| Broadway | |
|---|---|
 The fountain in Broadway Gardens | |
 | |
| Location | Letchworth |
| OS grid | TL 21566 32074 |
| Coordinates | 51°58′26″N0°13′54″W / 51.97389°N 0.23167°W |
| Designation | Grade II |
Broadway is a road through the centre of Letchworth, in Hertfordshire, England, laid out when the garden city of Letchworth was created. It incorporates Broadway Gardens, and is listed Grade II in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens. [1]
Ebenezer Howard pioneered the idea of creating garden cities; they would benefit the whole community, they would be well planned and integrate the best aspects of town and country. The first garden city was Letchworth, on a site acquired in 1903. It was planned in 1904 by the architects Barry Parker and Raymond Unwin. This included a broad spinal approach road from the south and north, named Broadway, leading to Town Square, where the principle buildings of the town would be erected. Lombardy poplars were planted about 1914 to show the location of the buildings, which in the course of events were never built. [1] [2]
The section from Hitchin Road northwards to the roundabout was the first part of Broadway to be constructed, about 1906; along this section are large detached houses, built from 1905 to 1912. The roundabout, Sollershott Circus, opened in 1910, was the first in the United Kingdom. The section between the roundabout and Town Square was an unmade road until 1924. [1] [3]
About 450 metres (1,480 ft) to the east of Broadway is Howard Park and Gardens, also part of the original layout of the town. [1]
Broadway is 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) long, running south-south-west to north-north-east. The southern end is the junction with Hitchin Road (the A505 road); Station Place, the forecourt of the railway station, is at the northern end. Broad grass verges flank the road from Hitchen Road to Broadway Gardens. About 300 metres (980 ft) north of Hitchin Road is the roundabout, Sollershott Circus, the convergence of several residential roads. [1]
Broadway Gardens (originally named Town Square and later, from the mid-1960s, John F Kennedy Gardens) is 850 metres (2,790 ft) north of Hitchin Road. [1] It was developed in recent years with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. There is a fountain, herbaceous borders and a large open space where events can be hosted. [4] Overlooking the gardens are the Town Hall (built in 1935), the library (1938), the town museum (1914–20) and the former grammar school (1931). Broadway passes the Gardens on both sides; north of the Gardens, Broadway is divided by a central boulevard where a tramway was originally intended, now a central walk. [1]
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Watford, and the county town is Hertford.
Sir Ebenezer Howard was an English urban planner and founder of the garden city movement, known for his publication To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform (1898), the description of a utopian city in which people live harmoniously together with nature. The publication resulted in the founding of the garden city movement, and the building of the first garden city, Letchworth Garden City, commenced in 1903.
North Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth Garden City and the largest town is Hitchin. The district also includes the towns of Baldock and Royston and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Part of the district lies within the Chiltern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Willian is a village and former civil parish, adjoining the town of Letchworth, in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. Along with Norton and Old Letchworth, it is one of the original three villages around which the garden city of Letchworth Garden City was created. Despite this, the village retains a separate character to the rest of Letchworth Garden City. In 1931 the parish had a population of 210.
The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture. Ebenezer Howard first posited the idea in 1898 as a way to capture the primary benefits of the countryside and the city while avoiding the disadvantages presented by both. In the early 20th century, Letchworth, Brentham Garden Suburb, and Welwyn Garden City were built in or near London according to Howard's concept and many other garden cities inspired by his model have since been built all over the world.
Pinelands is an affluent garden city suburb located on the edge of the southern suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa, neighbouring the suburb of Thornton, and is known for its large thatched houses and green spaces. The suburb is primarily residential and is often praised for its peacefulness and abundance of trees. Pinelands is one of the few areas in Cape Town in which sale of alcohol to the public is prohibited, but some clubs have private liquor licenses. It is a popular place for senior citizens to retire to. While there are several retirement homes in the suburb, younger people are increasingly moving in.
The A505 is a road in the East of England. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path and runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to the A11 Abington Interchange North in Cambridgeshire.
The Cloisters in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire in the UK was built in 1905 as an open-air school dedicated to Psychology and where students were taught skills from the Arts and Crafts movement. After a period of neglect during World War II The Cloisters became the North Hertfordshire Masonic Centre in 1951.
Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county.
Thomas Geoffry Lucas, generally known as Geoffry Lucas, but often found incorrectly spelt as Geoffrey Lucas, was a 20th-century English architect. He is perhaps best known for his work in connection with the garden city movement, but was also active in other areas, including the design of churches and church fittings.
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990.
The Royston and Hitchin Railway was an English railway company; it built a line from the Great Northern Railway at Hitchin to Shepreth. A Shepreth branch line was built by the Eastern Counties Railway from Shelford Junction to Shepreth, and in time the line from Hitchin to Shepreth Branch Junction was regarded as a single unit.
Letchworth Museum and Art Gallery was a museum in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England. It had permanent displays dedicated to the natural history of North Hertfordshire, including the famous black squirrel, as well as its archaeology from remote prehistory to the turn of the twentieth century.
The Hitchin Museum and Art Gallery was a local history museum in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, with an extensive collection that told the story of the town’s social history and of the rural industries that contributed to its prosperity.
Paradise, formerly named Paradise Circus, is the name given to an area of approximately 7 hectares in Birmingham city centre between Chamberlain and Centenary Squares. The area has been part of the civic centre of Birmingham, England since the 19th century when it contained buildings such as the Town Hall, Mason Science College, Birmingham and Midland Institute buildings and Central Library. The site was redeveloped from 1960 to 1975 into the present Paradise Circus based within a roundabout on the Inner Ring Road system containing a new Central Library and School of Music. From 2015, Argent Group will redevelop the area into new mixed use buildings and public squares.
The Church of St Paul in Letchworth in Hertfordshire is the Anglican parish church for the Letchworth Gate area of the town at the top of Pixmore Way. Dating from 1923, with later extensions, it is a 'daughter church' of the nearby Church of All Saints in Willian and comes under the Diocese of St Albans. Built as a 'Victory' church following World War I, the building is the largest war memorial in Hertfordshire.
Ewart Gladstone Culpin was a British Labour Party politician and town planner who served as the Chairman of London County Council.
Hitchin Town Hall is a municipal structure in Brand Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Hitchin Urban District Council, is a Grade II listed building.
Letchworth Town Hall is a municipal building in Broadway, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Letchworth Urban District Council, is a Grade II listed building.
Howard Park and Gardens is a public recreation ground in Letchworth, in Hertfordshire, England, laid out when the garden city of Letchworth was created. It is listed Grade II in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens.
