Travel Hemel Hempstead Map

Travel to Hemel Hempstead Map

Hemel Hempstead tourist guide map of landmarks & destinations by Walkfo

Hemel Hempstead history

---

Origin of the name

The settlement was called by the name Henamsted or Hean-Hempsted in Anglo-Saxon times. The name is referred to in the Domesday Book as Hamelamestede, but in later centuries it became Hamelhamsted and Hemlamstede. Hemel is reflected in the German Himmel and Dutch Hemel, both of which mean ‘heaven’ or ‘sky’

Early history

Hemel Hempstead on its present site is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a vill, Hamelhamstede, with about 100 inhabitants. The parish church of St Mary’s was built in 1140, and is recognised as one of the finest Norman parish churches in the county.

18th to mid-20th century

In the 18th and 19th centuries Hemel Hempstead was an agricultural market town. Wealthy landowners built a few large country houses in the locality, including The Bury, built in 1790, and Gadebridge House, erected by the noted surgeon and anatomist Sir Astley Cooper in 1811.

New town

After the Second World War, in 1946, the government designated Hemel Hempstead as the site of one of its proposed new towns designed to house the population displaced by the London Blitz, since slums and bombsites were being cleared in London. On 4 February 1947, the Government purchased 5,910 acres (23.9 km) of land and began work on the “New Town”. The first new residents moved in during April 1949, and the town continued its planned expansion through to the end of the 1980s. Hemel grew to its present population of 80,000, with new developments enveloping the original town on all sides. The original part of Hemel is still known as the “Old Town”. Hemel Hempstead was announced as candidate No 3 for a New Town in July 1946, in accordance with the government’s “policy for the decentralisation of persons and industry from London”. Initially there was much resistance and hostility to the plan from locals, especially when it was revealed that any development would be carried out not by the local council but by a newly appointed government body, the Hemel Hempstead Development Corporation (later amalgamated with similar bodies to form the Commission for New Towns). However, following a public inquiry the following year, the town got the go-ahead. Hemel officially became a New Town on 4 February 1947. The initial plans for the New Town were drawn up by architect Geoffrey Jellicoe. His view of Hemel Hempstead, he said, was “not a city in a garden, but a city in a park.” However, the plans were not well received by most locals. Revised, and less radical plans were drawn up, and the first developments proceeded despite local protests in July 1948. The first area to be developed was Adeyfield. At this time the plans for a revolutionary double roundabout at Moor End were first put forward, but in fact it was not until 1973 that the roundabout was opened as it was originally designed. (It was quickly christened ‘The Magic Roundabout’ by locals, echoing the name of the children’s TV show.) The first houses erected as part of the New Town plan were in Longlands, Adeyfield, and went up in the spring of 1949. The first new residents moved in early 1950. At this time, work started on building new factories and industrial areas, to avoid the town becoming a dormitory town. The first factory was erected in 1950 in Maylands Avenue. As building progressed with continuing local opposition, the town was becoming increasingly popular with those moving in from areas of north London. By the end of 1951, there was a waiting list of about 10,000 wishing to move to Hemel. The neighbourhoods of Bennett’s End, Chaulden and Warner’s End were started. The Queen paid a visit shortly after her accession in 1952, and laid a foundation stone for a new church in Adeyfield – one of her first public engagements as Queen. The shopping square she visited is named Queen’s Square, and the nearby area has street names commemorating the then-recent conquest of Everest, such as Hillary and Tenzing Roads. This conquest is also celebrated in the name of a pub in Warners End – the ‘Top of the World’. The redevelopment of the town centre was started in 1952, with a new centre based on Marlowes south of the old town. This was alongside a green area called the Water Gardens, designed by Jellicoe, formed by ponding back the River Gade. The old centre of the High Street was to remain largely undeveloped, though the market square closed and was replaced by a much larger one in the new centre. The former private estate of Gadebridge was opened up as a public park. New schools and roads were built to serve the expanding new neighbourhoods. New housing technology such as prefabrication started to be used from the mid-’50s, and house building rates increased dramatically. Highfield was the next neighbourhood to be constructed. The M1 motorway opened to the east in 1959, and a new road connecting it to the town was opened. By 1962, the redevelopment of the new town as originally envisaged was largely complete, though further expansion plans were then put forward. The nearby United States Air Force base of Bovingdon, which had served as the town’s ‘de facto’ airport, reverted to RAF use at this time, continuing as an active military airfield until 1971. A campus of West Herts College, the library, new police station and the Pavilion (theatre and music venue) were all built during the 1960s. The town seemed to attract its fair share of celebrity openings, with shops and businesses opened by Frankie Vaughan, Benny Hill, Terry-Thomas, and the new cinema was opened by Hollywood star Lauren Bacall. The last of the originally-planned neighbourhoods, Grovehill, began construction in 1967. However, further neighbourhoods of Woodhall Farm and Fields End were later built as part of the extended plans. Like other first generation new towns, Hemel is divided into residential neighbourhoods, each with their own “village centre” with shops, pubs and services. Each neighbourhood is designed around a few major feeder roads with many smaller cul-de-sacs and crescents, intended to minimise traffic and noise nuisance. In keeping with the optimism of the early post-war years, much of the town features modernist architecture with many unusual and experimental designs for housing. Not all of these have stood the test of time. A significant issue was how to choose names for all the new roads. Many areas of the new town used themes e.g. fields, birds, rivers, poets, explorers, leaders, etc. In 1974, the government abolished the Borough of Hemel Hempstead and the town was incorporated into Dacorum District, along with Tring and Berkhamsted. The first chairman of that council was chairman John Johnson (1913–1977). In the 1980s, Dacorum District Council successfully lobbied to be recognised as the successor for the Royal Charter establishing the Borough of Hemel Hempstead and thus regained the Mayor and its Aldermen and became Dacorum Borough.

  

Hemel Hempstead map & travel guide with history & landmarks to explore

---

Tourist Guide to Hemel Hempstead Map

---

–

Hemel Hempstead map historic spot	Hemel Hempstead map tourist destination	Hemel Hempstead map plaque	Hemel Hempstead map geographic feature
Walkfo Hemel Hempstead travel map key: visit National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top travel destinations in Hemel Hempstead