Hemel Hempstead

The first recorded mention of the town is the grant of land at Hamaele by Offa, King of Essex, to the Saxon Bishop of London in 705 AD. Hemel Hempstead on its present site is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a vill, Hamelhamstede, with about 100 inhabitants. The parish church of St Mary's was built in 1140, and is recognised as one of the finest Norman parish churches in the county. The church features an unusual 200 ft spire, 0ne of Europe's tallest, which was added in the 14th century. This maintained its court into the 19th century. In 1290, King John's grandson, the Earl of Cornwall, gave the manor to the religious order of the Bonhommes when he endowed the monastery at…

Hemel is famous for its "Magic Roundabout" (officially called the Plough Roundabout from a former adjacent public house), an interchange at the end of the town centre (Moor End), where traffic from six routes meet. Traffic is able to circulate in both directions around what appears to be a main central roundabout (which it used to be), with the normal rules applying at each of the six mini-roundabouts encircling this central reservation. It was the first such circulation system in Britain. Hemel claims to have the first purpose-built, free-standing multi-storey car park in Britain. The new town centre is laid out alongside landscaped gardens and water features formed from the River Gade…

Hemel Hempstead has a mixture of heavy and light engineering companies; it has attracted a significant number of information technology and telecommunications sector companies, helped by its proximity to London and the UK motorway network. However, and again in common with many new towns, it has a much narrower business base than established centres, particularly Watford and St Albans.