Adeyfield

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Adeyfield
Adeyfield- Tenzing Road.jpg
Post war New Town housing in Adeyfield
Hertfordshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Adeyfield
Location within Hertfordshire
Population11,012 (2011 Census. Adeyfield East and West Wards) [1]
OS grid reference TL069074
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Hemel Hempstead
Postcode district HP2
Dialling code 01442
Police Hertfordshire
Fire Hertfordshire
Ambulance East of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire
51°45′21″N0°27′06″W / 51.755831°N 0.451625°W / 51.755831; -0.451625 Coordinates: 51°45′21″N0°27′06″W / 51.755831°N 0.451625°W / 51.755831; -0.451625

Adeyfield was the first planned neighbourhood to be built in the postwar new town expansion of Hemel Hempstead, in the English county of Hertfordshire. The keys to the first houses to be occupied, in Homefield Road, were handed over to their tenants in February 1950. The Queens Square shopping parade was visited by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 July 1952, to lay the first foundation slab of St. Barnabas Church. [2]

Contents

The area

Part of Queens Square neighbourhood shopping centre at Adeyfield Queens Square Adeyfield.jpg
Part of Queens Square neighbourhood shopping centre at Adeyfield

Adeyfield is mainly a mixture of New Town properties built to the south of Adeyfield Road and houses built privately in the 40s, 50s and 60s on the north side. There are also a few older terraced cottages near the junction of Adeyfield Road and Great Road. There is one large Victorian house and this is shown on the 1898 Ordnance Survey map as being the only house in the area at the time, apart from Adeyfield Farm.

The neighbourhood spans from the Hemel Hempstead Industrial Estate in the east, to Queensway in the north, to the A414 (St Albans Road) in the south, to the Town Centre in the west. It borders the neighbourhoods of Highfield, Bennetts End, Leverstock Green and the town centre (known locally as Paradise).

The location was originally farmland occupied by Coxpond Farm and Adeyfield Farm. It was planned by the chief architect for the new town, Mr H Kellet Ablett who received the 'Urban Medal' for his work from the Eastern Housing Region. As well as housing the area has new town built shops, schools, churches, a community centre and playing fields. By 1956 the development corporation described the area as complete. [2]

In order to provide some quick, easy and cheap accommodations after the Second World War, the easternmost part of Adeyfield was the chosen site for a set of temporary tin houses known as pre-fabs. The houses remain to this day, however the exterior tin has now been covered up by sheets of white wood and cladding on most of the houses.

Places of worship

There are four churches in the District, St Barnabas, in the Queen's Square, Jubilee Christian Fellowship which is also in Queens Square in the Community Centre, the Adeyfield Free Church, on the border of the district on Leverstock Green Road, and the Catholic Church on St Albans Road.

Schools

Adeyfield is home to The Adeyfield Academy, the major secondary school in the area and two primary schools (see Primary schools in Dacorum).

Public houses

Adeyfield boasts three pubs, one corporately owned and the other two private. The Crabtree, located on Leverstock Green Road, is part of the Ember Inns chain. The other two pubs are The Jubilee in the Queen's Square, and The Midland on Midland Road (across the road from the old location of the Nicky Line's "Midland Station", correctly known as Hemel Hempstead). Until 2013, The Jubilee was called The New Venture. The Midland was originally called The Midland Hotel, then The Mayflower, before partly reverting to the original name.

The Queen's Square

In common with the rest of the planned neighbourhoods in Hemel Hempstead, Adeyfield has a village centre, known as the Queen's Square. There are many different convenience stores in the square, most notably the Co-operative Supermarket, and two branches of Lloyd's Pharmacy. The square was named after the visit paid by The Queen in 1952 when she laid the foundation stone for the Church of St Barnabas.

Evelyn Sharp House

During the 1970s the Commission for New Towns and Dacorum Borough Council invested in developing sheltered housing provision for the elderly in the town - a ground-breaking development at the time. The first of these was Evelyn Sharp House, located in Field Road, Adeyfield. A full-time, on-site Warden was available to support the needs of the residents. The first Warden of ESH was Jean Roberts, who was there for 18 years from its opening until her retirement. Arrangements for supporting residents and managing the property have changed since, and there is no longer an on-site Warden.

Related Research Articles

Hertfordshire County of England

Hertfordshire is one of the home counties in southern England. It is bordered by Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For government statistical purposes, it is placed in the East of England region. It covers 634 square miles (1,640 km2). It derives its name from a hart (stag) and a ford, used as the components of the county's coat of arms and of the flag. Hertfordshire County Council is based in Hertford, once the main market town.

Hemel Hempstead Town in Hertfordshire, England

Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire, England, located 24 miles (39 km) northwest of London, and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population, according to the 2011 Census, was 97,500.

Dacorum Local government district in England

The Borough of Dacorum is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England that includes the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring and Kings Langley. The district, which was formed in 1974, had a population of 137,799 in 2001. Its name was taken from the old hundred of Dacorum which covered approximately the same area. It is the westernmost of Hertfordshire's districts, being bordered to the west by the Chiltern and Aylesbury Vale districts of Buckinghamshire.

Nash Mills Human settlement in England

Nash Mills is a civil parish within Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum Borough Council on the northern side of the Grand Union Canal, formerly the River Gade, and in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead. There is evidence of a mill in this location since the 11th century and the row of 16th century mill cottages still remain. John Dickinson established a number of papermaking mills in the area in the 19th century.

Markyate Human settlement in England

Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Nickey line

The Nickey line is a disused railway that once linked the towns of Hemel Hempstead and, initially, Luton but later Harpenden via Redbourn, in Hertfordshire, England. The course of most of the railway has been redeveloped as a cycle and walking path, and is part of the Oxford to Welwyn Garden City route of the National Cycle Network. It is approximately nine miles (14 km) long.

Hemel Hempstead (UK Parliament constituency) UK Parliament constituency since 1997

Hemel Hempstead is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Westwick Row

Westwick Row is a place in Hertfordshire, in England. It is situated on the edge of Hemel Hempstead.

Boxmoor Human settlement in England

Boxmoor is part of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It is within the district of Dacorum and comprises mainly 19th-century housing and meadowland, with transport links from London to the Midlands. At the 2011 Census, the population of Boxmoor was included in the Dacorum ward of Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield.

Leverstock Green

Leverstock Green is a suburb in Hemel Hempstead, in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is located on the eastern edge of the town.

Woodhall Farm Human settlement in England

Woodhall Farm is a neighbourhood on the northern tip of Hemel Hempstead in the county of Hertfordshire. It was built on the former Brocks Fireworks site.

Bennetts End Human settlement in England

Bennetts End is a neighbourhood within Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the southeast of the town and consists almost entirely of public housing built as part of the new town in the 1950s. It was the second neighbourhood to have construction commenced by the New Town corporation, after the nearby Adeyfield.

Warners End is a neighbourhood or district of Hemel Hempstead, a new town in Hertfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census the population of the District was included in the Chaulden and Warner's End ward of Dacorum Council. It was the fourth of the new districts built during the expansion of Hemel Hempstead into a new town with work on its construction commencing in 1953.

Chaulden

Chaulden is a residential district in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England located west of the town centre and bordering on open countryside. It was an early development in the construction of Hemel Hempstead new town, commenced in 1953 and has its own neighbourhood shopping centre.

Highfield, Hertfordshire Human settlement in England

Highfield is a neighbourhood district in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. It was constructed on a green field site as part of the construction of the postwar newtown expansion of Hemel Hempstead. It is located north of the old town centre. It is most likely named from Highfield House which still exists, although ultimately derived from an old field name which reflects the altitude of the district which reaches 469 feet above sea level. At the 2011 census the population of the district was included in the civil parish of Hazlemere

Hemel Hempstead Hospital Hospital in Hertfordshire, England

Hemel Hempstead Hospital is an acute District General Hospital in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire operated by the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead

The Old Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. The town hall, which was the meeting place of Hemel Hempstead Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.

Tring Market House Municipal Building in England

Tring Market Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Tring, Hertfordshire, England. The structure, which is the meeting place of Tring Town Council, is a Grade II listed building.

References

  1. Borough of Dacorum.Adeyfield East and West Wards. 2011 Census.
  2. 1 2 Hastie, Scott; Fletcher, Lynne (1997). Hemel Hempstead - The Story of New Town Development. Dacorum Borough Council. ISBN   0-9511539-2-7.