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Hemel Hempstead - A History & CelebrationSelected extracts and photosReturn to Book | Search for another Book | View all photos for Hemel Hempstead | Hemel Hempstead homepage |
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 Hemel Hempstead, Nash Mills 2005 (ref. H255723k) | Industry at Nash Mills has now disappeared to become a new housing development. Frogmore Mill, together with The Cottage, extended in 1927 to become the new boardroom for Apsley Mill, has survived to be transformed into a new venture, the Apsley Paper Trail. In 2002, Dacorum Borough Council bought Frogmore Mill and leased it to the directors of the Paper Trail. It is hoped that this will become a tourist attraction to include a working mill, and exhibition areas. The Dacorum Heritage Trust, which now has museum status, is working with the directors of the Paper Trail, and has already staged several exhibitions at Frogmore Mill. However, a change all the citizens of the town are united to oppose is the proposed reduction of services available at Hemel Hempstead General Hospital. The arguments continue, with the opposition led by Mrs Zena Bulmore. No one knows for certain what the outcome will be, but the Special Baby Care Unit has recently been moved to Watford Hospital. The departure of several big-name businesses including Dickinson's, Kodak, Dexion and Dupont is sad but already several new firms, such as Isa, are arriving and many new factories are under construction. The Council have plans to regenerate Maylands Avenue, and new signs, a website and improved roundabouts are some of the projects already in hand. (Peter Grainger) The new development on the former John Dickinson site. |  Add your own Memory Add to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Queen's Square c1960 (ref. H255018) | Adeyfield, on 20 July 1952, the Adeyfield Neighbourhood Association organised a Jubilee Fair on 20 July 2002, on Reith Field. The event brought together the community, schools, churches and residents to stage an exhibition of the Queen's visit. The Mayor of Dacorum, Councillor Catherine Appleby, was greeted by the association's president, Hon Alderman Les Tabor, after which she opened the fair. Over 3,000 people enjoyed the charity stalls, sideshows, and the arena displays. In addition, a special exhibition of photographs was staged by Michael Stanyon in St Barnabas Church. One of the members playing in the Hemel Hempstead Band that day was Peter Davis, who also played in the Dickinson Band, 50 years previously, for the Queen. Special guests included people who, as children, had been selected to be presented to the Queen. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, High Street 2005 (ref. H255722k) | Council, the Commission for New Towns, the Civic Trust and the High Street Association promoted a street improvement scheme, and over the years the High Street has been cleaned and restored. The Old Town Hall was repaired and transformed into an Arts Centre, the old market square was rebuilt and the once shabby alleys and corner sites were improved beyond recognition. The churchyard was cleared and the gravestones relocated to make way for a garden. With very few exceptions the owners and tenants redecorated and repaired their properties. Many businesses were transformed into private houses and attractive housing developments have taken place around the High Street. The council subsequently renamed the whole area as the Old Town Centre. In 1984 Dacorum District Council, under the leadership of Councillor John Buteux, successfully petitioned the queen and borough status was awarded in May 1986. Each element of the Arms represents a part of the borough. The Tudor rose in the centre marks the connection of Hemel Hempstead with Henry VIII, and the seven oak leaves surrounding the rose represent the districts amalgamated into the borough. The stags are the insignia of Tring, and the crown in the crest is a reference to Berkhamsted Castle. As Hemel Hempstead moved towards the close of the 20th century, a new important chapter in the history of the town was about to be written. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Dixons, Maylands Avenue 2005 (ref. H255718k) | The Hemel Hempstead to Harpenden railway line was closed in 1959. Although the bridge which spanned the entrance to Marlowes was dirty and shabby, over 500 people watched it being demolished at midnight on 6 July 1960. The Shell Mex buildings (BP House) then replaced the bridge at the entrance to the town, but was closed in 1983 due to structural problems and later demolished. The industrial area, known as Maylands Avenue, was constructed to the south-east of the town. The increase in population and industrial and commercial development brought huge economic gains to the area. Household names such as Kodak, Crossfields and Dixons were supported by other large and many smaller companies that all made valuable contributions to the town. Junction 8 of the M1 Motorway is immediately adjacent to the main industrial area and BP built prestigious offices at the entrance to Hemel Hempstead. With the industrial revolution of the 1980s declining industries were superceded by the newest hi-tech companies. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, St Mary's Church, Apsley End 2005 (ref. H255715k) | The effects of two World Wars on Hemel Hempstead cannot be overlooked. During the First World War Hemel Hempstead was the base for the Royal Artillery. The 5th Company of the London Brigade was based in Gadebridge Park, with its headquarters in the Town Hall. By 1917 the troops had left and the camp in Gadebridge Park was converted into a military hospital. At Dickinson's men were encouraged to enlist, and women were taken on to replace them. Apsley Mills came under the technical control of the Ministry of Munitions and Nash Mills made mortar bombs and small shells. Papermaking supplies grew scarce due to U-boat blockade and pulp was rationed. With food shortages the inhabitants of Hemel Hempstead had a struggle to survive. Before the introduction of rationing, communal kitchens were opened for the poorer families; the one in the Corn Exchange was well organised, but the other, in Apsley, caused constant concern at council meetings. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, the Top of the World, Warners End c1965 (ref. H255080) | Within two years 1,000 houses were built, and by 1954 an average of ten new residents were moving into Hemel Hempstead every day. Finally, 17,000 new homes were provided for people moving out of London, as the population of Hemel Hempstead increased to 70,000 by 1973. The Development Corporation's own architects designed over 130 different types of houses and flats. The new homes ranged from small terraced houses, three-bedroom semi-detached houses and four-bedroom houses. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Cavendish School, Warners End c1965 (ref. H255095) | Within two years 1,000 houses were built, and by 1954 an average of ten new residents were moving into Hemel Hempstead every day. Finally, 17,000 new homes were provided for people moving out of London, as the population of Hemel Hempstead increased to 70,000 by 1973. The Development Corporation's own architects designed over 130 different types of houses and flats. The new homes ranged from small terraced houses, three-bedroom semi-detached houses and four-bedroom houses. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Shell Mex Buildings and Gardens c1965 (ref. H255050) | The Hemel Hempstead to Harpenden railway line was closed in 1959. Although the bridge which spanned the entrance to Marlowes was dirty and shabby, over 500 people watched it being demolished at midnight on 6 July 1960. The Shell Mex buildings (BP House) then replaced the bridge at the entrance to the town, but was closed in 1983 due to structural problems and later demolished. The industrial area, known as Maylands Avenue, was constructed to the south-east of the town. The increase in population and industrial and commercial development brought huge economic gains to the area. Household names such as Kodak, Crossfields and Dixons were supported by other large and many smaller companies that all made valuable contributions to the town. Junction 8 of the M1 Motorway is immediately adjacent to the main industrial area and BP built prestigious offices at the entrance to Hemel Hempstead. With the industrial revolution of the 1980s declining industries were superceded by the newest hi-tech companies. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, c1960 (ref. H255037) | The line was noted for its steep gradients, which led to the nickname of 'Puffing Annie' for the engine, and even today local people recall the railway, known as the 'Nickey Line', with affection. Theories abound on the origin of the name, including a derivation from the knickerbockers worn by the navvies who built the railway. The new railway led to the area around Alexandra Road, the land sold by the Coopers, being developed into what was known as the 'New Town'. The name unwittingly foreshadowed the fate of the town in the following century. Although photographs show a busy town, poverty in the slums prevailed, especially in the yards where the decline of the straw plait industry meant that women and children no longer contributed to the family income. Yet the Bailiwick at times of public celebrations, such as Queen Victoria's Golden and Diamond Jubilees, and with the help of public donations, never forgot the poor, usually in the form of a dinner. However people's generosity did not appear to extend to the 220 unfortunate inmates of the Workhouse. Built in 1836, the Workhouse stood on the old Redbourn Road, now Allandale. By the Second World War it became St Paul's Hospital and was the main maternity unit for a number of years, until transferred to the extended West Herts Hospital in 1987. The building has since been demolished and replaced with housing. The 19th century closed with an important event in the history of our town. In 1896 the Bailiwick petitioned the Privy Council for a Charter of Incorporation and Queen Victoria granted Hemel Hempstead its charter on 8 June 1898. It is from this charter that the present local authority derives its modern status and powers. By the charter Queen Victoria established a new Corporation known as the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of Hemel Hempstead. It was ordained that the Mayor could also use the title of Bailiff. The Bailiwick tactfully elected Sir Astley Paston Cooper as the first Mayor of the newly formed Borough, and a great civic celebration was planned with Sir Astley opening Gadebridge Park to the public for the celebrations and sporting events. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Cranstone Bridge, Gadebridge Park 2005 (ref. H255713k) | Joseph Cranstone formed the Volunteer Fire Brigade in 1845 and acted as its superintendent for 33 years. Other brigade members included Josiah Hales, and his son from his first marriage, and eleven other volunteers. There were also twelve paid men. Later, William Henry took over from his father. A fire engine house stood at the entrance to Gadebridge, and a new Fire Station was built on the site in 1905. The building, part of a pseudo-Tudor block, still stands in Queensway. Joseph Cranstone's iron works produced two fire engines, one for the Volunteer Fire Brigade and the other for the Phoenix Assurance Company. The Phoenix fire engine was owned by the town's Phoenix Fire-Office and maintained, as agents, by Joseph and later William Henry, to protect property insured with the Phoenix. Accounts show that the Bailiwick contributed to the other engine, and Josiah Hales was paid £6 per year for 'attendance on parish fire engine'. The secret of the Cranstones' success appears to be the control of local politics, (Peter Grainger) In the 20th century, the Cranstone Phoenix Works merged with the Hemel Hempstead Engineering Company led by the Christopher family. In 1949, with the planning of the New Town, the Foundry moved to Cupid Green and was demolished in 1984. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Long Chaulden c1965 (ref. H255084) | To this day, the Moor provides excellent recreational facilities. The Hemel Hempstead Cricket Club plays at Heath Park, and Boxmoor Cricket Club plays on the 'Oval' in St John's Road. Hemel Hempstead (Camelot) Rugby Club use Chaulden Meadow. Even though Boxmoor village has survived, it was destined to be surrounded by the New Town. Northridge Way, to the west of the village, was one of the new roads that led to the neighbourhoods of Chaulden and Warners End. (Dacorum Heritage Trust Ltd) Over the years Boxmoor village has hardly changed. The Roman Catholic Church, St Mary and St Joseph, was built in St John's Road in 1898. The present Victorian Gothic Church of St John the Evangelist, built in April 1874 on the moor, replaced the 1829 Chapel of Ease. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Heath Park c1955 (ref. H255010) | The canal meets the River Gade at Heath Park, to the south of Marlowes. Two portions of the moor were leased to Hemel Hempstead Borough Council who provided a recreational area and a bandstand in the 1920s. There was also a children's playground near to where the Kodak building now stands. These all disappeared when the New Town was being developed in the 1950s. The sale of the land to the canal company enabled the trust to build Boxmoor Wharf and a workhouse. The wharf then became the main coal wharf serving the town. In the late 1890s, Henry Balderson, who was Mayor of the Borough of Hemel Hempstead in 1900, used the wharf to import wines and spirits. The wharf was later leased to Rose's who shipped raw lime juice from London direct to the wharf by means of the canal. Since 1986 Boxmoor Wharf has been leased to B & Q Stores. (The village and surrounding districts are known as Boxmoor, but the moor itself is referred to as Box Moor). | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, the Canal, Boxmoor 2005 (ref. H255709k) | In 1797 a committee of seven was appointed by the trustees to negotiate with the proprietors of the newly formed Grand Junction Canal Company who required land for the extension of their canal. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Heath Park c1955 (ref. H255011) | In 1797 a committee of seven was appointed by the trustees to negotiate with the proprietors of the newly formed Grand Junction Canal Company who required land for the extension of their canal. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Box Moor 2005 (ref. H255708k) | The charters of Henry VIII allowed a fair to be held at the feast of Corpus Christi. The Statute or 'Statty Fair' was a hiring fair for farm servants that took place on 3 September under the control of the Bailiff. Men and women who wished to be hired stood in line at the top of the High Street dressed in their smocks and carrying the emblems of their trade. Gradually, through falling receipts, the Bailiff's supervision ceased and the fair, in a very different form, moved to the Rose and Crown meadow, and was run by professional showmen. The Meadow was eventually built on, and is now known as Fig Tree Hill. New flats and houses were erected there in the late 1950s. Closely connected with the Bailiwick was the Box Moor Trust, which to this day is still responsible for some 400 acres of land to the south-west of the old town. Box Moor consists of moorland, commons, and various meadows. On 19 July 1574 Elizabeth I gave the moor, which was part of the Manor of Hemel Hempstead, to Robert, Earl of Leicester. He sold the property the next day to the Earl of Bedford and Peter Graye of Leicester. In 1581 it was acquired by three local inhabitants, John Rolfe, William Gladman, and Richard Pope for the sum of £75. They probably raised the money by public subscription because a later deed conveyed the moor to 67 inhabitants of Hemel Hempstead and Bovingdon, a village three miles from the moor. The deed was witnessed by Francis Combe of The Bury and Richard Gawton, the Vicar of St Mary's. The moor was administered by twelve feoffees (trustees). In 1809 a private Act of Parliament effectively vested the trust's assets in these twelve trustees. The properties owned by the trust included 29 dwelling houses, workshops, barns and, at one time, five pubs. How the rents and profits from the Box Moor Trust were used was supposedly a decision by a majority of the householders at meetings in the Vestry rooms at Hemel Hempstead and Bovingdon. However, as the same citizens were usually elected to serve as Trustees of Box Moor, members of the Bailiwick Jury and the Vestry, all at the same time, there appears to have been no problem, especially in the 19th century, deciding how the money should be spent. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, view from Adeyfield Road c1955 (ref. H255017) | During the 18th century, the roads Cherry Bounce, Chapel Street, Bell Road (now St Mary's Road), and George Street were all developing on the east side of the of the High Street and were in effect extensions of the main street. At the southern end of the High Street the road branched to the east into Saffron Lane, later known as Queen Street. At one time the High Street stretched to the west, to the south of Gadebridge Park, when the land there formed the grounds of the Bury. This short stretch of road, which joined Bury Road to the west with Queen Street, now Lower Queensway, became known as Broadway. It obtained the name because it was a 'broad way' when compared to the narrow High Street. With the wide expanse at the top of Marlowes, this area became an overflow for the cattle market. By the end of the 18th century, however, the cattle market was dismantled and the London entrance to the town, as it was known, was improved. The cattle market was moved to a meadow behind the Rose and Crown. As the last specialised market of Hemel Hempstead, it survived up to the Second World War. Marlowes itself was gradually developed with several fine villas and shops appearing amongst speculative building and shabby cottages. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, The Bell, High Street 2005 (ref. H255707k) | Further royal charters were also granted to Hemel Hempstead, but these mainly related to matters concerning the manor. However, the Charter of the Lord Protector Cromwell, granted 26 February 1656, was to be of importance to the development of the town. This charter gave to the inhabitants of Hemel Hempstead three extra annual fairs, so that they might receive 'all lawful profits of the three said fairs'. Although Oliver Cromwell had allowed a measure of religious tolerance, he nevertheless recognised the strong Protestant and Nonconformist feeling in the town, together with the general support for Parliament. A survey of the manor in the late 17th century contains few references to the High Street and this indicates that the copyhold land had been converted into freehold. This was a result of the Civil War when the Commonwealth Government sold Crown property to private individuals. Following the restoration of Charles II in 1660, the Manor of Hemel Hempstead was returned to the Crown. In 1702, the manor was leased to the Halsey family, who purchased it in 1815. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, St Mary's Church 2005 (ref. H255702k) | The early history of St Mary's is difficult to trace as all documents relating to the parish were destroyed at the time of the Reformation. In a way it is a mystery how such a sumptuous church as St Mary's came to be built in the vill of Hemel Hempstead, especially as no Saxon church appears to have preceded it. According to some sources Reginald de Dunstanville was the builder of the church but this is probably not correct. There appears to be confusion between the role of the builder and that of the patron. In 1140, the same year that the building of the church commenced, King Stephen bestowed the earldom of Cornwall on Reginald de Dunstanville, a natural son of Henry I, and granted him Berkhamsted Castle. It is therefore very likely that Reginald de Dunstanville was the patron. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Water Gardens c1963 (ref. H255043) | When the New Town was being built many new streets were named after people linked with the town: King Harry Street, Waterhouse Street and Combe Street, are adjacent to Marlowes where the first new shops were constructed. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
 Hemel Hempstead, Marlowes 2005 (ref. H255701k) | HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, in Hertfordshire, is probably best known as a New Town, being built after the Second World War, but this overlooks its long and historic past. Over the years there have been a variety of spellings of the name Hemel Hempstead. For instance, Hamaele is the Saxon name for the district of the early settlement, but by the 13th century the town was known as Hamelhamstede. Later, by the 17th century, the name had evolved as Hemelhemsted. From this time on, the name was sometimes shortened to Hemel or Hempstead. Even today, the town is often referred to as Hemel. The town now forms part of the Borough of Dacorum, a name of Danish origin. Geographically Hemel Hempstead has a pleasant situation. It lies in the valleys of the Rivers Gade and Bulbourne, on the ridges of the Chiltern Hills only 25 miles from London. The town possesses two attractive and extensive open spaces; to the west of the old High Street lies Gadebridge Park, bought by the former Hemel Hempstead Borough Council in 1952; the second, further west, is Box Moor. Hemel Hempstead was, and indeed still is, geographically divided into three distinct parts. To the north is the old town of Hemel Hempstead, to the west lies Boxmoor, which derives its name from the moor, with Apsley established to the south. After the New Town was built, the three parts became closely linked by the neighbourhoods of Chaulden, Adeyfield, Bennets End, Gadebridge, Warners End, Grovehill and Highfield, together with the villages of Piccotts End and Leverstock Green. Yet to discover how all this came about we have to trace the town back to when it was a settlement in Roman times. | Add your own MemoryAdd to your Album |
