Hemel Hempstead, in the Dacorum district of Hertfordshire, nestled between St Albans and Berkhamsted, is an ancient settlement that was completely re-born in the mid-twentieth century. Adeyfield, to the east of Hemel Hempstead’s centre, was the first planned neighbourhood to be creating following the new town designation in 1946. As such, much of the suburban fabric of Adeyfield consists of mid-century terraced and detached housing, with an average house price of £400,000.

Hemel Hempstead, similar to many of the other urban centres across this strip of Hertfordshire, has ancient origins and roots. In the early 1960s, archaeological excavations in Gadebridge Park revealed the presence of a substantial Roman villa in the area - implying a significant Roman settlement here! The first recorded mention of Hemel Hempstead is dating to c.705 AD, when King Offa of Mercia granted the lands of what is now Hemel Hempstead to the Bishop of London. The area was then later recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book for William the Conquerer.

However, Adeyfield is most infamously connected with the new town of Hemel Hempstead. Following the infrastructural and personal devastations of WWII, the British government launched an ambitious urban planning scheme across the country. When the New Towns Act was passed in 1946, several towns were selected as part of the project - including Hemel Hempstead! The first planned neighbourhood, Adeyfield, was designed by esteemed architect and town planner Geoffrey Jellicoe. Construction began in 1947, and by 1950 the first residents of Adeyfield had moved in. In July of 1952, Queen Elizabeth the II even visited the area of Adeyfield to commemorate the completion of the new St Barnabas church!

Hemel Hempstead is the largest town in the whole Dacorum borough, with over 85,000 residents, pushing over the 1960s estimate of 80,000. The dense population of the small town has caused irregularities to the housing markets and significant pressure on the Dacorum Borough Council to provide affordable housing to the community. Several housing developmental projects have been designated throughout Hemel Hempstead, including a 46-unit social housing project in Leverstock Green and a 34-unit social housing block situated in Adeyfield!