Sitting just underneath Welwyn Garden City, to the north-western most edge of Hatfield, is the Hatfield Garden Village. Built in response to the de Havilland Aircraft Company that opened in the region of Hatfield at the beginning of 1930, the aircraft construction company was one of the biggest employers in the region until its dissolution in the 1990s, the Hatfield Garden Village began construction in 1935. As such, this region is far more industrialised, with affordable housing units built around the mid-century!

The de Havilland Aircraft Company was founded in 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland. The company is known for its several innovations to aircraft engineering; including the invention of the Moth biplane in 1920s, the WWII Mosquito aircraft, and the Comet - a passenger jet airline. By 1949 the de Havilland Aircraft Company was a significant employer, with an estimated 4,000 staff members. So, in conjunction with the New Towns Act in 1946, the Hatfield Garden Village developed to cater for the growing staff population associated with the aircraft company.

The company dissolved in the 1990s, and is now a buisness park, leisure centre, housing district and partial campus site for the University of Hertfordshire. However, in the 1990s, it was also used as a studio set for the 1998 Steven Spielberg film ‘Saving Private Ryan’.

The area is defined by its relationship to the now dissolved company, and therefore is more industrialised than other areas of Hatfield. Several planning applications have been made in the past - including an enormous development scheme offering 1,000 new homes - have been withdrawn. However, due to its mixed-use nature, there is ample room for development within the business park itself and its large-scale infrastructure makes it ideal for large development schemes!