Berkhamsted, School c.1960

Photo ref: B407055

More about this scene

For a number of years it had been suggested that Berkhamsted School and Berkhamsted Girls' School should join together, to the benefit of the children from both schools. This had been resisted, especially by Girls' School parents. In 1996 the two schools came together with the name of Berkhamsted Collegiate School, and Dr Priscilla Chadwick was appointed as first principal. Older residents still refer to the Castle Street and Kings Road campuses as the Boys' and Girls' Schools. For the greater part of the century the affairs of Berkhamsted had been governed by the Berkhamsted Urban District Council and the Berkhamsted Rural District Council; the former was based in the Civic Centre, opened in 1938, and the latter in Boxwell House. With the local government reorganisation in 1974 these bodies were dissolved, and Berkhamsted became part of Dacorum Council, based in Hemel Hempstead. At first Berkhamsted was left with only a parish council, but in 1976 this became a town council with the right to elect a mayor. This government from Hemel Hempstead has been resented by many in Berkhamsted, which jealously guards its identity, and many of the ills of the latter years have been placed, rightly or wrongly, at the doors of Dacorum Borough Council. This independent spirit was further shown when a group of local citizens, feeling that the existing Town Council did not represent the wishes of the people of Berkhamsted, swept to victory in the 1995 elections under the banner of 'Berkhamsted First', taking the majority of the fifteen seats. Lack of experience meant that their control of the council was short- lived, but it was a rude awakening for several long-standing councillors.