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Abel Close: Named after Abels Meadow as detailed in the 1840 tithe map.Many of the roads in the new town areas were named after the fields which had been in the area prior to the new town announcement in 1947.
Adeyfield (neighbourhood): Believed to be from Ladyfield, the name of a field in this area and shownon maps of 1523. By 1615 it was shown in court rolls as Adeyfield. (Could be someone's eyesight wasn't too good and the L got missed off!
Alexandra Road: Namedmafter Queen Alexandra (1844 to 1925)who was consort to Edward Vll who she married in 1863. Alexandra Rose Day is held annually in aid of hospitals and commemorates her charitable work. Alexandra Road was part of Hemel's 'first new town' built in the 1860s as the town spread from the High Street area. Alexandra Road was then called New Road. At one time the road was divided with the lower end being called Alexandra Road and the other end West View Road.
Allandale: Named after a house. Much of Allandale follows the course of what was Redbourn Road before the new town and Hghfield were built. The houseis in Cambrian Way which was also partly Redbourn Road.
Alldicks Road, Bennetts End: Named after a field in the area called Alldicks and shown on Hemel Tithe map of 1840-44.
Alston Road: Named after Maurice Alston who was Mayor of Hemel Hempstead in 1928 and lived in Green End Road.
Anchor Lane, Boxmoor:  Named after the old Anchor pub, This was demolished in the early new town days and a new Anchor built. The name of this was changed to The Leinster in the 1990s. Anchor Lane itself follows the alignment of an ancient trackway from Hemel Hempstead to Bovingdon.
Arkley Road/Court. After the villagfe in Herts near Barnet (other roads in area are named after Herts villages.) Arkley is mentioned in historical records going back to the 14th century.
Ash Grove: Named after the ash tree and believed there were ash trees in this area pre-new town.
Astley Road: Named after the famous surgeon Sir Astley Paston Cooper who was created a baronet for successfully operating on King George lV. He also founded Hemel Hempstead Hospital, known as West Herts Hospital, in cottages in Piccotts End. He lived at Gadebridge House which overlooked Gadebridge Park which was land he owned. Astley Road was known to'old townies' as Astley Hill
Athelstan Road. Athelstan (895-940), king of Mercia and Weesex, the first Saxon ruler to establish authority over all England. He was elected King of Mercia in 924 and a year later was crowned King of the whole country.
Austins Place, Hemel Old Town: Thomas Austin was a grocer in Hemel who gave his name to to the area behind his shop. It was also known as the Old Plait Market, a reference to the straw plait industry which was of great imprtance to the area in the 19th century. Thomas Austin was Bailiff (Mayor) of Hemel in 1861.
Baileys Mews: Probably named after one half of the partnership of Davis and Bailey who operated the Boxmoor Iron Works, demolished to make way for Bank Court. One of their horse-drawn ploughs has been set on a plinth at the top of the High Street.
Barnacres Road: Like other roads in this area (Barnfield, Barn Close, Upper Barn, Lower Barn) it is named after Barn Field as shown on Hemel Tithe map of 1840-44.
Bartel Close: The builder was Barry Telford. It was named after the first 3 characters of his names
Basildon Square: Like other roads in the area, named after a new town, Basildon. Interestingly, the Basildon Bond motepaper produced by John Dickinson's at Apsley Mills was named after Basildong, then just a village in Essex.
Bassil Road: Named after Samual Whitley Bassil, a farmer who lived at Wood Farm, which is locatyed where Further Ground is now situated. During the building of the Turners Hill area, the farm buildings were left intact so they could be used as landing guides by pilots heading for Bovingdon Airport.
Bath Street: No longer exists, but was roughly where Dacorum Way is today. It was so named because it led to the Municipal Baths. Many homes in the late 19th and first part of the 20th century did not have a bathroom. The baths were demolished when the new town came
Beechfield Road: The road is named after a field in the area called Beechfield and shown on an 1840s map. It wasall fields in this area at that time.
Beechfield Road was built in the 1950s and by that time the land was mainly allotments. We can find no mention of shelters in our files, but the allotments would probably have had sheds/shelters.
Belmont Road: Unknown at this stage.
Belswains Lane. Named after Belswains Field (there was also a Belswains Farm) on the 1840 Tithe map. We do not know what the field was named after.
Bennetts End Road: The name Bennetts End existed long before the new town and comes from the 13th century when Roger de Beneyet had a farmstead in the area.
Bennetts Gate: See above, Bennetts End Farmhouse is just the other side of the dual carriageway. It is possible there was a fvarm gate in the area the neighbourhood shops were built.
Berrymead: Unknown at this stage.
Betjamin Way: Named after the poet Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984) who was the poet Laureate from 1972 to 84. Other roads on this estate are named after poets.
Birch Green: Named aftert the birch tree, several other nearby streets are named after trees. As for the Green bit, the whole area was farmland before the coming of the new town and Warners End in the 1950s. Interestingly, there is a Birch Leys in Woodhall Farm which is named after a field called Birch Leys, as shown on a 19th century map.
Botley Road: Named after the small village (hamlet) of Botley, near Chesham. This follows the theme of neighbouring streets - Shenley Road, Latimer Close etc
Boxted Road: Boxhamstead was a hamlet that is recorded in Tudor times. Boxted Farmhouse was all that remained of the hamlet by the 20th century and there are Boxted Farm field references in Hemel Tithe map of 1840-44. Boxhamsted means The homestead by box trees.
Box Lane: Dates back to Roman times. The remains of two Roman cremation burials were found in Box Lane Chapel (now converted into a private residence) in 1837. Open field area maps of 1523 show Boxhill as a name in the area in 1523. The Chapel itself wasofficially founded in 1668, but there is a local legend that Oliver Cromwell once took communion there on returning from the Battle of Marston Moor..
Brackens: Probably just given the name after the plant by the developer, but we are trying to find out more.
Brambling Rise: The brambling is a bird, a member of the finch family. They normally arrive in this country from the end of September to middle of November. And leave in the spring. It may have been this was an area they came to.
Branksome Close: This was built on land that was part of the Hobletts Estate, but as yet we have no info on the name itself.
Breakspear Way: Named after the only Englishman to become pope, Nicholas Breakspear who was born near Bedmond in around 1090. He became pope in 1154 and was known as Pope Adrian lV.
Brickmakers Lane: There were extensive brickworks in this area of Leverstock Green as the clay from the area was very good for bricks. (See Tile Kiln Lane.)
Briery Way/Briery Court: Named after field Briery Fields on Tithe map of area 1840-44.
Bunkers Lane: Named after the farm that stands at the top of the lane.
Butts End: Unclear, still being researched.
Callisto Court: Like the surrounding streets, this was named in honour of the space exploration taking place around the time of construction. Callisto is the second largest moon of Jupiter (Jupiter Drive.)
Castle Mead: In the 16th century when the lands of Box Moor were purchased for the people of Hemel Hempstead and Bovingdon (the Box Moor Trust) one of the deeds covering the sale read: One meadow called or known by the name of Castle Mead,
Catlin Street:  Named after the two Misses Catlin who owned a lot of land in Boxmoor in the 19th Century The street is pictured left in about 1900.
Cattsdell: Cattsdells was the name of a house in the area. During the Second World War it was the home of Lt Col Grover and was base of Local Defence Volunteers/Home Guard.
Cedar Walk: Built over what was the long driveway leading to a large house called Corner Hall.
This is where yhe novelist and playwright William John Locke lived with his family. He was also secretaryof the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1897 to 1907. There may have been cedar trees on large corner plot.
Cemmaes Court and Cemmaes Meadow: Named after the residence of Dr Vaughan Hughes. It was requisitioned during the First orld war to house German prisoners of war who were required to work on local farms. The driveway began on the corner of the junction with Astley Road and the white house there was the original lodge.
Chambersbury Lane: Takes its name from the 14th century Chaumbre family who lived in the area.
Chapel Street: In1731, the Baptists built a chapel on a site, which included a burial ground, at the rear of the Rose and Crown. In 1857, the Baptists left and built a new church, the Carey Baptist Church in Marlowes. The alleys and yards at the back of the High Street developed in the 17th/18th and 19th centuries. In the 1850s there was concern over the sewers in the area. There was a knackers yard in Chapel Street where animals were slaughtered for the London market. An official report described itas in a very disgusting state. The small sewer in Chapel Street was liable to overflow when it rained.
In the early 1930s 42 council houses were built in Chapel Street and Sun Meadow (Now Sunmead Road) after Sun Meadow was compulsory purchased.
Chasden Road: Derived from Chadsden Field as shown on Hemel Tithe map 1843.
Cherry Bounce: There is a Cherry Bounce field in the Hemel Tithe map of 1840-44, but the cherry goes back much further. In the early 19th century it was a squalid area. A row of two bedroom cottages was built into a bank without windows at the back and many people lived crowded together in the dark rooms. Cherry refers to the trees which were first planted in 1520 and grew into a well-established orchard on the land east of the High Street at its northern end. It was at the corner of Cherry Bounce (also known as Cherry Hill) that a Mr Cross built a butcher's shop which later became Salters, a basketware shop.
Cherry Orchard: From field called Cherry Orchard as shown in Hemel Tithe map of 1840-44. The name of the field would indicate there was a cherry orchard there.
Childwick Court: Named after village in Glos which dates back to Saxon times. In the 20th Century, the Joel family kept one of the best studs in the country there and i 1967 their horse Royal Palace won the Derby and the 2000Guineas.
Chilterns: Named after the Chiltern Hills. As Highfield was being developed in the 60s and early 70s several groups of roads were named after events in the news or geographic location. Other hills include other hills in nearby roads include Cheviots.
Chipperfield Road, Apsley: The road is on the Manor Estate, built in the very late 19th, early 20th century on land that was mostly Manor Farm. It was possible to walk by footpaths directly to Chipperfield. Manor Farm House stood on the corner of Featherbed Lane and was replaced by commercial premises in the early new town days.
Claymore, Grovehill: So named to fit in with the Scottish theme of roads nearby. The claymore is a double edged broadsword.
Cleves Road, Woodhall Farm: Anne of Cleves was Henry Vlllth's fourth wife. A divorce was granted to Henry on the grounds of non-consumation. The road name was chosen because of the town's links with Henry who granted it its first charter which allowed Hemel to hold a market. There is no evidence and little likelihood Woodhall farm was a hunting area for the king.
Clyde Square, Grovehill: Named after the Scottish River, several roads in this area are named after rivers.
Codicote Row: By the time Woodhall Farm was built, most local connections for road names had 'run out.' Like other roads nearby, it is named after a fairl nearby village - Codicote in Hertfordshire. It's to the north of Welwyn anmd has the oldest documented licensed premises in the county - the George and Dragon. Pilgrims used it on their way to worship at St Albans.
Coles Hill, Gadebridge: Comes from field name in the area mentioned in tithes map of 1840s. Cole is an old name for types of cabbage.
Collett Road: The road is named after Ebenezer John Collet who was a 9th century MP. He bought the house and land forming Lockers Park from Richard Ginger.
He immediately began its development into a countryman's estate, enlarging the house through the addition of outbuildings, which included stables, a coach house, and dairy room as well as an orchard. It is in the Orchard that Collett School now stands.
On his death Collett in 1833 Collett left 25 acres to his eldest son, John. This land became known as Hammerfield because the land had the appearance of a hammer.
Commons Lane: Unknown at this stage.
Cornfields: Could be named after Corner Field which was in this area on Hemel Tithe map of 1840-44.
Cotterells/Cotterells Hill: Named after William Cotel who had a tenemnet in this area. Was known previously as Popes Lane.
Cowper Road, Boxmoor: William Cowper was a famous poet and hymn writer who was born in Berkhamsted in 1731.(see Dacorum's Greatest feature on this website.)
Crabtree Lane: From Crabtree Field in the area as shown by the Tithe map of 1843. Thew field probably gotr its name because of crab apple trees in the area. For many years in the 20th Century Hemel Hempstead Town's football ground was in Crabtree Lane and in the early 1950s a crowd of around 4,000 watched a match there between Hemel and Berkhamsted. The ground was sold for housing and the club moved to Vauxhall Road, where it still is today.
(Old Crabtree Lane) Pre-New Town, 1947, maps show a lane/track stretching from the end of Crabrtree Lane right across town to join up with Leverstock Green Road.
Craigavon Road: Named after the first new town built in Northern Ireland begun in 1965 (Several roads in this are are named after other new towns. Craigavon is named after James Craig, 1871-1940, and Ulster Unionist politician and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
Crawley Drive: Probably named after the new town in Sussex, BUT it could be named after an old Hemel family. Abraham Crawley was a constable for the town in 1630 and occupied the Kings Arms for a time. His son John succeeded him in business and helped towards of the purchase of fields by St Mary's Church in order for the market to function.
Crescent Road: Named because it's shaped like a crescent. Was part of Hemel's first 'new town' in the 1860s, created when plots of land belonging to Sir Astley Paston Cooper at Gadebridge House were sold off for development. The arrival of the Midland Railway (Nicky Line) with Hemel Hempstead Station (next to the Midland pub) made the area very attractive.
Crofts Path: A croft is a small field. Crofts path was built on farmland - there was a pond at the top in what is now Kinderscout - and the name was really 'Field Path' as it was years ago before the 1950s and the new town. The road was built by the Commisssion for nthe New Towns.
Cross Street: From local historian Roy Wood:I can tell you that Cross Street was in fact the old name for the road we now know as Cherry Bounce, therefore in the Old Town.
Crossfell Road: No information at this time.
Cuffley Court, Woodhall Farm. Named after the small village of Cuffley in Herts.Centuries ago Cuffley was an area of mineral springs considered good for health and was visited by Royalty
Cumberlow Place: Unknown - can anyone help?
Curtis Road: Unknown at this stage.
Daggs Dell Road, Warners End: Derived from the field named Doggs Dell as shown on the Tithe map of 1840-44. Possibly someone mis-read the map when naming the new town roads!
Datchworth Turn, Leverstock Green: Datchworth is a Hertfordshire village and said to be the most haunted in Hertfordshire. In the 18th century a notorious murderer and robber, Walter Clibbon was shot and killed there.
Dart (The): Like other roads in the area named after rivers. The River Dart leading to Dartmouth.
Deaconsfield Road: Thomas Deacon acquired property at Corner Hall in 1599 and soon became establishedin the area as a farmer and a tanner. He served as Bailiff of Hemel in 1637. The family lived at Corner Hall and remained in the area until the 19th century. The property remained in use as a tannery throughout the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th Century it was bought by Henry Balderson who had a coal and wine business at Baldersons Wharf on the canal (now the site of B&Q.)
Deansway: Unknown at this stage.
Dickens Court, Woodhall Farm: Named after the great author Charles Dickens. Other roads in the area are named after writers and poets.
Dowling Court: Named after Walter Dowling who was the last tohold the office of Bailiff of Hemel Hempstead from 1895 to 1898. It was in 1898 that Hemel Hempstead was granted borough status by Queen Victoria and Walter Dowling was one of those who petitioned the Queen for this change and travelled upto London in June with a delegation to collect the Charter.
When the delegation arrived back there was a great celebration with a procession from Boxmoor Station to the High Street. The picture, left shows the procession on its way at Boxmoor - you can see St John's Church
East Mimms: Unknown at this stage.
East Street: Origin of name unknown. This was one of the streets which was part of Hemel's first 'new town' in the 1890s. The coming of the railway (Nicky line) saw streets built near to the Midland Station which was opposite the Midland Hotel
Eastwick Row: From the field name East Wick which is shown in the area on tithe map of 1840
Ebberns Road, Apsley. Named after coal merchant Thomas Ebbern who owned the Albion pub (demolished a few years ago, on the corner of Ebberns Road and Durrants Hill and nearby cottages. In the 19th century coal was transported to Hemel on the canal.
Ellingham Road: The brothers Gabriel and William Ellingham were 19th century gentleman farmers. Their name was given by common useage to the track which led from the junction of Highfield Lane and Saffron Lane by way of Highfield farm (home of Gabriel) to High Street Green which led to Agnells Farm (home of William.)
Essex Mead: Would appear to be a name made up by council officials. By the time Grovehill was developed in the 1970s most'local connection' names had been used up. However, Grovehill has plenty of history. It was mainly farm land. St Agnells Lane is named after Aignells, which was a moated manor house owned by a family of that name mentioned in 1362. Much of Grovehill was also owned by William de la Grave whose connection with the area is mentioned in 1269.
Fallowfield Walk: At the western boundary of Gadebridge Park where it is wooded and near to this street is an uncultivated piece of land, a reminder of the three year rotation of cultivation in which a piece of land was left 'fallow' after being used for spring seeding in the first year and for winter sowing in the second.
Fairway: Unknown at this stage, but probably just a name the developer liked.
Featherbed Lane: So called because it was a 'soft muddy road' (featherbed for the horses hooves) back in the 18th century. It goes back as a route through the centuries and was originally called Corveyser's Lane (In the 15th century it led to Alice Corveyser's tenement.)
Fennycroft Road: From Fenny Croft field as shown on the Hemel Tithe map of 1843.
Fern Drive: Not believed to have a local connection, just named after ferns of which there are over 7,000 species.
Fletcher Way: Probably named after Fletchers Field as shown in Hemel Tithe map of 1840-44. Could also be named after Alderman Henry Fletcher who lived in Green End Road, Boxmoor and was Mayor of Hemel from 1937 to 1941.
Frimley Road, Fields End: Seems likely it was named after Frimley in Surrey. Fields End was all farmland until the estate was built. (We are doing further research.)
Furtherground: From Further Ground field shown on Tithe map of 1843.
Galley Hill: A mystery, but we are still investigating. Back in medieval times, there was a h amlet around Boxted Farm area, but by the 20th century only the farm survived.
Garland Close: Named after along serving 20th century matron at St Pauls and West Herts Hospitals before they were combined into the one Hemel General.
Glendale: Not known at this stage.
Grassy Close: The remains of a pre-new town (1947) lane called Grassy Bottom. It is shown on maps as running from the then junction of Gravel Lane and Gravel Hill Terrace to another pre-new town lane, Warners End Lane - roughly parallel to Boxted Road and Spring Lane.
Gravel Hill Terrace: There were vast amounts of gravel in the area. There werfe gravel pits around the area from which the gravel was quarried.
Great Elms Road: It is believed there were a number of elm trees in this area, but we are appealing for help in verifying this.
Great Palmers, Grovehill. Named after a field in the area on Hemel tithe map of 1840. A palmer was the name given to a pilgrim carrying a palm branch or leaf to indicate he had been to the Holy Land.
Graveley Court, Leverstock Green. Named after the field called Graveley Hill on Hemel tithe map of 1840s .
Great Road: From Great Field as shown on the tithe map of 1843
Great Whites Road: From a field called Great Whites as shown on the tithe map of 1843. Where the field name came from we don't know
Green End Lane/Road: Not known at this stage, but see St Nicholas Mount for more details.
Grove Road, Boxmoor: From Grove Meadow, a field in the area shown on the tithe map of 1843.
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