Nestled in the southwesterly edge of Welwyn Garden City, sits the quaint village of Lemsford. Although adjacent to the 20th century town of Welwyn Garden City, and the nearby Lemsford Springs nature reserve, the village is actually much older, with several buildings dating back to the 18th century. Differing in urban texture from Welwyn Garden City; many of the houses in Lemsford are one-storey mid-century builds with ample acerage and room, averaging at £600,000!

Although The Sun Inn, Lemsford’s historic pub, was first mentioned in 1717, the village of Lemsford was not formally instated until 1858 - over 60 years before work began on Ebenezer Howard’s Welwyn Garden City next door. Lemsford was an essential coaching stop along the Great North Road - the highway which connected London to Edinburgh - for travellers arriving to and leaving from London. It’s said that over 150 coaches passed through Lemsford a day during this period of the early to mid 18th century! This period - before the advent of the mass transit system of the Victorian steam train - is often considered the golden age of Lemsford’s importance and prosperity, owing to its ideal location on the Great North Road.

Whilst the village itself was not instated until 1858, it’s most likely that the area of Lemsford dates much further back than the middle 19th century. In fact, the Lemsford Mill - a Grade II* listed Victorian mill - is built on the original site first recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book for William the Conquerer!

Lemsford is a quaint, small village neighboured by a large urban centre. Owing to its size and situation within protected green belt land, development is often slow to take up in the locale. In fact, in the recently adopted 2023 local plan published by the Welwyn and Hatfield Borough Council (WHBC), there are no plans for housing developments to take place in Lemsford. Whilst there are no plans for development in Lemsford - there are wealth of development opportunities occurring throughout the southern strip of Welwyn Garden City, including a 6,000 unit development at Bowman’s Cross!