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Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead (/ˌhɛməl ˈhɛmpstɪd/) is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located 24 miles (39 km) north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 census was 95,961.
Hemel Hempstead has existed since at least the 8th century and was granted its town charter by Henry VIII in 1539. It has expanded and developed in recent decades after being designated as a new town after the end of the Second World War.
The settlement was called Henamsted or Hean-Hempsted in Anglo-Saxon times and Hemel-Amstede by the time of William the Conqueror. The name is referred to in the Domesday Book as Hamelamestede, but in later centuries it became Hamelhamsted, and, possibly, Hemlamstede. In Old English, -stead or -stede simply meant "place" (reflected in German Stadt and Dutch stede or stad, meaning "city" or "town"), such as the site of a building or pasture, as in clearing in the woods. This suffix is used in the names of other English places, such as Hamstead and Berkhamsted.
One theory suggests that a previous name for the settlement became corrupted to something similar to Hempstead, and that Hemel originated as a way of specifying Hemel Hempstead, as opposed to nearby Berkhamsted. Hemel is reflected in the German Himmel and Dutch Hemel, both of which mean 'heaven' or 'sky', so it could be that Hemel Hempstead was in a less-forested area open to the sky, while Berkhamsted (which could mean 'birch', reflected in the Dutch berk) was in a forest of birch trees. This is however speculation and unsupported by place name dictionaries.
Another suggestion is that Hemel came from Haemele, the name of the district in the 8th century, and was most likely either the name of the landowner or meant "broken country".
Emigrants from Hemel Hempstead, led by John Carman, settled in the American colonies in the early 17th century and founded the town of Hempstead, New York in 1644.
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-foot-tall (60-metre) spire, added in the 12th century, one of Europe's tallest.
After the Norman Conquest, Robert, Count of Mortain, the elder half-brother of William the Conqueror, was granted lands associated with Berkhamsted Castle which included Hemel Hempstead. The estates passed through several hands over the next few centuries including Thomas Becket in 1162. Hemel Hempstead was in the Domesday Book’s hundred of Danais (Daneys, i.e. Danish), which by 1200 had been combined with the hundred of Tring to form the hundred of Dacorum. 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 Ashridge.
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Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead (/ˌhɛməl ˈhɛmpstɪd/) is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located 24 miles (39 km) north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 census was 95,961.
Hemel Hempstead has existed since at least the 8th century and was granted its town charter by Henry VIII in 1539. It has expanded and developed in recent decades after being designated as a new town after the end of the Second World War.
The settlement was called Henamsted or Hean-Hempsted in Anglo-Saxon times and Hemel-Amstede by the time of William the Conqueror. The name is referred to in the Domesday Book as Hamelamestede, but in later centuries it became Hamelhamsted, and, possibly, Hemlamstede. In Old English, -stead or -stede simply meant "place" (reflected in German Stadt and Dutch stede or stad, meaning "city" or "town"), such as the site of a building or pasture, as in clearing in the woods. This suffix is used in the names of other English places, such as Hamstead and Berkhamsted.
One theory suggests that a previous name for the settlement became corrupted to something similar to Hempstead, and that Hemel originated as a way of specifying Hemel Hempstead, as opposed to nearby Berkhamsted. Hemel is reflected in the German Himmel and Dutch Hemel, both of which mean 'heaven' or 'sky', so it could be that Hemel Hempstead was in a less-forested area open to the sky, while Berkhamsted (which could mean 'birch', reflected in the Dutch berk) was in a forest of birch trees. This is however speculation and unsupported by place name dictionaries.
Another suggestion is that Hemel came from Haemele, the name of the district in the 8th century, and was most likely either the name of the landowner or meant "broken country".
Emigrants from Hemel Hempstead, led by John Carman, settled in the American colonies in the early 17th century and founded the town of Hempstead, New York in 1644.
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-foot-tall (60-metre) spire, added in the 12th century, one of Europe's tallest.
After the Norman Conquest, Robert, Count of Mortain, the elder half-brother of William the Conqueror, was granted lands associated with Berkhamsted Castle which included Hemel Hempstead. The estates passed through several hands over the next few centuries including Thomas Becket in 1162. Hemel Hempstead was in the Domesday Book’s hundred of Danais (Daneys, i.e. Danish), which by 1200 had been combined with the hundred of Tring to form the hundred of Dacorum. 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 Ashridge.