Petition launched to reopen beloved Grade II listed Hemel Hempstead building

A petition launched on Sunday (13 October), calling for the Bury to be reopened, has already attracted 928 signatures.

It calls on Dacorum Borough Council to reopen the Grade II listed building once again as a centre for marriages, deaths, and births.

Scott Saunders, who started the petition, that can be found online here, writes that the building is interwoven into his family’s history as he and his siblings had their births' registered at the site, he also signed his marriage papers there.

Dacorum Borough Council says it has boarded up the doors and windows of the building to protect it ahead of an official review. Once a view has been shared with decision-makers within the authority its future will be decided.

But, one resident told the Hemel Hempstead Gazette that he was “shocked and saddened” by the current state of the building. The resident who has since moved out of Hertfordshire said he remembered The Bury as a ‘historic and beautiful’ building, and it no longer resembled that in photos recently shared on social media.

Scott wrote: “Allowing it to remain unused is like erasing a portion of our collective history and personal narratives.”

Many contributors to the petition have referenced how they also got married at the site and registered their children’s births’ in the building.

In 2016 registry services were moved from the building to a new site in Hemel Hempstead Town Centre. Prior to its closure, it had been the town’s registry office since 969, and around 190 wedding ceremonies were held there every year.

Previously, reports had suggested the site could have been converted into a museum and/or art gallery, but no plans have come to fruition.

A spokesperson for Dacorum Borough Council said: “Following vacant possession of the Bury in September 2024, the Council have decommissioned and boarded all access doors and windows to secure and protect the site of the Grade II* Listed building. The Bury will form part of a wider Strategic Asset Review by the Council, with recommendations from this review brought back to Council for consideration and to help inform the future use of this site.”