 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Welwyn Garden City" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Welwyn Garden City | |
|---|---|
 View to the northwest from the Parkway Fountain | |
  Welwyn Garden City Location withinHertfordshire | |
| Population | 51,505 (2021 Census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TL245135 |
| • London | 20 mi (32 km) |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Welwyn Garden City |
| Postcode district | AL7, AL8 |
| Dialling code | 01707 |
| Police | Hertfordshire |
| Fire | Hertfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Welwyn Garden City (/ˈwɛlɪn/ ⓘWEL-in) is a town inHertfordshire, England, 20 miles (32 km) north ofLondon. It was the secondgarden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the firstnew towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and exemplifies the physical, social and cultural planning ideals of the periods in which it was built.
Welwyn Garden City was founded bySir Ebenezer Howard in 1920 following his previous experiment inLetchworth Garden City. Howard had called for the creation of planned towns that were to combine the benefits of the city and the countryside and to avoid the disadvantages of both. It was designed to be 'The Perfect Town'. TheGarden Cities and Town Planning Association had defined a garden city as
a town designed for healthy living and industry of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life but not larger, surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of the land being in public ownership, or held in trust for the community[2]
In 1919, Howard arranged for the purchase of land in Hertfordshire that had already been identified as a suitable site. A company called Second Garden City Limited was formed in October 1919 to start buying the land and developing the town. On 4 February 1920, the company's board decided to call the new garden cityDigswell, taking the name of the existing small village which would be surrounded by the development. Six days later they changed their minds, deciding instead to call it Welwyn Garden City, reflecting that the project was already being discussed generally as the "new garden city near Welwyn".[3] On 29 April 1920, the company changed its name to become Welwyn Garden City Limited. Sir Theodore Chambers chaired the company, whilstLouis de Soissons was appointed as architect and town planner,Charles Purdom as finance director andFrederic Osborn as secretary.[2][4] The first house was occupied just before Christmas 1920.[5]
The town is laid out along tree-lined boulevards with aneo-Georgian town centre.[6] It has its own environmental protection legislation, the Scheme of Management for Welwyn Garden City.[7] Every road has a wide grass verge. The spine of the town is Parkway, a central mall or scenic parkway, almost a mile long. The view along Parkway to the south was once described as one of the world's finest urban vistas.[8] Older houses are on the west side of Parkway and newer houses on the east side[6]
The original planners intended that all the residents of the garden city would shop in one shop and created the Welwyn Stores, a monopoly which caused some local resentment.[2] Commercial pressures have since ensured much more competition and variety, and the Welwyn Stores were in 1984 taken over by theJohn Lewis Partnership.
In 1948, Welwyn Garden City was designated a new town under theNew Towns Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68) and the Welwyn Garden City company handed its assets to the Welwyn Garden City Development Corporation. Louis de Soissons remained as its planning consultant. That yearThe Times compared Welwyn Garden City withHatfield. It described Welwyn Garden City as a world-famous modern new town developed as an experiment in community planning and Hatfield as an unplanned settlement created by sporadic building in the open country. "Welwyn, though far from perfect, made the New Towns Act possible, just as Hatfield, by its imperfection, made it necessary."[9] In 1966, the Development Corporation was wound up and handed over to theCommission for New Towns. The housing stock, neighbourhood shopping and green spaces were passed to Welwyn Hatfield District Council between 1978 and 1983.[2]
TheNew QEII Hospital, completed in June 2015, offers outpatient, diagnostic and ante/postnatal services.
A shopping mall, theHoward Centre, was built in the 1980s, incorporating a replacement for the original "temporary"railway station.
There is a resurgence of interest in the ethos of the garden city and the type of neighbourhood and community advocated by Howard, prompted by the problems of metropolitan and regional development and the importance ofsustainability in government policy.[10]
On the outskirts of OldWelwyn village, theWelwyn Roman baths are preserved in a steel vault underneath junction 6 of the A1(M) and are open to visitors.[6]
The local civic society, which aims to preserve and conserve the garden city ethos, is the Welwyn Garden City Society.
The international ecumenicalFocolare movement has its British headquarters at Welwyn Garden City.
In 2008, during construction of a site forHSBC, 60 unsecured argonite fire suppressant cylinders discharged, killing one person, injuring six others and causing substantial damage. Three firms were later convicted of health and safety offences.[11][12]
2020 saw the 100th anniversary for Welwyn Garden City with a series of celebrations planned. They could not all be done amidst theCoronavirus pandemic.[13]
Welwyn Garden City had a population of 46,619 in 2011,[14] and 51,735 (estimated) in 2016.[1]
Welwyn Garden City is part of theWelwyn Hatfield Borough and comprises seven local authority wards. It is in the county ofHertfordshire and the parliamentary constituency ofWelwyn Hatfield. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has its offices in Welwyn Garden City. The MP for Welwyn Hatfield isAndrew Lewin (Labour). The nearby town of Hatfield[15] and the village of Welwyn[16] haveparish councils with limited responsibilities, but Welwyn Garden City has none, although it had one between 1921 and 1927.[17]
| Welwyn Garden City | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban District | |||
| |||
| Population | |||
| • 1931 | 8,586 | ||
| • 1971 | 39,630[18] | ||
| History | |||
| • Created | 1 April 1927 | ||
| • Abolished | 31 March 1974 | ||
| • Succeeded by | Welwyn Hatfield | ||
| • HQ | Welwyn Garden City | ||
| Contained within | |||
| • County Council | Hertfordshire | ||
The land earmarked for the town in 1920 straddled the parishes ofHatfield,Digswell,Welwyn andTewin. On 1 October 1921, acivil parish called Welwyn Garden City was created from parts of those four parishes. The new parish was initially part of theWelwyn Rural District.[19] By 1923, the Welwyn Garden City parish council was based in offices on Bridge Road, on the edge of the site identified for the new town centre of the garden city.[20]
The parish of Welwyn Garden City was made an urban district on 1 April 1927, making it independent of the Welwyn Rural District Council.[21]
New offices were built on the site of the former parish council's offices at the corner of Bridge Road and The Campus. The new building was formally opened in January 1937.[22][23] This building served as the headquarters of Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council until its abolition in 1974. Between 20 May 1948 and 31 March 1966 the development of the town was also administered by the Welwyn Garden City Development Corporation, set up under theNew Towns Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68).[24]
Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council was granted a coat of arms on 15 December 1958.[25]
Welwyn Garden City Urban District was abolished under theLocal Government Act 1972, merging with Welwyn Rural District andHatfield Rural District to become thedistrict of Welwyn Hatfield on 1 April 1974. There are somesuccessor civil parish created for the town, and so it is governed directly by Welwyn Hatfield District Council (Borough Council after 2006). The Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council's former offices at The Campus are still used by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council as its headquarters.
Welwyn Garden City experiences a maritime or oceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb), in common with the rest of the United Kingdom. The town experiences warm summers and cool winters.
| Climate data for Welwyn Garden City | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8 (46) | 9 (48) | 12 (54) | 14 (57) | 18 (64) | 21 (70) | 23 (73) | 20 (68) | 20 (68) | 16 (61) | 11 (52) | 8 (46) | 15 (59) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5 (41) | 5 (41) | 6 (43) | 8 (46) | 10 (50) | 13 (55) | 15 (59) | 16 (61) | 13 (55) | 11 (52) | 8 (46) | 5 (41) | 10 (50) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 50.7 (2.00) | 39.9 (1.57) | 31.7 (1.25) | 46.2 (1.82) | 38.9 (1.53) | 46.4 (1.83) | 33.1 (1.30) | 43.6 (1.72) | 49.7 (1.96) | 70.7 (2.78) | 58.1 (2.29) | 56.9 (2.24) | 565.9 (22.28) |
| Source:[26] | |||||||||||||
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Welwyn Garden City" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Ever since its inception as a garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong industrial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:
Welwyn Garden City was once well known as the home of the breakfast cerealShredded Wheat, formerly made byNabisco. With its large white silos, the disusedNabisco Shredded Wheat Factory is a landmark on rail routes between London and the north of England.[2] The factory, designed by de Soissons and built in 1924 by Peter Lind & Company, is a Grade IIlisted building.[27] Production moved to theCereal Partners factory atStaverton, Wiltshire in 2007[28] when the owner,Nestlé, decided that the factory required significant and prohibitive investment, due to the age of the building. Tesco applied to build a supermarket on the site, but planning permission was refused by the local authority in January 2012 after significant public protest.[29] In December 2018, the newly renamed "Wheat Quarter" area had planning permission approved for complete area redevelopment, consisting of 1,454 units, mainly homes, as well as office, retail and community uses.
The former supermarket chainFine Fare had its head office in the town at one time, as didICI's Plastics Division.
Xerox formerly had offices in the city which opened in April 1995,[30] but it closed in 2016 to make way for housing.[31]
There is aSainsbury's and aWaitrose in the town centre, and aMorrisons in Panshanger.
Welwyn Garden City's proximity to London makes it a convenientcommuter town.
Welwyn Garden City railway station is located in the town centre; it is served by twotrain operating companies:
Buses are provided byArriva Shires & Essex,Centrebus andUno, with some assistance fromHertfordshire County Council. Key routes include:[34]
Welwyn Garden City is well-served by major arterial road routes, namely theA1(M) and theA414. TheGreat North Road also passes around it next to the A1(M). In addition, there are other links to St Albans,Harpenden andLuton (via B653), Hatfield (via A1000 and A1001) andHertford (via B1000).
Welwyn Garden City has five secondary schools:
A campus ofOaklands College is located near the town centre.
Welwyn Garden City's Music Society gave its first concert in 1921 within weeks of the town's foundation; its choir and orchestra, led byJames Ross, have performed a regular concert season in the town ever since. The town also boasts a Concert Club, which promotes chamber music recitals, and a Male Voice Choir. Welwyn Garden City Band was founded in 1934.[citation needed] TheBarn Theatre is a Grade II listed building on Handside Lane.[35] Welwyn Thalians, an amateur dramatic and operatic group, has performed in the town since 1929.[36]
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC London andITV London. Television signals are received from either theCrystal Palace[37] or the local relay transmitters.[38]BBC East andITV Anglia can also be received from theSandy Heath TV transmitter.[39]
Local radio stations areBBC Three Counties Radio on 90.4 FM,Heart Hertfordshire on 106.9 FM andRadio Verulam on 92.6 FM.
TheWelwyn Hatfield Times is the town's local weekly newspaper.[40]
The Gosling Sports Centre houses a dry ski slope, golf driving range, indoor and outdoor tennis, squash, football pitches, an athletics track, velodrome, a gym and bowls as well as a trampoline park.[41]
Welwyn Garden City football team founded in 1921, known as the Citizens, are based in Herns Lane.
The King George V playing field, on the boundary of the old Hatfield Hyde village is the home of Hatfield Hyde Cricket Club since 1889, predating Welwyn Garden City by 31 years. The playing field was once used by the England football team for training.[42] During the 1966 football World Cup the French, West German and Argentinian football teams stayed at the Homestead Court Hotel alongside the King George V playing fields.[43]
There are three golf courses: Panshanger, owned and operated by the borough council, Mill Green Golf Course located in Gypsy Lane, and the Welwyn Garden City Golf Club, of whichNick Faldo was once a member.[44]
The Digswell Park Sports Association brings together Welwyn Garden City Cricket Club,[45] Welwyn Garden City Bowls Club and the Digswell Park Sports and Social Club, at Digswell Park, Knightsfield. Welwyn Garden City Cricket Club was founded in 1921 and runs 7-weekend senior sides along with a youth cricket programme. WGCCC First XI competes in the Saracens Herts Premier League.[citation needed]
The town has a rugby club called Welwyn RFC.[46]
The lake in Stanborough Park is the home of Welwyn Garden City Sailing Club (founded 1973) and the WGC Angling Club.[47]
SeeList of people from Welwyn Garden City
Ministry of Health Order No. 67266: The Hertfordshire (Welwyn Garden City) Confirmation Order, 1921
Ministry of Health Order No. 71,611 - The Hertfordshire (Welwyn Garden City Urban District) Confirmation Order, 1927
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
