Harpenden & District Local History Society

Medieval Harpenden, The Plague and the Office of High Sheriff

The Harpenden Local History Day on Saturday, 20 April from 11am to 3pm includes a free Mini Conference with local experts showcasing Harpenden’s fascinating history. Speakers and talks include:

An Introduction by Annie Brewster, JP High Sheriff of Hertfordshire 2024-25 in Nomination: "A Brief History of the Office of High Sheriff"

Dr Alexander Thomas Independent Archaeological and Historical Researcher: "Grain, Trade and Pilgrims: Harpenden from Prehistory to the Medieval"

Amanda J Thomas Author and Historian Medieval Harpenden: "The Plague and its Consequences"

Dr Tony Berk Scientist, Author, Local Historian and Tour Guide: "Was Harpenden Important even before the Railways?"

Stephanie Reynard Vice-Chairman, The Arts Society Harpenden
Evening (TASHE): "Francis (Frank) Owen Salisbury of this Parish (1874-1962)"

The talks will explore the surprisingly ancient origins of Harpenden and how the foundations for our prosperous commuter town were put down far earlier than you might expect.

Stephanie Reynard, speaking on Francis (Frank) Owen Salisbury of this Parish (1874-1962), says of the artist, “Born in Harpenden, the ninth of 12 children, Frank became the painter laureate of his generation. Demanded by Royalty, Rockefeller, Roosevelt, he painted over 800 portraits, and was King George V’s first choice for tableaux of state events. Frank displayed 77 pictures at the Royal Academy, several hang in the Palace of Westminster, and his stained-glass windows adorn churches in Harpenden and around the world. Yet after his death came obscurity – what went wrong? The Harpenden Local History Society recognised his importance but hardly anyone else did. I knew something needed to be done!

Author and historian, Amanda J Thomas, who organised the Mini Conference says: “The talks will definitely inform and educate, but we guarantee they will also leave you open-mouthed with the realisation that in over two and a half thousand years, nothing much has changed!”

Harpenden Local History Day - The Harpenden Racecourse Re-Discovered by Drone!

One of the highlights of the Local History Day at the Eric Morecambe Centre on Saturday 20 April (between 11am and 3pm) will be the presentation of a new drone film of the Harpenden Racecourse created by local residents David Thomas and Peter Wilson, assisted by Dr Alexander Thomas.

For 67 years (1848 to 1914) an annual horse racing meeting took place on Harpenden Common on the last Friday (and later the last Saturday) of May, the week before the Epsom Derby. In its heyday, the Harpenden Races drew up to 20,000 racegoers, outnumbering local residents several fold, and also attracting a fair number of undesirables and petty criminals! Horses were transported by train in special carriages, though the establishment of the Childwickbury stud in 1888 meant there was also excellent local representation. The Jockey Club oversaw the organisation of the races but following the outbreak of World War One in 1914, the popular meeting came to an end and racing never returned to Harpenden Common.

David Thomas and Peter Wilson decided to become a part of Harpenden’s history. David did a considerable amount of research to establish once and for all the exact outline of the racecourse, and the precise position of landmarks such as the grandstand and finishing post.

Much of the landscape has changed on this stretch of common between Walkers Road and Ayres End Lane, which follows the line of the A1081. Impeded by the growth of trees, the fairways, greens and bunkers of the golf course, not to mention the extensive crop production which took place during World War Two, it took David several weeks to piece it all together. Help was on hand with old photographs, notes, and Eric Brandreth's The Harpenden Races and on the website https://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/harpenden-history/topics-cms/events-and-ceremonies/harpenden_races. The new research will be archived by the Harpenden & District Local History Society. Fort

Throughout the changeable weather of February and March, and with the permission of Harpenden Common Golf Club and the Town Council, the drone completed a high-level pass of the two-mile course. The heavily wooded areas which didn’t exist 110 years ago were captured in multiple sections, and then later edited together. The final days of filming involved flying the drone at a much lower level to give an idea of what the course would have been like to follow on horseback.

David Thomas says, “We have recreated a moment in history, but in doing so, we have become a part of Harpenden’s history ourselves. My thanks to everyone involved, including Max Sullivan and the golfers at the Club, many of whom wondered what we were up to looking skyward and shouting at each other through our walkie talkies!”

For further information about our Local History Day, contact Roger Butterworth, Chairman:
[email protected]
07410 133 555

Photograph of Peter Wilson, David Thomas, Dr Alexander Thomas with the drone

Harpenden Local History Day – 20 April 2024- 11am to 3pm

Harpenden History Society will showcase Fighting the Roman invasion at Wheathampstead. Cassivellaunus, the tribal leader believed to have fought the Romans at Wheathampstead is just one of many characters to be found at the Harpenden Local History Day on 20 April at the Eric Morecambe Centre.

Using rarely seen maps and images from its archive, the History Society will track the history of the area we now know as Harpenden from pre-Roman times to the present. From Cassivellaunus to steam trains, to the Rothamsted Ramblers Ladies Hockey Club, you will see the town’s development from rural village
to thriving town.

You will be able to track Harpenden’s growth on historic maps showing the spread of new building and communities over the centuries. Notably, the dramatic expansion over the period 1879 to 1939.

The exhibition will be accompanied by short talks on key features
Dr Alan Punter – Victorian Village Life
Dr Alexander Thomas – Railways
David Kendall – Sports
Rosemary Ross – Harpenden Schools

EDITOR’S NOTE
With kind permission of the Eric Morecambe Centre, Harpenden, the Harpenden & District Local History Society, a charity, will be utilising the entire EMC for the day as Harpenden Local History Day, on Saturday 20 April, marking both the Society’s 50th anniversary and the official opening of our new Museum.
The event will be presided by Annie Brewster, High Sheriff of Hertfordshire 2024-25 (in Nomination).

Highlights to include exhibitions on the history of Harpenden and district, other local society exhibitions, a special children’s competition, and history talks throughout the day. Further details will be released in due course.

We were delighted to welcome Councillor Anthony Rowlands, Mayor of St Albans City & District, to the new Harpenden Museum at the Eric Morecambe Centre, Rothamsted Park, Harpenden. on Thursday, 7 March 2024.

Les Casey, a local history enthusiast and stalwart of the Society left a significant bequest to the Society, which enabled us to take out a lease on part of the lower floor of the Eric Morecambe Centre and fit it out as a Museum and archive. The Museum opened to the public without fanfare in December 2023.

The Mayor has two Mayoral themes for 2023-24: one is All Ages Together, encouraging inter-generational initiatives, and the other is recognising the important work done by St Albans City and District Museum Service and by a number of local groups in promoting interest in our history. Harpenden & District Local History Society and its new Museum is one such.

The Mayor of St Albans was welcomed by Councillor Fiona Gaskell, Mayor of Harpenden and Honorary President of the Society, Kate Barton, Theatre General Manager - Alban Arena & Eric Morecambe Centre and Roger Butterworth, Chairman of the Society. David Keen, Curator, gave the Mayor a guided tour of the Museum and Rosemary Ross, Archivist, gave the Mayor a guided tour of the Archive.

At the end of the visit, Councillor Rowlands said, “Promoting an interest in our local history and encouraging intergenerational initiatives are the two themes of our Mayoral year. It was exciting to visit the new headquarters of Harpenden & District Local History Society. The thoughtfully arranged displays provide a vivid insight into Harpenden's fascinating history and will appeal to young and old and all those in between. Good luck with the major event on 20 April celebrating the Society's half century.”

Roger Butterworth thanked the Mayor for his enthusiasm and encouragement and presented him with a copy of the Society’s history, “The First 50 Years.”

Councillor Gaskell said that the Harpenden community is looking forward to the Local History Day, marking both the Society’s 50th anniversary and the official opening of the new Museum, on Saturday 20 April.

Our next meeting, on Tuesday, 26 March at 8pm in Function Room 1 at the Eric Morecambe Centre in Rothamsted Park. is about The Hertfordshire Library Service, given by the Manager of Harpenden Library, Richard Marpole - https://www.facebook.com/harpendenlibrary,

Please put 20 April 2024 in your diary! We are hosting a Local History Day including the official opening of Harpenden Museum by the High Sherriff of Hertfordshire designate, Annie Brewster, and a wide range of displays and talks, including the development of Harpenden, our local artist Frank Salisbury, Harpenden's 'pre-history', early schools, sports, and stalls highlighting Verulamium, Redbourn, Wheathampstead - with more details of the full programme to follow.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, 27 February at 8 pm in Room 1 at the Eric Morecambe Centre (Rothamsted Park) when Captain Graham Guest will speak about The Salvation Army.
Free to members - and open to visitors: we welcome a donation of £4. From 7pm Harpenden Museum will be open on the ground floor.

Alan Punter will be sharing more information about Pimlico Place at the next meeting on Tuesday, 23 January at 8pm in Function Room 1 at the Eric Morecambe Centre, Rothamsted Park. There will be an opportunity to visit Harpenden Museum from 7pm - and this might inspire you to volunteer so that the Museum can be opened on a regular basis as soon as possible. If interested contact [email protected],uk

Lexi Diggins will be giving a short insight into Harpenden's early history with a short talk on "A mausoleum near you" at our next meeting on Tuesday, 28 November at 8 pm in Function Room 1, Eric Morecambe Centre, Rothamsted Park. This will follow our short AGM and plans for the imminent opening of Harpenden Museum, and followed by "seasonal refreshments". We suggest a donation of £4 for non-members.

We'll be giving a pre-view of Harpenden Museum at the International Older Persons Day on Monday, 2 October, between 12 and 4pm.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, 26 September at 8pm in Function Room 1 at the Eric Morecambe Centre. Trevor Evans and Ann Gee will be speaking about "The History of Quakers in Harpenden and District! - https://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/harpenden-history/topics-cms/churches-and-chapels/harpenden_quaker_meeting_house. Visitors are most welcome - a donation of £4 is requested - but whay not take the opportinity of joining and supporting the Society?

On 11 August we had the pleasure of welcoming Huang Ying and his wife Liu Zi from China on their visit to Harpenden, the birthplace of George Hogg - old boy of St George's School and graduate of Wadham College, Oxford. Huang Ying came to present a copy to Harpenden Museum of his newly published book of research into George Hogg and his involvement with the Chinese Industrial Co-operative movement. We took our visitors on a George Hogg trail, from his birthplace to his old school.

George had set off on a 'gap year' in 1938, from which he never returned. He became headteacher of a training school which he evacuated to safety in Shandan in the far north-west and where he died of tetanus-infected injury in July 1945. George is remembered with great respect by descendants of boys at the school and there have been several exchanges with St George's School - there are many pages about George Hogg - try https://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/harpenden-history/people-2/adventurers/george_hogg_his_life_in_china/george_hogg_1915-1945_and_st_georges_school_-_1927-1934 as an introduction to this unsung Harpenden hero, and https://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/harpenden-history/people-2/adventurers/george_hogg_his_life_in_china/new-research-on-george-hogg-and-the-chinese-cooperative-movement-1941-to-1951 for our most recent visitors.

'The Work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission' is the topic of our next talk to be given by Anthony Scott on Tuesday, 27 June at 8pm in Function Room 1 of the Eric Morecambe Centre. Perhaps you'd like to explore whether there are any Commonwealth grave in Harpenden?

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, 23 May, at 8pm with Dr John Flowerdew remembering his childhood in Kinsbourne Green, which led to a lifetime of lecturing at Cambridge University. We meet in Function Room of the Eric Morecambe Centre.

We appreciate our many followers, and must apologise for not posting very frequently. However the recent Harpenden Hailstorm prompts comparison with past storms that have flooded the village -

Harpenden's Storm Floods - Sunday 21 June 1936 Report in the Herts Advertiser - Scenes of 1879 vividly recalled

Harpenden Lions have commissioned a memorial to honoured member Neville Osmond in the form of a lectern celebrating a short history of Harpenden - a community Neville served in many ways. The lectern on Leyton Green was dedicated by Guy Kenyon, President of Harpenden Lions, who gave thanks for their support to Harpenden Town Council , represented by Deputy Mayor Councillor John Drake and to Harpenden Local History Society, represented by Gavin and Rosemary Ross, for contributing photos and information from the archives of the forthcoming Harpenden Museum

We were delighted to be invited to represent the Local History Society at the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the James Marshall Foundation on 23 June 2022 at a lovely concert given by pupils from Harpenden & Wheathamptead schools. James Marshall's tombstone stands close to the entry to St Helen's church, Wheathampstead, with Harpenden Town Mayor, Lisa Scriven, alongside.

Do you have copies of "Harpenden First"? The collection in the local history archives is nearly complete, but we are looking for:
issue 23 - spring 1997
issue 32 - 1998
Issue 42 - 2000
issues 46-47 - 2001
issues 61-72
and issues 74-77
We have the last issue, no 78 and would love to make this a full set. If you have any of these issues and willing to donate them, please contact me at [email protected]
Thanks!

Celebrating HARPENDEN'S SUPER-HEROES - Do look out for our stall at the Harpenden Carnival on Saturday, 18 June - near the Baa Lamb Trees carpark. We'll be celebrating HARPENDEN'S SUPER-HEROES who have long given so much to our community. And there's a bookstall of local history books, children's activitites, and information about our many activities - and preparations for Harpenden Museum.

Creating a new museum is challenging! We are looking forward to Sarah Keeling's talk about the making of St Albans Museum and Gallery from the old St Albans Town Hall, on Tuesday, 28 June at 8pm in Function Room 1 at the Eric Morecamble Centre.
We are facing the challenge of turning a former creche in the Harpenden Sports Centre into Harpenden Museum - later this year, we hope!

With a momentous Platinum Jubilee approaching, we are aware of the value of photos from past Jubilees. Can you help our local history archives for the future, by sending a few (say 2 or 3) photos from Harpenden Street Parties over the bank holiday weekend - as jpgs attached to an email to [email protected] . Also, photos of decorated pillar boxes.
Thanks!

Why not test your local knowledge (particularly of south Harpenden) on our Jubilee Quiz - https://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/whats-on/quizzes-about-harpendens-history/a-jubilee-quiz ?
No prizes, but we hope you will try this - and perhaps even share it if you are planning or taking part in a street party.
The photo shows Harpenden's Fairy Queen and her attendants in 1953.

Do come along to our meeting on Tuesday, 24 May at 8pm for a showing of old films of Redbourn, made by Harpenden photographer John Heather in the 1950s - in the Eric Morecamble Centre, Function Room 1 - and presented by John and Pauline Ridgwell. We appreciate a donation of £3 for non-members.

Do take time to visit Penny Bird's 'living history' exhibition of 'Harpenden Characters' in the Eric Morecambe Centre - along the corridor off the Foyer and down the stairs to the future Harpenden Museum. Penny has interviewed and photographed 20 people across a wide range of involvement with life in Harpenden - who will become part of Harpenden's History.

Bringing a photo album to life - an album was given to the local history archives some years ago and Felicity Brimblecombe has delved into archives and contacting living relatives to interpret this family history - https://www.harpenden-history.org.uk/harpenden-history/people-2/local-folk/the-watts-twins-of-cravells-road

The Watts twins of Cravells Road The Watts twins of Cravells RoadTheir family origins and life in Harpenden Loading... Taking too long? Reload document | Open in new tab Author Felicity BrimblecombePage last edited 22/10/2021Page created 21/10/2021Page created by Rosemary Ross No CommentsStart the ball rolling by posting a comment....

We are most grateful to St Albans Museum for drawing on our extensive archive of photos for the design of this mural in the foyer of the Eric Morecambe Centre - a signpost to Harpenden Museum! it was noted and appreciated by visitors to the opening of the Centre on 16 October 2021.

We were delighted to be part of the historic opening of the Eric Morecambe Centre on 16 October 2021, and to be able to give a taster of the future Harpenden Museum to visitors to the open day. Exhibits included the Ensign from HMS Harpenden (launched in 1918), recently donated WWI memorabilia of Lewis Charles Mockett (on Harpenden War Memorial), C&As, and information about the Local History Society. And behind the scenes a glimpse of the Les Casey Archive Room - due to be fitted with state of the art storage for our archives and artefacts.

After spending some months 'frozen' while the contents were 'migrated', the www.harpenden-history.org.uk website has been re-launched and we hope you will enjoy it. Please contribute Comments and new Pages.

Harpenden History Home of the Harpenden and District Local History Society

We look forward to seeing you at our first meeting since February 2020!