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76-795: Stevenage ( / ˈ s t iː v ən ɪ dʒ / STEE -vən-ij ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire , England , about 27 miles (43 km) north of London . Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M) , between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage was designated the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act . "Stevenage" may derive from Old English stiþen āc / stiðen āc / stithen ac (various Old English dialects cited here) meaning "(place at)

152-456: A chambermaid at one of the coaching inns emptied embers from the fireplace into the street. Sparks from the embers ignited the thatched roof of a nearby wheelwright 's shop, and quickly engulfed the other timber framed buildings in the north end of the Old Town due to a strong North wind. The conflagration was only stopped from engulfing the entire street by demolishing a house to serve as

228-477: A dodecahedron toy, fragments of amphorae for imported wine, bone hairpins, and samian ware pottery associated with high status families. Archeological excavations have confirmed the existence of a small Roman farmstead, a malting kiln and a Celtic round house in the Chells area, and a cemetery containing 25 cremations . The most substantial evidence of activity from Roman times is Six Hills , six tumuli by

304-570: A firebreak . After the fire was extinguished by Stevenage's volunteer firefighters using a hand-operated fire engine made in 1763, the houses and inns were rebuilt with brick facades and tiled roofs. Troopers from the Hertfordshire Yeomanry assisted the firefighters in the operation. In 1850 the Great Northern Railway was constructed and the era of the stagecoach ended. Stevenage grew only slowly throughout

380-534: A direct relationship to local history. The "Edward the Confessor" pub (closed 2006) could have had a connection to St Mary's Church in nearby Walkern as King Edward reigned from 1042 until his death in 1066 and Walkern's church dates from this period. The second pub with a link to local history is the "Our Mutual Friend" in Broadwater. The name of the pub is the title of a novel by Charles Dickens . Dickens

456-437: A draw at Broadhall Way, before losing the replay 2–1 at Newcastle. The club would go one better in 2010, securing a 3–1 home victory over Newcastle in the third round of the competition – the first time the club had beaten first tier opposition. The following season , Stevenage held Tottenham Hotspur to a 0–0 draw at home in the fifth round, before losing the subsequent replay 3–1 at White Hart Lane . Borough status in

532-573: A large public computer suite, as well as a small branch library at the northern end of the High Street in the Old Town. There is also a public library in nearby Knebworth, located in St Martin's Road. The town is still growing. It is set to expand west of the A1(M) motorway and may be further identified for development. The main area of more recent development is Great Ashby to the north-east of

608-496: A meeting held in the town hall before Lewis Silkin , minister in the Labour Government of Clement Attlee. As Lewis Silkin arrived at the railway station for this meeting, some local people had changed the signs 'Stevenage' to 'Silkingrad'. Silkin was obstinate at the meeting, telling a crowd of 3,000 people outside the town hall (around half the town's residents): "It's no good your jeering, it's going to be done." Despite

684-446: A purpose-built homeless shelter, which will serve a large part of Hertfordshire. The primary industrial area is in a location that is separate—but adjacent to—the residential areas of town. British Aerospace (now MBDA ) was the largest employer in this area, but it has now been replaced by GSK . The firm occupies a large complex, hosting one of GSK's two global R&D hubs. Airbus Defence and Space (previously British Aerospace)

760-590: A resolution admitting "persons of distinction" and persons who have "rendered eminent service" to be an honorary freeman of the borough. This power has been used to grant honorary freedom not only to individuals, but to units and ships of the armed forces. Borough charters granted under section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972 to metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts of England Granted city status in 2012 Renamed Redcar and Cleveland 1996 Abolished 1998 Abolished 1996 Greater London

836-444: A series of additional programmes set to launch in the coming years. Stevenage experiences an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom. There are two tiers of local government covering Stevenage, at district and county level: Stevenage Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council . Stevenage was an ancient parish in the hundred of Broadwater . From 1835 Stevenage

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912-473: A town or urban area. Outside Greater London , borough status is granted to metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts under the provisions of section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972 . This section allows the council of a district to petition the monarch for a charter granting borough status. The resolution must have the support of at least two-thirds of the councillors. Having received

988-634: A wider variety of animal types, meat cuts and quality of cuts. Additionally, butcher shops may focus on a particular culture , or nationality , of meat production. Some butcher shops, termed "meat delis", may also include a delicatessen . In the United States and Canada, butcher shops have become less common because of the increasing popularity of supermarkets and warehouse clubs. Many remaining ones are aimed at Hispanic and other immigrants or, more recently, those looking for organic offerings. Supermarkets employ butchers for secondary butchery, but in

1064-536: Is fatback , which in Europe is an important primal cut of pork , but in North America is regarded as trimmings to be used in sausage or rendered into lard . The primal cuts may be sold complete or cut further. In various periods and cultures, the term "butcher" has been applied to people who act cruelly to other human beings or slaughter them. For example, Pompey , a prominent Roman general and politician of

1140-853: Is a Grade 2 listed building. It is also the largest parish church to have been built in England since World War Two. Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother laid the foundation stone in July 1956 and was also present at the consecration of the Bishop of St Alban's, the Right Reverend Michael Gresford-Jones , on Advent Sunday 27 November 1960. The frame is constructed from a continuous pour of concrete into moulds, creating interlacing arches and leaving no apparent joints. There are twelve Purbeck-marble columns around

1216-548: Is an ancient trade, whose duties may date back to the domestication of livestock ; its practitioners formed guilds in England as far back as 1272. Since the 20th century, many countries and local jurisdictions offer trade certifications for butchers in order to ensure quality, safety, and health standards but not all butchers have formal certification or training. Trade qualification in English-speaking countries

1292-517: Is called Ditchmore Lane . The nearby Stevenage Leisure Park has a multiplex cinema, clubs, and restaurants. The main shopping area is around Queensway and the Westgate. At the south of the town, there is a retail park called 9Yards (formerly Roaring Meg), its former name being taken from a stream (a tributary of the River Beane ) that runs under it. The river can be seen along the western edge of

1368-467: Is divided into thirty-two London boroughs . Their borough status dates from 1965, although each of them had previously included municipal , county or metropolitan boroughs: The districts created in 1974 were abolished in 1996 by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 . The 1994 Act amended section 245 of the Local Government Act 1972, allowing the new unitary county councils established by

1444-416: Is formed of a number of individual schemes including the £350m ‘SG1’ programme being led by Mace and the £50m redevelopment of Queensway North, the former site of Marks & Spencer. In addition, Stevenage's Town Square is also being regenerated with new bars, restaurants, flexible working facilities and shops being introduced to the area. The plans are based on the local government authority's Local Plan which

1520-436: Is located in a smaller industrial park. This is the same area that both Matra Marconi Space and Astrium , a prime contractor and equipment supplier of spacecraft, previously occupied. There are also small- to medium-sized firms such as Stevenage BioScience Catalyst (SBC) , a new science park aimed at attracting small and start-up life-sciences enterprises, opened in 2011 on a site next to GSK. The pedestrianised town centre

1596-405: Is often earned through an apprenticeship although some training organisations also certify their students. In Canada, once a butcher is trade qualified, they can learn to become a master butcher (Fleishmaster). Standards and practices of butchery differ between countries, regions and ethnic groups. Variation with respect to the types of animals that are butchered as well as the cuts and parts of

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1672-560: The Conference Premier title during the 2009–10 season, having previously been denied promotion to the Football League due to insufficient ground facilities in 1996. During Stevenage's first season as a Football League club, they secured back-to-back promotions to League One , the third tier of English football, after beating Torquay United 1–0 in the 2010–11 play-off final at Old Trafford . Stevenage also won

1748-558: The FA Trophy in 2007, beating Kidderminster Harriers 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in front of a crowd of 53,262. It was the first competitive club game and cup final to be held at the new stadium. Stevenage reached the final again in 2009, beating York City 2–0. The club has also enjoyed several runs in the FA Cup , raising the town's profile in the process. During the 1997–98 campaign, Stevenage held Premier League side Newcastle United to

1824-528: The New Town in the 1980s, and a hoard of Roman coins was discovered. In the present day, Chells is a suburb of New Stevenage. In 1558 Thomas Alleyne , then the Rector of Stevenage, founded a free grammar school for boys, Alleyne's Grammar School , which, despite becoming a boys' comprehensive school in 1967, had an unbroken existence (unlike the grammar school in neighbouring Hitchin ) until 1989, when it

1900-453: The New Towns Act of 1946 , the population exploded in the 1950s and 1960s. By the start of the 21st century, the 2001 population had grown to 79,715 reaching 83,957 a decade later (2011). As of 2016 the population is estimated at 87,100. As of the 2021 census, the religious makeup was: King George's Field , named in memory of King George V , hosts Stevenage Cricket Club, Stevenage Hockey Club and Stevenage Town Bowls Club. The cricket ground

1976-411: The carotid or brachial arteries to facilitate blood removal), skinning (removing the hide or pelt) or scalding and dehairing (pork), evisceration (removing the viscera ) and splitting (dividing the carcass in half longitudinally ). After the carcasses are chilled (unless "hot-boned"), primary butchery consists of selecting carcasses, sides, or quarters from which primal cuts can be produced with

2052-600: The stagecoaches , 21 of which passed through Stevenage each day in 1800. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the road now known as Six Hills Way was the haunt of highwaymen who would use the ancient burial mounds as a hiding place. James Whitney, the namesake of the Highwayman pub in Graveley , was hanged at Newgate in 1693 for robbing travellers in this area. Whitney, a Jacobite , was born in Stevenage c.1660 and

2128-504: The 19th century and a second church (Holy Trinity) was constructed at the south end of the High Street. In 1861 Dickens commented, "The village street was like most other village streets: wide for its height, silent for its size, and drowsy in the dullest degree. The quietest little dwellings with the largest of window-shutters to shut up nothing as if it were the Mint or the Bank of England." At

2204-428: The 26 districts with 11 larger districts . The "statutory transition committee" handling each council merger had the right to request transfer of borough status as in 1972, and unionist -majority councils did so, while nationalist -majority councils chose not to apply. There were complications where places had city status; therefore Belfast, Derry and Lisburn 's borough charters carried over automatically, without

2280-458: The Act to apply for a charter in a similar manner to the old district councils. On receiving a charter a county became a "county borough". The privileges of borough status are that the council chairperson is called "mayor"; up to one quarter of councillors can be called "alderman"; and the council can award freedom of the borough . The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 extinguished all

2356-470: The Great North Road. In 1281 it was granted a Royal Charter to hold a weekly market and annual fair, still held in the High Street. The earliest part of St Nicholas's Church dates from the 12th century, but it was probably a site of worship much earlier. The list of rectors (parish priests) is relatively complete from 1213. Around 1500 the church was much improved, with decorative woodwork and

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2432-698: The King George Playing Fields to celebrate the platinum jubilee of Elizabeth II . It was the first carnival held in Stevenage since 2019, due to the coronavirus pandemic . In 2016, Stevenage "celebrated" its seventieth anniversary as a New Town. The Town Centre Regeneration Strategy (2002) called for better-quality shops (including a major department store), improved public transport with a combined bus and rail interchange , high-density town-centre living, substantially improved civic facilities, increased office space and an improved 'public realm'. YMCA Space Stevenage (a youth and community centre)

2508-529: The Old Castle coaching inn , and was used as a staging post by the Royal Mail . From 1999 until 2016 it served as a branch of NatWest , and as of 2022 it has been converted into a dentist 's surgery . Stevenage's prosperity came in part from the Great North Road, which was turnpiked in the early 18th century on the site of the present day Marquess of Granby pub. Many inns in the High Street served

2584-720: The Port", recalling an historic jurisdiction. The lord mayors of Chester and Kingston-upon-Hull are admirals of the Dee and the Humber respectively, the Mayor of Medway is Admiral of the River Medway, and the mayors of Poole and Southampton are admirals of those ports. Privileges or rights belonging to citizens or burgesses of a former borough can be transferred to the inhabitants of the new borough. Borough councils are permitted to pass

2660-645: The United Kingdom Until the local government reforms of 1973 and 1974 , boroughs were towns possessing charters of incorporation conferring considerable powers, and were governed by a municipal corporation headed by a mayor. The corporations had been reformed by legislation beginning in 1835 ( 1840 in Ireland ). By the time of their abolition there were three types: Many of the older boroughs could trace their origin to medieval charters or were boroughs by prescription, with Saxon origins. Most of

2736-509: The United States even that role is diminished with the advent of "case-ready" meat, where the product is packaged for retail sale at the packinghouse or specialized central processing plants. A primal cut is a piece of meat initially separated from the carcass during butchering. Different countries and cultures make these cuts in different ways, and primal cuts also differ between type of carcass. The British, American and French primal cuts all differ in some respects. One notable example with pork

2812-516: The addition of a clerestory . North of the Old Town is Jack's Hill, associated with the legendary archer Jack O'Legs of Weston . According to local folklore, Jack stole flour from the bakers of Baldock to feed the poor during a famine , like Robin Hood . The remains of a medieval moated homestead in Whomerley Wood comprise an 80-yard-square trench almost five feet wide in parts. It

2888-419: The animal that are sold depends on the types of foods that are prepared by the butcher's customers. Butchery is a traditional line of work. In the industrialized world, slaughterhouses use butchers to slaughter the animals, performing one or a few of the steps repeatedly as specialists on a semi-automated disassembly line. The steps include stunning (rendering the animal incapacitated), exsanguination (severing

2964-555: The area. There is also shopping in the Old Town. 9Yards once had an ice rink and bowling alley, but these were demolished in 2000 to allow the construction of more stores. Stevenage FC , formerly known as Stevenage Borough, is the town's major football team, playing their home matches at Broadhall Way . Founded in 1976, the club were promoted to the Football Conference , the highest tier of non-league football, in 1994. After sixteen seasons in this division, Stevenage won

3040-572: The boroughs created after 1835 were new industrial, resort or suburban towns that had grown up after the Industrial Revolution . Borough corporations could also have the status of a city . For pre-1974 boroughs, see Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , Boroughs incorporated in England and Wales 1835–1882 , Unreformed boroughs in England and Wales 1835–1886 , Boroughs incorporated in England and Wales 1882–1974 , Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 Borough status no longer implies

3116-526: The boroughs in Ireland except for ten. In what would in 1921 become Northern Ireland , there were two remaining municipal boroughs in 1840: Belfast (made a city in 1888) and Derry ( officially Londonderry , and a city since 1604). Five towns with abolished corporations remained parliamentary boroughs until 1885 ( Armagh , Carrickfergus , Coleraine , Dungannon , and Enniskillen ) as did three ( Downpatrick , Lisburn , and Newry ) where any corporation

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3192-576: The continuing adverse economic conditions. The plans, which included realigning streets, moving the bus station and building a new department store, cinema, hotel, restaurants, and flats, had been given council planning approval in January 2012. Stevenage holds a number of annual events, including Stevenage Day and Rock in the Park. In past years Stevenage Carnival has also been held, with a number of attempts to revive it. In June 2022, Stevenage Day returned to

3268-571: The day, the town was planned with six self-contained neighbourhoods. The first two of these to be occupied were the Stoney Hall and Monks Wood 'Estates', in 1951. The Twin Foxes pub, on the Monks Wood estate, was Stevenage's first 'new' public house and was named after local notorious identical-twin poachers ( Albert and Ebenezer Fox ). It closed in 2017. At least two other public houses have

3344-651: The first century BC, got the Latin nickname adulescentulus carnifex , translated as "The Teenage Butcher" or "The Butcher Boy", due to brutal treatment of political opponents in the early part of his career. More recently, the Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladić was nicknamed "the Butcher of the Balkans ". The term can also be used in a semi-humorous or metaphorical way to describe someone whose actions resemble

3420-401: The high altar and the external walls are clad in panels faced with Normandy pebble. The campanile houses the loudspeakers for an electro-acoustic carillon. A popular sculpture, 'The Urban Elephant' by Andrew Burton , was commissioned in 1992. Although revolutionary for its time, the town centre is showing signs of age and, in 2005, plans were revealed for a major regeneration to take place over

3496-593: The hostile reaction to Silkin and a referendum that showed 52% (turnout 2,500) 'entirely against' the expansion, the plan went ahead. The first significant building to be demolished to make way for a gyratory system was the Old Town Hall, in which the opposition had been expressed, in 1974. The inaugural chairman of the Stevenage Development Corporation was the architect Clough Williams-Ellis , appointed by Lewis Silkin in 1946, with

3572-612: The legendary motorcycles, including the Black Shadow and Black Lightning, in the town until 1955. Slow growth in Stevenage continued until just after the Second World War , when the Abercrombie Plan called for the establishment of a ring of new towns around London. On 1 August 1946, Stevenage was designated the first New Town under the New Towns Act . The plan was not popular and local people protested at

3648-516: The local town gas company from c.1885 until 1936, when it was converted into a private dwelling. Chells Manor , a medieval hall house located three miles from the Old Town, was built in the 14th century for the Wake family on the foundations of a much older moated manor house mentioned in the Domesday Book . The site of the lost village of Chells was redeveloped during the extension of

3724-483: The minimum of wastage; separating the primal cuts from the carcass; trimming primal cuts and preparing them for secondary butchery or sale; and storing cut meats. Secondary butchery involves boning, trimming and value-adding of primal cuts in preparation for sale. Historically, primary and secondary butchery were performed in the same establishment, but the advent of methods of preservation ( vacuum packing ) and low cost transportation has largely separated them. In parts of

3800-497: The move owing to budget cuts . During the 17th century, the Elizabethan house at 37 High Street was the home of greengrocer and churchwarden Henry Trigg . Trigg was a philanthropist who donated another of his properties to serve as Stevenage's first workhouse. When Henry died in 1724 his coffin was placed in the rafters of the adjoining barn to prevent resurrection men from stealing his remains. In 1774, Trigg's house became

3876-771: The need for the council to pass a resolution. Although Newry received city status in 2002, Newry and Mourne District Council did not receive borough status. In 2015 its successor Newry, Mourne and Down District Council voted not to request borough status, the required two-thirds majority failing after opposition from Sinn Féin . Butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals , dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments. A butcher may be employed by supermarkets , grocery stores , butcher shops and fish markets , slaughter houses , or may be self-employed . Butchery

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3952-528: The new town centre called Southgate House (later renamed Vista Tower). The old Town Hall was demolished shortly afterwards to make way for Lytton Way. The council was based at Southgate House until 1980, when it moved to Daneshill House, which had previously been the headquarters of the New Town Corporation. The Local Government Act 1972 reconstituted Stevenage Urban District as a non-metropolitan district with effect from 1 April 1974. The town

4028-434: The next decade. Details are still being debated by the council, landowners and other interested parties. Multimillion-pound plans to redevelop Stevenage town centre were scrapped owing to the financial crisis of 2007–08 and the lack of interested private-sector partners. On 24 May 2012 Stevenage Borough Council announced that a £250m scheme for the shopping area has been pulled by Stevenage Regeneration Limited (SRL) because of

4104-487: The petition the monarch may, on the advice of the Privy Council , grant a charter whereupon: Charters granted under the 1972 Act may allow the borough council to appoint "local officers of dignity" previously appointed by an abolished borough corporation. Examples include: There is no obligation on the council to appoint persons to these positions. In some boroughs the mayor has the additional title as "Admiral of

4180-602: The position in 1966. He was succeeded by Evelyn Denington, Baroness Denington , who joined the board in 1950. Denington remained the chairman until the dissolution of the Corporation in 1980. Having become a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1974, Denington was elevated to the peerage in 1978, choosing to assume the title of Baroness Denington of Stevenage. In keeping with the sociological outlook of

4256-574: The project to completion. Gordon Stephenson was the planner, Peter Shepheard the architect, and Eric Claxton the engineer. Claxton took the attitude that the new town should separate bicycles from the automobile as much as possible. Mary Tabor was the Housing Director of Stevenage New Town from 1951 until 1972. Tabor was a member of the Society of Women Housing Managers, which was founded by women trained under Octavia Hill . Mary Tabor, with

4332-564: The radical town planner Dr Monica Felton as his deputy. In 1949 she became chairman but she was sacked within two years. There were a number of reasons for her dismissal by the government but a lack of hands-on town planning leadership and her opposition to the Korean War (for which she was later awarded the Lenin Peace Prize ) sullied her reputation. Felton was replaced first by Allan Duff and later Thomas Bennett , who carried

4408-539: The side of the old Great North Road that are presumably the burial places of members of a local family. The first Saxon camp, a little to the east of the Roman sites, was in a clearing in the woods where the church, the manor house and the first village were later built. Settlements also sprang up in Chells, Broadwater and Shephall. Before the New Town was established, Shephall was a separate parish, and Broadwater

4484-536: The stiff oak ". The name was recorded as Stithenæce in c. 1060 and as Stigenace in the Domesday Book in 1086. Stevenage lies near the line of the Roman road from Verulamium to Baldock . Some Romano-British remains were discovered during the building of the New Town, and a hoard of 2,000 silver Roman coins was discovered during housebuilding in the Chells Manor area in 1986. Other artefacts included

4560-435: The support of more than 40 housing management staff by 1960, provided a notably personal and caring service to tenants of the town. Many early residents of the town would recall with gratitude how much she had done for them and the town as a whole. In May 1953, Sir Roydon Dash took over the position of chairman from Bennett. In 1962, Sir Arthur Rucker was appointed Chairman of the Stevenage Development Corporation, retiring from

4636-690: The town (but actually in North Hertfordshire District). A considerable amount of in-borough development has been undertaken at Chrysalis Park on the old Dixon's Warehouse site adjacent to the Pin Green Industrial Estate. The town and the Stevenage First partnership has now launched a new, £1bn, 20-year regeneration programme designed to transform central spaces and introduce new residential, commercial and retail facilities, amongst others. The programme

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4712-587: The turn of the century, the twin poachers Albert and Ebenezer Fox were active in the area. While in jail, they were studied by police commissioner Edward Henry to confirm his theory on the usefulness of fingerprinting in forensic science . In 1928 Philip Vincent bought the HRD Motorcycle Co Ltd out of receivership, immediately moving it to Stevenage and renaming it the Vincent HRD Motorcycle Co Ltd . He produced

4788-554: The whole parish of Stevenage. The first meeting of the Stevenage Local Board was held on 4 December 1873 at the recently built Town Hall on Orchard Road. The first chairman of the board was George Becher Blomfield, who was the rector of the town's parish church of St Nicholas. Under the Local Government Act 1894 , the Local Board became Stevenage Urban District Council on 31 December 1894. Stevenage Urban District

4864-692: The world, it is common for butchers to perform many or all of the butcher's duties. Where refrigeration is less common, these skills are required to sell the meat of slaughtered animals. Butchers sell their goods in specialized stores, commonly termed a butcher shop ( American English ), butchery ( South African English ) or butchers ( British English ). Butchers at a butcher shop may perform primary butchery, but will typically perform secondary butchery to prepare fresh cuts of meat for sale. These shops may also sell related products, such as Charcuterie , hot food (using their own meat products), food preparation supplies, baked goods and grocery items. Butcher shops can have

4940-497: Was an occasional guest of Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton in nearby Knebworth House and knew Stevenage very well. Next to be built and occupied were the neighbourhoods of Bedwell in 1952, and then came Broadwater and Shephall (1953), Chells in the 1960s and later Pin Green and Symonds Green . Another new development to the north of the town is Great Ashby. As of 2014 it was still under construction. The Government gave almost £2 million for

5016-627: Was apprenticed to a butcher in Hitchin before opening an inn in Cheshunt . Due to the failure of his business, Whitney began robbing wealthy travellers and by 1690 he had a gang of over 50 men. On 10 July 1807, the Great Fire of Stevenage destroyed 42 properties in Middle Row, including Hellard's almshouse of 1501. The fire is believed to have been started when a young girl employed as

5092-408: Was awarded borough status on the same date and has been governed by Stevenage Borough Council since. The population of Stevenage increased significantly during the 20th century. Little more than a large village at the start of the 19th century, the population in 1801 was 1,430. By 1901, Stevenage opened the 20th century with a population of 4,048. After Stevenage was designated a new town under

5168-561: Was defunct by 1801. Several of the urban districts in Northern Ireland created under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 later received charters granting borough status. The Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 replaced the multi-tier local government system with 26 unitary districts whose councils could retain the charter of a borough within the district; other districts later received borough charters in their own right. The 2015 local government reforms replaced

5244-405: Was enlarged several times, notably in 1953 when it absorbed the neighbouring parish of Shephall . Until 1964 the council met at the Town Hall on Orchard Road. With the designation of the New Town, several plans for a civic centre in the new town centre were put forward, but none came to fruition. In September 1964, the council moved its offices and meeting place to a recently-built office building in

5320-409: Was evicted and replaced by Paddy Power (a betting shop). Other well-known stores, such as Maplin Electronics , and Marks & Spencer have also disappeared from Stevenage town centre. The town has a large central library in Southgate, at the southern end of the pedestrian precinct, with facilities including printing, fax and photocopying, children's events, study space, a carers' information point and

5396-476: Was given approval on 26 March 2019. The town is also introducing a new public services hub which will consolidate services that are currently spread across Stevenage into one central space A new Bus Interchange opened on Sunday 26 June 2022, closer to the train station, and adjacent to the Gordon Craig Theatre . A number of other developments, including the conversion of a series of commercial spaces into residential facilities, are already completed or underway with

5472-819: Was included in the Hitchin Poor Law Union . As such it became part of the Hitchin Rural Sanitary District in 1872, with local government functions passing to the Hitchin Board of Guardians. The following year the town voted to become a Local Government District governed by a Local Board , which would have the effect of also making the town an Urban Sanitary District, independent of the Hitchin Rural Sanitary District. The Stevenage Local Government District took effect on 2 October 1873, covering

5548-567: Was merged with Stevenage Girls' School to become the Thomas Alleyne School. Francis Cammaerts was Headmaster of Alleyne's Grammar School from 1952 to 1961. The school, which has been since 1989 a mixed comprehensive school and is now an academy as of 2013, still exists on its original site at the north end of the High Street. It was intended to move the school to Great Ashby , but the Coalition government (2010–15) scrapped

5624-471: Was probably the home of Ralph de Homle. Pieces of Roman and later pottery have been found there. The oldest surviving house in Stevenage is Tudor House in Letchmore Street, built before 1500. During the 16th century it was a butcher 's shop owned by a man named Scott. From 1773 onwards it served as the town's workhouse , and later became a school from 1835 until 1885. It was the headquarters of

5700-693: Was split between the parishes of Shephall and Knebworth. During the 9th and 10th centuries AD, the Saxon village in Stevenage faced frequent attacks from Viking raiders. Stevenage was on the border of the Danelaw . A Viking spearhead was discovered by archaeologists at nearby Ardeley . According to the Domesday Book , in 1086 the Lord of the Manor was the Abbot of Westminster Abbey . The settlement had moved down to

5776-818: Was the first purpose-built traffic-free shopping zone in Britain , taking its inspiration from the Lijnbaan in Rotterdam, and was officially opened in 1959 by the Queen . A landmark in the town centre is the clock tower and ornamental pool. Nearby is Joyride , a mother and child sculpture by Franta Belsky . Next to the Town Garden, the Church of St Andrew and St George is an example of modern church design and has housed Stevenage Museum in its crypt since 1976. The church

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