River GadeThe Gade flows southwardsPost to the north GadebridgeAdeyfield RoadHandpost Farm. This was on the corner with St. Pauls Road. In the mi-1920s the Statutory Fair was held here as well as some circuses, etc.The road has been realigned around the site of the disused stationHemel Hempstead Station. This was opened in 1877 by the Midland Railway and was originally a terminus. The station was next to an embankment at the junction with Midland Road opposite the Midland Hotel. It had a single platform and a booking office and waiting room. There was a goods yard to the west of the station. Passenger traffic on the line ended in 1947 and the station closed fully in 1963.
Nothing remains of the station and there is a block of flats on the site and the road layout has been altered.
Railway. The line was built to provide a town-centre railway link to Hemel Hempstead which had been lobbied for by the local authority for many years. The project was eventually taken over by the Midland Railway and opened in 1877 with trains to Luton and was used for goods transport, in particular the Luton hat industry.Alexandra RoadCongregational Church. This was built on land owned by the Paston-Coopers who wanted to found a New Town. It dates from 1890 to replacing an iron chapel by Mr. Cranstone of the foundry. Until the 1960s it was affiliated to the Congregational Union but since then it has become evangelical. Car park on the site of a fire station which was adjacent to No.17. .The fire station was there in the early 1930s and had moved to a site at the rear, fronting on Queensway by 1970. In the 1920s it appears to have been a post office. 2-4 Alexandra Resource Centre. NHS facility for a range of services37 Treetops Project. NSPCC46 Alexandra Nursing HomeBowling Green – in the 1970s this was sited between this road and Marlowes in an area now used for car parking.Alma RoadAlma Road ran between Marlowes and Leighton Buzzard Road, south of what was Bury Road and is now Queensway. The West Herts College now covers it. Watercress beds on the Gade could be accessed from here.Austin’s PlaceThis was earlier called Plait Market Yard – involved with the straw plait trade. Austin was the name of the grocer with a shop on the corner of the yard. Elizabeth House. Modern sheltered housing block on the site of an independent chapel fronting onto Chapel StreetBroad StreetThe Lodge. Residential Care Home.Bury HillLockers House. This was a hunting lodge in 1550 and then converted to a gentleman’s house. It has two 2 blocks from the 16th and 18th. In 1677 it was the home of Francis King and in 1799 the home of Ebenezer John Collett. Collet added a bakery, stables and a coach house as well as extending the grounds. The rainwater head is dated ‘1800’ with initials ‘lC.’ By the 1920s it was a school and later used by Cavendish School as an annexe. It later became housingLockers Cottage. A timber- framed brick and plaster building. 6 Jolly Drayman Pub. Long gone.Bury Hill CloseSite of Collett School. This was called after Collett because it was built in the grounds of Lockers. It has moved post 1970 and this housing built on the siteBury RoadUntil the mid 20th Bury Road turned east at the Northern End along the route of what is now QueenswayStar Brewery. This was owned initially in 1859 by James Elliott and by Spicer Elliot until 1912 and stood at the bottom of Bury Hill. The produced XX Mild Ale for a shilling a gallon, and bottled ales 27 Six Bells. Pub for Elliott’s the brewers. Demolished 1954 by which time it was a Beskins House. The site is under the road widening and roundabout.Garageused by Bream Coaches in the 1930s/40s44 Nags Head pub. Long gone80 Ebenezer House. Has this anything to do with the Baptist Burial ground adjacent.Burial ground. The site was purchased by the Carey Baptist Church in 1711Bury Mill End Junior School. This was a small 19th school. Closed in 1964 and demolished in 1972Gasworks. The Hemel Hempstead Gas Light and Coke Company was set up in 1835. seven retorts and a gasholder were built in what was then called Popes Lane – later Bury Mill End – it would have been on the east side of Bury Road. It was later to leased to John Cox and in 1860, Mr Cranstone, of the ironworks, took over this lease. Another gas company was formed at Boxmoor in 1868 and they started discussions with Cranstone on buying out some of his interests. There had however been many complaints and another yet company as set up to take the original works over. The works seems to have lasted into the 1880s.Chapel StreetIndependent ChapelChristchurch RoadSite of Christ Church – this stood next to the congregational chapel. There is now housing on the siteCollett RoadThis includes the eastern end of the grounds of Lockers Park School – a private fee paying school. This part of the grounds includes their heated swimming pool which dates back to at least before the Great War.Coombe StreetCoombe was the name of a local family of gentryHemel Hempstead Central LibraryPolice Station. Hertfordshire ConstabularyDacorum WayMagistrates CourtFig Tree HillThis is the area of Rose and Crown Meadow. The Statute hiring fair moved here in the 19th and it became a professional showmen’s fair. Flats and houses were built here in the late 1950s.Sheppard’s YardFig Tree Hill Gardens. Part of this is a Baptist Burial GroundPhoenix Engineering Works. Joseph Cranstone from Horsham set up an ironmongery business at 25, High Street in 1798. His son later set up an iron foundry at the back of the shop known as the Phoenix works. This, in turn, was taken over by William, his 14th child. In 1906 the Cranstone Engineering Works were taken over by Summerling and Company which was liquidated in 1984. The Phoenix Works became part of the Hemel Hempstead Engineering Works.Cattle Market. The market has been in what is now Lower Queensway By the end of the 18th this was closed and the market moved to a meadow behind the Rose and Crown. It survived here up to the Second World War.Gadebridge ParkField of Hope daffodil display. This lies west of the Leighton Buzzard Road Sands Memorial Garden. In 2004, the Hemel Hempstead and St Albans Still Birth and Neonatal Death Society memorial garden was opened. It is a garden for anyone who has been touched by the death of a baby. Statue "Hugging Couple" is by Mark Humphrey.Bury House - Walled Garden or Charter Garden is the site of the first Bury House. Before 1539 this was the home of the Waterhouse family. On the north wall is a plaque commemorating people from Dacorum who served in South East Asia Command who died in the Far East in the Second World War George StreetRope Walk - before 1900 this lay parallel and south of the west end of the road.St Mary’s House. Sheltered housing.George Street Primary School. This was originally a natonal school which was rebuilt and opened here in 1855 and is the oldest school in Hemel Hempstead. In 1878 the infants department moved to but they were reunited as George Street Primary School in a new building in 1969
The Old School HouseIndustrial School for Girls. Olive House was here for a short time in the early 20th,Herbert Street2 Site of the Hop Garland. This is now a house but the inn sign bracket remains Wall BoxHigh Street This was once known as Market Street7 Lloyd's Bank. Corner building from 1884. This is in red brick with terracotta floral decorations and a turret over the corner door.9 site of The Boot, a 19th pub which closed in the 1930’s, and the licence transferred to a pub on St. Albans Hill. 11 The House of Elliott this is a gift shop in a building on the site of the 17th Ship pub. This was noted in the 1740s as having once been called The Hollybush. The building is said to be over 300 years old and has also been a tea room and bonnet makers. It has green faience tiling around the entrance.13 Charleston House with a bronze art deco shop front. Built in the 1930s it is said to be an old car showroom but the front appears to be that of an old Woolworths.16-1818th front on a 16th or 17th building. Modern shop on
one side and 19th shop on the other 20 probably early 20th21-21atwo early 20th shop fronts and flats above 23 Home and Colonial. A 19th front on an earlier building. The original shop sign has been uncovered. This building was once the Cock Inn, one of the first inns here and conveyed by the Earl of Leicester to the Earl of Bedford in 1574 but by the mid-19th it was a common lodging house. In 1857 Joseph Cranstone, bought it in order to extend his iron foundry Half Moon Yard. The Centre in the Park, Hemel Hempstead Old People’s Day Centre.24-26Shop which is said to be an old Burtons, with an art deco shopfront. The lettering of ‘Baldock’ and ‘Welwyn Garden City’ is over the door – which seems to indicate use by a property agency. It is now in two units as general stores. At the side and above is The Dance Centre. Over Burton’s was a billiard hall, later The Betty Bousten Dancing School, and then the Burton Dance Studio. This had been founded in the 1950s specialising in Ballroom and Latin American dance. Part of the area was the site of the Half Moon pub which was an 18th pub which closed in 1912.25 19th building in red brick with a modern shop front. This is the site of Cranstone’s ironmongery business which developed into the Phoenix Foundry, behind.2719th stuccoed building with 20th shop front. 28 former bank. Dated in a pretty decorative panel over the door to 1902. Arts and Crafts detailing and the building is timber framing with brick infill. This is the site of The Dolphin, an 18th pub and which later in the century was converted into The King Harry Coffee Tavern29 19th whitewashed brick building which was once the Swan Inn. In 1756 landlord Thomas Sellar had five bedrooms and stabling for 31 horses. It was later used by workers from Cranstone’s Iron Foundry in the alley next door. It closed in 1963.30-34 The White Hart Pub. This name is recorded in 1625. It is a 17th timber framed building with a brick ground floor. There is a carriageway from the front. The pub is clearly expanding and has spread down the street into other buildings.31Shop with an Edwardian façade the original ground floor is now divided into two. Above is an oriel window.33-3918th building with red brick front. A rainwater head has ‘1728 and ‘S’ above ‘W S’.3619th brick building with 19th shop front. Now part of the White Hart3816th or 17th building with timber framework exposed. New front from the 19th 4019th building with timber framework at the back.The Rectory. At the rear of 40.41 The King's Arms Pub. 17th timber framed building. The back is half timbered with a first floor open gallery. It has been known as The King's Arms since the early 17th and dates are shown on the rain water heads. The building retreats into a side alley and straw plait was sold in the yard. It was created by the merger The Black Lion (or Lyon), and The Princes Arms, named after The Prince of Wales, who became King George III. 43part of The King's Arms Public House. It has 19th stucco and shop front44–44a 19th front on an earlier building45, 47, 47a modern building on the site of the Three Compasses also called The Compasses, an 18th pub. At the beginning of the 20th it was acquired by Benskins Brewery but the lack of stabling and space for vehicles led to closure in 1912.48–52 The Old Town Hall. This was built in the 1880s by George Low in Jacobean style and has been an arts centre and theatre since 1978. It is on the site of The Lamb Pub and stands on Church property. The pub was built by the Vicar of St. Marys in 1527 and was also called The Paschal Lamb. As the Town Hall it included the Corn Exchange and the Literary Institute. The central block was built in 1851 and wings added. It has a tower with an octagonal top. The gates of were designed by a member of the Cranstone family but due to their size, were cast in Coalbrookdale.48 site of the Lamb Inn. On the wall is a plaque recording information on the Bailiwick of Hemel Hempstead and the market. In 1539 the town was granted a Royal charter by King Henry VIII to become a Bailiwick with the right to hold a market and a fair. It says “Bailiwick of Hemel Hempstead this market place was formed and these buildings erected by the Bailiff and the Town Improvement Committee 1882”St.Mary’s Close. Old Market Square. There is a long history of markets and market sites in the town. In the ancient market-place by the start of the 19th was a long range of corn lofts standing on wooden pillars, beneath which open markets were held. The court loft was at the north end. In 1825 a town hall was built in the centre of this area but was demolished in 1852 and the new town hall built above the open market-place, which in 1857 was enclosed as the corn exchange. The stalls had to go out in the street. In 1868 the remaining part of the market-house was demolished and a new one built on the site. A new market place was later developed out of part of the churchyard. The market moved to a new site to the south near Marlowes with the inception of the new town.Charter Tower. This stone porch way into the gardens was the entrance into the second Bury House, built between 1540 and 1595 by the Combes family. The arms of Richard Combes are on the upper story of the Tower. Richard Combes building remained there until 1790. The name derives from a story that Henry VIII stayed there in 1539 and gave the town its Royal Market Charter from the upper window in gratitude. Tithe Barn – site of a barn, said to be the tithe barn, and used as an ironmongers store in the 1930s.St. Mary. Ancient building of stone, flint rubble and Roman brick built about 1140 and finished about 40 years later making it one of the oldest parish churches in the county. The spire is one of the tallest in Europe and was added in the 14th century to reach 200 feet, topped by a gilded weather vane.
In 1302 a cell of Ashridge Priory was founded here and the church had collegiate status until the Dissolution. A door in the tower gave the monks access to the church without meeting ordinary people. It was partly rebuilt in 1846 and ‘restored’ in 1863.
There is a Monument to Sir Paston Cooper -the "sergeant-surgeon" to George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria; as well as to the Combe family of Bury Manor and a 14th brass.
There is a copy of Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs'. There is a Walker organ refurbished in 2008. A peal of 5 bells was recorded in the 16th but the present peal of 8 bells date from 1590 to 1767. They were rehung in 1950 and retuned by Gillet and Johnson of Croydon.
4919th frontage on an earlier building. It might have been an infill to a carriageway arch. There is a 20th shopfront 51 The Old Bell Pub. This is an 18th building on the site of an inn of 1603, itself built on what was described as a ploughed field. it was Probably named after the Old Market Bell in the Market House There is a rainwater head dated ‘1725’ and on the first floor is a balcony, with decorative iron railings.. It could stable 54 horses, and had its own blacksmith. There are said to be secret passages to the church and Marchmont House. Some French wallpaper dating back to 1821, has been cleaned by the V & A Museum53-55this is a 19th shop with a flat above, it is in an Arts and Crafts style, with mock timber framing. In the 19th this was the site of the 53 The Legged Inn, or The Leg Inn54 -58 19th brick building with shop57 -59 19th brick buildings60 16th or 17th building with stucco on timber frame. This was once The Red Lion known in 1756 when it had four bedrooms, and stabling for 16 horses. It closed in 1900. 62 – 64 19th building with stucco and shop. Site of the Kings Head, or the Old Kings Head, an 18th pub that closed in 1888.62 barn at the back6318th front on a 16th timber framed brick building. A rainwater head has the date ‘1736’, with initials ‘S’ above ‘W S’. The ground floor is a 19th shop but there may be 16th panelling inside. This was the Angel Inn in the 19th with its own pew with an angel carved on it in St. Mary’s church. The inn sign of The Lord Nelson was discovered in the basement of this pub65 - 69 18th building with a rainwater head dated ‘1714’ with initials ‘IW’. Modern shop fronts.6618th Whitewashed brick building6818th building with a front of brick and plaster on a timber frame with timbers exposed inside 70 -72 18th fronted building7118th house with a rainwater head dated ‘1730’ with initials ‘N’ above ‘I S. Plum’. On the glazing 2nd floor are a pair of dummy windows7319th stucco front on an earlier building7417th or 18th plastered front in a timber framed house75 - 77 these were built at street level in the 16th as one building. Until 1781 it was the Mermaid Inn. This was a substantial business with six beds and stabling for 14 horses. One wing, with minor extensions in 1800, was the site of the Lord Nelson Pub.76 – 78 this was once The Brewers Arms pub. It is an 18th brick building with a rainwater head dated ‘1719’ with initials ‘TS’. It was also called The Poachers Retreat. It closed in 1959, and is now housing.79–79a 16th and 17th timber frame building with cart way under the taller structure. 8015th or 15th building with timber framework exposed internally with a 19th projecting shop front81 -83 18th building with a rainwater head dated ‘1726’ with initials ‘H’ above ‘I M. Brown’. There is a central carriageway between shop windows and two dummy windows above. This was The Sun Inn dating from the 17th century when the publican fought for the King in the Earl of Oxford’s Regiment. It had five beds and stabling for 30 horses. It became the meeting place for the Artisans Benefit Society, a sick club. It closed in 196082 - 88 18th or earlier building8520th purpose built shop with a flat above86 this was the Coach and Horses, a 19th pub that closed in 1903, 8719th stucco front on earlier building with, modern shop window8919 stucco fronted building with 20th shop front91- 95 18th or 19th building with 19th and 20th shop fronts and a cart entrance 94 -96 19th brick building9719th building98 -100 19th building with upstairs central dummy window and some pargetting 9918th brick building with a modern shop front and an earlier back which is timber framed with whitewashed brick.10318th with stucco refacing and 19th shop window105 – 107 this is the old Royal Oak Pub which dated from 1523 but is a 19th remodelling of the earlier house. The name was changed from The Oak to commemorate the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1664, a house of correction was established in a part of the premises with Christopher Mitchell appointed Master. By the end of the 17rh it was used as an ordinary jail. In the 19th after the jail closed it became a “public house”, but in reality it was a lodging house and remained as such up to the Second World War. Finally it closed in the 1970s107a 19th front on an earlier building.109 -111 19th buildingsPump and Lamp Post with a plaque which says “Erected by public subscription 1843, James Cross, Bailiff". This was cast by Joseph Cranston of Hemel Hempstead and is a cast-iron obelisk with panelled and ornamented sides, including small portrait of Henry VIII, and surmounted by a lantern.Garden Walls of the Manor House. These brick walls date from the 16th and were partly rebuilt in the 19th. They follow the outline of part of the former Manor House built for Sir Richard Combe. Hillfield RoadPreviously called Hospital or Infirmary LaneWest Herts Hospital. The original West Herts Infirmary was founded by Sir Astley Paston Cooper in 1826 in cottages in Piccotts End. This was soon outgrown and in 1831 Sir Thomas Sebright built
“a handsome and substantial infirmary" This later became Kings College Convalescent Home and then renamed Cheere House in 1878. By 1946 it was a training school and nurses’ home and subsequently the Postgraduate Medical Centre.
A new 50 bed building was opened in 1877 by the Duchess of Teck. In 1899 the hospital installed X-Ray facilities. However the Hospital relied on charitable donations, and by 1910 it was in great financial difficulty. It was enlarged and a new foundation stone laid by the Prince of Wales in 1926 and the Marnham Maternity Ward was opened a year after.. The Queen Mother opened new outpatients block in 1959 and the Tudor Wing opened in 1987. The complex is now a part of the Hemel Hempstead General Hospital.
Industrial School and Reformatory. This was on the corner with Marlowes. It was set up in the early 1860s to deal with children in custody and taken over by the Children’s Society in the 1880s. It later became a convalescent homeLeighton Buzzard RoadWest Herts College.
This was established in 1991, as an amalgamation of local further education colleges such as Cassio, Dacorum and George Stephenson Colleges. Dacorum College itself replaced a number of shops and a garage when Leighton Buzzard Road and the roundabout were built.
Gazette Printing works – printed the local newspaper. This was on a site to the north west corner of what is now the roundabout.The Anchor Brewery. This had been started in this area as a small scale concern by William Liddon. It expanded greatly in the late 19th with different owners and increase in tied houses. It was eventually take over by Beskins. They made Imperial Stout and Fine India Pale Ale.Car parks. the car parking between the road and the river were part of the original plans for the New Town. A tall beech hedge runs alongside them. this hard edge represents the hard tufted back of the serpentMarket SquareThe market square was moved here from the old town centre with the inception of the New Town. Mosaic of Henry VIII,
Marlowes 14 Sebright Arms. Closed and demolished23-25 The Wishing Well. Pub35 Maitland Joseph House. Jewish residential home which includes Hemel Hempstead Synagogue - United Synagogue - affiliate, Orthodox. Previously the site was Brown and Merry Estate Agents and before that Berkhampstead and District Co-operative Society.
Before that it was Foden’s Nursery
51 The White House. It dates from 1741, but was remodelled in the 19th and it has a 20th extension.
It has a single storey 20th Neo-Georgian style projecting shop front. The first Baptist chapel in Hemel Hempstead was built in 1688 in the grounds of this property53 Old Marlowe House. Originally built 1650. Until 1678 this was the dower house of The Bury which was sold by Combes family
55 Little Marlowe’s House. 18th cottage with some early Georgian workmanship. This is now a solicitor’s office.Marlowes House – on early 20th maps this is marked as opposite Old Marlowe House and standing roughly on the site of the market square. Presumably this was New Marlowe House.56first telephone exchange in Hemel Hempstead. Apparatus Room on the ground floor. Closed in 196557 – 59 19th brick building63 -65 19th brick building6719th Colour washed brick building75 – 77 19th. Colour washed brick building78 Seldon family builders firm store was here. 7919th building8119th building83 – 85 19th buildingCarey Baptist Church. A Baptist group formed in the town in 1679. In 1861 the current church was opened to replace a chapel in Crown Yard. It is a large church in Early English Gothic style to which schoolrooms were added by 1865, and a manse a year later. Carey Baptist Church was formed in October 1980 by joint with Boxmoor Baptist Church. It was named Carey after William Carey an 18th founder of the Baptist Missionary Society and a memorial stone was moved here from Boxmoor.
Methodist Church. There was a Methodist church in Hemel Hempstead by the mid 19th. Fundraising for a new chapel in Marlowes began in 1882 and the church was opened in 1890. It had an upper floor, with a library, three classrooms and a wash room. An organ was installed in 1907 and a grand piano was given by the Wesley Church in St Albans.Dacorum Pavilion. The Pavilion was built in the 1960s in front of the library by Clifford Culpin. It was an entertainments venue that hosted acts until the 1990s.It closed and the building demolished in 2002
Civic Centre, built 1962 as part of the new town development by Clifford Culpin and Partners. With plaque of Henry VIIIPublic baths – part of the adjacent waterworks. The civic centre now stands on the siteWaterworks.This dated from before the mid 1850s ad was set up as a water and laundry company, including public baths. Demolished for the new town.Multi Storey car park with Mural by Roland Emmet. 1959The Full House Pub. This was the Odeon cinema for which the foundation stone was laid by Lauren Bacall and it was opened in 1960. The interior was designed for spaciousness and modern luxury – the screen was vast. The site included a Presto food outlet which became a Wimpey bar. In 1974 it went over to bingo for part of the week but in the 1990s a new multiplex opened and the Odeon closed. It is now a Wetherspoon’s pub.
Mayflower AvenueThe road has been developed since the 1960s and at its northern end crosses and partly encompasses the former goods yard of the defunct railway lineGoods yard – there was a timber goods shed, cattle pens and some sidings and it opened with the station in 1877. It was known as Midland Yard and remained open until 1963 – much later than the station – and a private siding for Hemellite remained after that. Demolished in 1969.
Kingdom Hall. Jehovah’s WitnessesMidland RoadPreviously Fernville Road or Nannygoat Lane.Fernville House, this was a large house which became subsequently site of Somerfield supermarket. The turf from the garden reused on one of the magic roundabouts.Wall Post BoxThe railway crossed it. The bridge has been demolished but the parapet on the north side has survived where the present-day cycle path to Harpeneden begins.
Part of the former Hemel Hempstead Midland Station site lies under a grassed area in front of the Midland Hotel.
Midland Hotel. Built to serve the railway in 1899QueenswayThe western section of this was formerly part of Bury RoadBury Mill. This is said to have been on a site now covered by the roundabout, on the corner of Bury Road and Bury Hill. In the 20th Howard’s petrol station was on the ground floor. There were mill ponds to the north of the mill.The Bury. The Bury is an ancient name, usually referring to a fortified house, in this case the fortification may have been the marshy valley which is now Gadebridge Park. The first Bury was referred to in the 1289 Ashridge Charter where "Burymilne"- the Mill near the Bury - was included. Prior to 1539 the Bury was the home of the Waterhouse family, whose name today is remembered by Waterhouse Street. In the 20th it was the HQ of the Divisional Education Offices and Register Office. At the old Kitchen Garden a sailor is said to have entered a tunnel for a bet and found it connected first with the crypt at St.Mary's Church and thence under the River Gade to the cellars of Lockers House
Drill Hall. The Territorial Force was formed in 1908 and the Cavalry unit based here was the Hertfordshire Yeomanry, It was commanded by Lieutenant Lovel F. Smeathman, son of the Borough Solicitor.Bury Lodge. DENS Homelessness shelterThe Broadway. This was the area between the section which was Bury Road and the High Street. Tudorised shops at the entrance to Gadebridge ParkFire engine house. Joseph Cranstone formed the Volunteer Fire Brigade in 1845 and was superintendent for 33 years. The fire engine house stood at the entrance to Gadebridge, and was replaced by a new building on same site in 1905. The building remains in Queensway.418th front and 19th back wing with modern shop front. This is a Greek restaurant – was or is the Hemel Hempstead Club,6 -818th building with wrought iron front railings. 10, 12 and 14 18th houses with stucco front and modern shop fronts14a Hope House - charity working with children23-2516th or 17th building with an 18th stucco front and 19th shop
fronts27 -29 19th building with modern shop front. A 16th wing has a carriageway with a plastered timber framed first floor 39 19th L-shaped building in brick From the corner of High Street westwards the road was once called Queen Street.Fire and Ambulance Station 70 Flats offices on White Lion House. Site of The White Lion, an 18th Pub known from 1723, The Swan and Trout, 18th lodging house, Queen Street Infant School. Long gone and demolishedCadet Centre.Air Training CorpsSt. Mary’s RoadThis was once called Bell RoadThe Alleys. Friends Meeting House., Built in 1718 and renovated in 1808 and 1860. Brick building of purple and red brick with a burial ground at its side. It is the second oldest place of worship in the town built on land purchased from the Bell Inn for £26. Quakers also had the right to draw water from the well of the Inn and to drive their coaches through the arch into the High Street. The oldest part of the Meeting House has arched windows and there was originally a shuttered gallery which was later removed. Gravestones were also removed and put by the walls to create a large garden Site of Smithy Warner’s End RoadCentury House flats. Old Police Station. Became probation offices in 1958Water House StreetWaterhouse were late medieval owners of The Bury. The road was built as part of the scheme for Jellicoe’s new town plans in the mid 1950s. Eastern Lawn, the road runs along the eastern edge of the gardens alongside the Eastern Lawn – a long open area of grass with occasional trees. This was to represent the underside of the serpent. Originally this was to be a lawn between the road and the canalised river – but trees have been planted and ducks and swans have done things to the grass.
Salvation Army Citadel. The army moved to this site in 1908 from Albion Hill - although the citadel building is clearly laterBus standsWater Gardens The gardens were a key part of Geoffrey Jellicoe’s plans for the new town. The canalised Gade forms a key element and the ‘backbone’ of the Gardens. The water starts as a narrow channel at its northern end running the length of the Gardens. A culvert under the park removes excess water.
There is the hidden allegory of a serpent which extends the length of the water feature. There is an open plan to allow views in and out to the surrounding and the design exerts a play with perspectives.
Balconies were built out over the water for seating.
Bridges - A series of bridges cross the water. . Four of these are pedestrian bridges - simple arched concrete structures designed to appear to spring across the waterGrass mound. A large mound with mature trees is at the northern end and was an important part of Jellicoe’s design. It was built with material excavated from the canal and was designed as the hill which the watercourse – seen as the serpent’s tail – rested against. It was not to be a view point
Lovers Walk. On the west side of the Gade and enclosed linear space with planting Children’s play area – part of the original designSourcesBritish Listed Buildings. Web siteCarey Baptist Church. Web siteCinema Treasures. Web siteDacorum Council. Web siteDacorum Heritage Trust. Web siteDacorum History Digest. Web siteDisused Stations. Web siteFire station. Web siteFriends. Web siteGeorge Street School., Web siteGLIAS Newsletter Hemel Hempstead Station. Wikipedia. Web siteHertfordshire ChurchesHertfordshire County Council. Web siteHertfordshire Genealogy. Web siteMee. HertfordshireNational Archives. Web siteOld Town Hall. Web site.Our Dacorum. Web siteSt.Mary’s Church. Web siteSt.Mary’s Church. Wikipedia Web siteWhitelaw. Hidden Hertfordshire