

Sport

Hemel Hempstead has many sports teams and places to play. Hemel Hempstead Town FC, called The Tudors, was formed in 1885 and plays in the National League South. They play at Vauxhall Road in Adeyfield.

There is also a rugby union club, Hemel Hempstead (Camelot) Rugby Club, founded in 1919. It plays in London 2 North West.

The town has cricket clubs too, like Hemel Hempstead Town Cricket Club and Boxmoor Cricket Club.

There is a real snow indoor sports venue that opened in April 2009. It offers many snow-based activities inside.

The town has many other sports clubs and facilities, including a bowls club, tennis courts, gyms, and golf courses. There are also places for roller hockey, basketball, and swimming.

Local media

Hemel Hempstead is part of the BBC London and ITV London areas for television. People there get their TV signals from the Crystal Palace transmitter and a local relay station.

You can listen to local radio on BBC Three Counties Radio at 92.1 FM, Heart Hertfordshire at 96.6 FM, and Radio Dacorum, a station for the community. The town’s newspapers include the Hemel Hempstead Gazette, Hemel Today, and Herald Express. Hemel Hempstead was also where West Herts TV, one of the first community TV stations, started. It later became Channel 10.

Art and culture

In popular culture

Some famous movies and TV shows were filmed in Hemel Hempstead. The 1957 science fiction film Quatermass 2 used the town to show a pretend new town. The 1990s TV series Pie in the Sky featured the town as a pretend restaurant location. The 2001 movie Birthday Girl showed many scenes in Hemel. The 2012 TV film based on David Walliams' book Mr Stink was also filmed there. Some scenes from the Netflix series After Life and the science fiction film Project Hail Mary were filmed in the town as well.

Public art

The town center has many interesting sculptures and artworks. There is a stone mural from 1955 by artist Alfred Gerrard called Stages in the Development of Man. Another sculpture named Rock & Rollers by French artist Hubert Yencess can be seen in the water gardens. There is also a fountain named Water Play. A large mosaic map of the Hemel Hempstead area, designed by artist Rowland Emett, sits on the side of a parking garage. In 1993, a rainbow sculpture called Residents' Rainbow was added, and it was updated in 2010. In 2008, a stone sculpture named A Point for Reflection was placed near a shopping center. Near the motorway, tall blue arches called the Phoenix Gateway were built to help make the town look nicer after a fire.

Theatre

The Dacorum Pavilion

The Dacorum Pavilion was a theatre in Hemel Hempstead that operated from the 1960s until it was closed and torn down in 2002. It hosted many famous performers over the years. A new community center called The Forum opened in 2013 in its place.

The Hemel Hempstead Theatre Company

The Hemel Hempstead Theatre Company has been putting on shows since 1925. They have performed at many places in the town, including St. John's Hall, which they bought in 1997 and renamed the Boxmoor Playhouse. The Playhouse can hold up to 200 people and is the largest theatre in the town. The company puts on many different kinds of shows each year, such as plays, musicals, and fun pantomimes. They also host social events like quiz nights and workshops.

Twinned towns

Hemel Hempstead, as part of the Borough of Dacorum, has a special friendship with Neu-Isenburg in Germany. This means the towns work together and share cultural activities.

Notable people

Many famous people have ties to Hemel Hempstead. Some were born there, while others lived there at some point in their lives.

Notable individuals include Richard Field, a theologian who helped found the Anglican Church, and Sir Francis Bacon, a important historical figure who owned land in the area. Other well-known names are Robert Snooks, who was England's last highwayman, and Sir Astley Cooper, a famous surgeon. The town has also been home to artists, inventors, writers, and actors over the years.

In sports, Hemel Hempstead has produced athletes like golfer Luke Donald and gymnast Max Whitlock, who won gold medals at the Olympics. Several professional footballers, such as Anthony Davidson and Cauley Woodrow, were also born or raised in the town.

Art and photograph gallery

Here are some interesting places and scenes in Hemel Hempstead:

• The woods at Cupid's Green, painted by Ashley George Old in 1959.
• The Old Bell pub in the old town has parts built in 1615, and is on the site of even older inns. It contains some unusual French wallpaper dating back to 1821, which has been cleaned by the Victoria & Albert Museum.
• Apsley Marina, built in 2003.
• The Church of St Mary's (1871) stands above the modern Sainsbury's supermarket in Apsley.
• The north-east side of the Magic Roundabout.
• The Old Town.
• A Southern train at the station.
• The high street in the Old Town.