Harpenden

History

There is evidence of pre-Roman Belgic farmers in the area. In 1867, several items were found, including a bronze escutcheon, rams-head shaped mounts, and a bronze bowl.

There are Roman remains in the land around Harpenden, such as the site of a mausoleum in the park at Rothamsted. A tumulus near the river Lea was opened in the 1820s, and it contained a stone sarcophagus of Romano-Celtic origin. Five objects dating from around 150 AD were inside, including a glass jug with a Mediterranean stamp and samian ware dishes used for libations.

The name Harpenden probably derives from the Old English hearpedenu, meaning 'harp valley'. Another theory suggests that the name perhaps derives from herepæðdenu meaning 'military road valley'. This theory is considered because Harpenden lies on the ancient St Albans - Luton road.

Up to the 13th century, the area of the parish consisted of woodland with small hamlets and single farmsteads around cleared areas called "End" or "Green"; today, there are 19 Ends and 18 Greens in the areas of Harpenden and Wheathampstead parishes.

Harpenden village grew out of Westminster Abbey's gradual clearing of woodland for farming and settlement within its Wheathampstead manor, granted by Edward the Confessor in 1060. The first reference to a parish church was in 1221 (when it was referred to as Harpendene) so it is inferred that the village grew up around then. The church of St Nicholas is the oldest church in the town, originally built as a Chapel of ease in 1217.

Just beyond the southern edge of the town lies Nomansland Common (sometimes simply called "No Man's Land") upon which part of the Second Battle of St Albans was fought during the Wars of the Roses. Nomansland Common also saw the first annually contested steeplechase in England, in 1830, when it was organised by Thomas Coleman, and the last fight of 19th-century bare-knuckle fighter Simon Byrne. It was also the haunt of the highwaywoman Lady Katherine Ferrers, better known as the "Wicked Lady".

A widespread but now little-known industry of Harpenden was straw-weaving, a trade mainly carried out by women in the 19th century. A good straw weaver could make as much as a field labourer. The straw plaits were taken to specialist markets in St Albans or Luton and bought by dealers to be converted into straw items such as boaters and other hats or bonnets.

Geography

There are two civil parishes: Harpenden and Harpenden Rural. The town straddles two valleys; a dry valley to the south-west containing the town centre and Harpenden Common, and the valley of the River Lea to the north-east, containing the Batford area.

Due to its proximity and railway link to London, as well as its high-end housing, Harpenden is an area of extremely high property costs. Land Registry data suggests that the average house price in Harpenden in the first quarter of 2006 was £500,902, compared to £287,277 for the St Albans district generally and £183,598 nationally. The data also indicates that an unusually high proportion of houses in Harpenden are owner occupied (81.4%, as opposed to 69.6% in the district generally and 66.2% nationally). The average price of a detached house is over £900,000 as of January 2012.

Harpenden has a large number of its streets named after English literary figures on the east side of the town (an area known, unsurprisingly, as the Poets' Corner), including Byron Road, Cowper Road, Kipling Way, Milton Road, Shakespeare Road, Spenser Road, Shelley Court, Tennyson Road, Townsend Road, Masefield Road and Wordsworth Road.

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering Harpenden, at parish (town), district and county level: Harpenden Town Council, St Albans City and District Council and Hertfordshire County Council. The town council is based at Harpenden Town Hall on Leyton Road.

Harpenden is also part of the Harpenden and Berkhamsted UK Parliament constituency, represented by Victoria Collins of the Liberal Democrats.

Administrative history

Harpenden was anciently part of the parish of Wheathampstead, in the hundred of Dacorum. The chapelry of Harpenden was treated as a separate civil parish from an early date, having its own church wardens and parish registers from the sixteenth century. An order to create a separate parish of Harpenden was made in 1656, but does not appear to have been carried out. Harpenden was eventually made a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1859.

From 1835 Harpenden was included within the St Albans Poor Law Union. As such, Harpenden became part of the St Albans Rural Sanitary District in 1872, which in turn became the St Albans Rural District under the Local Government Act 1894. The 1894 Act also created parish councils. Harpenden Parish Council held its first meeting on 31 December 1894, with Captain Arthur Lydekker, a Conservative, being elected the first chairman. The parish council held its meetings at the Harpenden Institute at 12 Southdown Road (then called Wheathampstead Road).

Shortly after the creation of St Albans Rural District, efforts began to make Harpenden an urban district. It was decided that the whole parish of Harpenden was not suitable to become an urban district, with the west of the parish remaining largely rural. As such, Harpenden was split into two parishes on 15 April 1898, called Harpenden Urban and Harpenden Rural. The Harpenden Rural parish remained part of St Albans Rural District, whilst the Harpenden Urban parish became independent as Harpenden Urban District. Arthur Lydekker, who had been chairman of the old Harpenden Parish Council, was appointed the first chairman of Harpenden Urban District Council.

Until September 1899, Harpenden Urban District Council held its meetings at the Harpenden Institute, as the parish council had done. On the opposite side of the Common was the British School on Leyton Road. The school had been built in 1850 but was vacated in 1897 when the school moved to new premises on Victoria Road. The council took a lease of the old British School from its owners, the Lawes family of Rothamsted, and the building was opened as the "Public Hall" in September 1899, acting as the council's meeting place and offices, as well as providing a public hall.

In 1932, the council bought Harpenden Hall at 6 Southdown Road for £7,000 and converted it to act as offices and meeting place, moving into the building in early 1933. A new Public Hall was built in the former gardens of Harpenden Hall in 1938. The old public hall on Leyton Road became known as Park Hall.

Transport

Railway

Harpenden railway station is a stop on the Thameslink route. Govia Thameslink Railway operates frequent services between Bedford, Luton, St Albans City and London St Pancras. Southbound services continue through Farringdon and London Blackfriars, then on to Brighton (via Gatwick Airport), Three Bridges or Rainham. The rail link therefore gives direct access to Luton Airport (one stop north) and Gatwick Airport, taking approximately 1hr 10 m on a limited stops train.

The Nickey Line railway linked Harpenden, Redbourn and Hemel Hempstead; Roundwood Halt also served the north-west of the town. The line opened in 1877 and was closed in 1979; the trackbed was converted to a shared-use path in 1985, forming part of the National Cycle Network. The Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway also ran through the former Harpenden East railway station to Dunstable Town via Luton Bute Street, and to Hatfield via Welwyn Garden City, opening in 1860 and closing in 1965.

Roads

The A6 used to run through Harpenden, although the road numbering was changed to avoid congestion. The M1 runs nearby, with access from junction 9 at Redbourn and Dunstable or alternatively at junction 10 for Luton Airport.

Buses

The town is served by several bus operators, including Arriva Shires & Essex, Centrebus, Red Eagle Travel, Red Rose and Uno. The main routes are:

Harpenden also has a charity-run community HH1 bus service called the Harpenden Hopper, which is a hail and ride service operating around the town on weekdays.

Economy

Harpenden is a prosperous town. In an analysis of the average income tax paid by constituency, Hitchin and Harpenden came tenth. In a list of the most valuable commuter areas compiled by Savills Research, Harpenden came seventh. Good transport links to central London have been cited as a key factor.

Rothamsted Research, the largest agricultural research centre in the UK, is based in Harpenden. It was founded in 1843.

Shopping

Harpenden has many shops commonly found in other English towns, with three central supermarkets (Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer, and Waitrose), multiple female clothes shops, charity shops, banks, estate agents and chemists. A good proportion of these are run by independent retailers. Cafes are also common in Harpenden, but with only three commercial chains (Costa Coffee, Caffè Nero, and Gail's); the rest are owned independently. There are multiple restaurants, mainly of Italian origin, and many pubs. Batford, Southdown, and Luton Road districts also have their own shopping areas.

Parks and commons

A notable feature of Harpenden is its abundant parks and commons. The central area of Harpenden is characterised by Church Green, Leyton Green and the High Street Greens, which give the town its provincial feel.

Just south of the town centre is Harpenden Common, stretching from the shops in the town centre for more than one mile (1.5 kilometres) to the south, encompassing a total of 238 acres (96 hectares). Today Harpenden Common hosts two cricket clubs: Harpenden Cricket Club, a Hertfordshire Premier League club that celebrated its 150 anniversary in 2013, and Bamville Cricket Club, which plays on Sundays on the golf course. There is also a football club, bridleways, ramblers' paths and Harpenden Common Golf Club, all contained in an area of natural beauty that was awarded a national Green Flag Award in 2007. Harpenden Town Council is keen to help retain and maintain the environment and oversees habitat management, including bird and bat watching, and the maintenance/regeneration of gorse, fungi and other fauna and flora for the benefit of the people of Harpenden.

Since 1894, Harpenden Common Golf Club has traditionally maintained a large part of the common and today works closely with Harpenden Town Council and countryside management. This partnership has enabled the people of Harpenden to take full advantage of the common for all kinds of leisure activities.

In addition the town has large green public spaces available in Rothamsted Park, Batford Park, Kinsbourne Green, Lydekker Park and the Nickey Line, which bisects the town.

Just to the south of Harpenden is the large expanse of Nomansland Common.

Education

Harpenden has four secondary schools:

St George's School, a co-educational Christian day and boarding school and specialist Technology, and Language College.

Sir John Lawes School, a specialist media Arts College, Science College and teacher training college.

Roundwood Park School

Katherine Warington School.

Harpenden has a number of state primary schools, including:

Manland Primary School

Crabtree Infants' and Junior Schools

Roundwood Primary School

The Grove Infant & Nursery and Junior Schools

High Beeches Primary School

Wood End School

Sauncey Wood Primary School

The Lea Primary School and Nursery

Harpenden Academy

It also has three private schools:

Aldwickbury School, an independent all-boys preparatory school (years Reception to 8).

The King's School, an independent Christian school (pre-school age to year 11).

St Hilda's School, an independent primary school for girls (years Reception to 6).

Twinning

Harpenden is twinned with:

Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire, France

Alzey, Germany

Events

Harpenden Lions Highland Gathering continues a tradition that began in 1946. The Gathering is held every July in Rothamsted Park and typically attracts around 6,000 visitors. It claims to be the largest UK Highland Gathering outside Scotland. It raises many thousands of pounds each year for charities nominated by Harpenden Lions Club, which runs the event.

An annual classic car show, Classics on the Common, is held on the fourth Wednesday in July, attracting over 10,000 visitors and 1,300 cars. One of the biggest events of its type in Europe, it is a free event, run by Rotary in Harpenden, with any profits collected going to charity.

The annual HERTS 10K run in aid of Rennie Grove Hospice Care takes place on the second Sunday in October. The event attracts thousands of runners and walkers, making it one of the biggest 10k runs in Hertfordshire. The event starts and finishes at Rothamsted Research.

Notable residents

Sacha Bennett, actor, writer, director and producer was born and raised in Harpenden, attending St. George's School

Julian Bliss, international clarinettist and child prodigy was born and raised in Harpenden

Steve Borthwick, former England and Saracens rugby captain and current England Head Coach lives in Harpenden

Steve Bould, former professional footballer and current Arsenal assistant manager

Ken Brown, who played in the Ryder Cup and is now a commentator for major golf competitions, such as the Open, grew up and still lives in Harpenden and is a member of Harpenden Common Golf Club

Craig Charles, DJ, comedian and actor in Red Dwarf and Coronation Street and host of the Funk and Soul Show and Robot Wars lived in Harpenden.

Ralph Chubb, poet, artist and printer was born here in 1892

Dave Clarke, visually impaired Paralympic GB football captain.

George W. Cooke, deputy director of Rothamsted Experimental Station

Donald Coxeter, 20th century geometer attended St George's School

Joanna Dennehy, serial killer responsible for the Peterborough ditch murders, grew up in Harpenden.

Elaine Delmar, singer and actress, born in Harpenden

Matt Dickinson, Everest mountaineer, author, scriptwriter and director

Culture

Harpenden Public Halls was a 410-seat live music and theatre venue in the town centre. It was replaced in 2021 with the newly built Eric Morecambe Centre in nearby Rothamsted Park, which is a 511-seat multi function space. The Public Halls site will be reused for housing.

Harpenden is also home to Musicale, a music school and music shop on the site of St George's School providing instrumental and vocal training to adults and children. It runs several orchestras and bands.

Other music groups based in Harpenden include The Lea Singers, Hardynge Choir, Magic Voices, Harpenden Choral Society, Music Makers, Harpenden Concert Band and Harpenden Musical Theatre Company.

As of September 2023, a new cultural hub Harpenden Arts Centre is set to launch as a fully accessible arts venue with a state of the art performance venue and rehearsal spaces for dance, music and drama.

Harpenden is also home to the Harpenden Live festival, which takes place in July every two years to promote new musical artists in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, and beyond.

Sport

Harpenden is home to various sports clubs. A selection are listed below:

Harpenden Cricket Club

Harpenden Town Football Club

Harpenden Rugby Football Club

Harpenden Lawn Tennis Club

Harpenden Colts Football Club

Harpenden Common Golf Club

Voluntary organisations

Harpenden Lions Club

Harpenden Village Rotary Club

Round Table

Probus

Ladies' Circle

Lea Singers

Scouting and Guiding in Harpenden

There is scouting in Harpenden. Scout groups fall under the heading of the "Harpenden and Wheathampstead District Scouts".

As well as taking part in a number of volunteer roles and marching in both the Remembrance and St George's Day parades, they are involved in the Harpenden and Wheathampstead District Scout Gang Show, an annual variety show. The Harpenden Gang Show is the world's longest continuously running Gang Show, with a performance every year since 1949.

There are also several Guide units in Harpenden. Guides take part in the Remembrance Sunday and St George's Day parades alongside the Scouts and has younger counterparts called Rainbows and Brownies.

Freedom of the Town

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Harpenden.

Military Units

The Royal Anglian Regiment: 12 September 2013.