Letchworth Garden City is the largest and most recent of the four towns of North Hertfordshire, having been founded in 1903 as the world’s first Garden City. It absorbed the historic villages of Letchworth, Norton and Willian. A fourth hamlet, known as Rodenhanger, lay within Norton parish but had vanished by about 1200.
Broadway Gardens and the former Town Hall
History links
Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation is the successor to the Letchworth Garden City Corporation, previously First Garden City Ltd. It runs The International Garden Cities Institute, formerly the Letchworth Heritage Museum, and the The Museum at One Garden City. Please note that neither of these is the former Letchworth Museum, which closed in 2012.
Letchworth’s entry in A Vision of Britain.
Norton’s entry in A Vision of Britain.
Willian’s entry in A Vision of Britain.
Domesday Book
Letchworth’s entry in Domesday Book.
Norton’s entry in Domesday Book.
Willian’s entry in Domesday Book.
Rodenhanger’s entry in Domesday Book. It may perhaps be identified with the hamlet excavated at Green Lane in 1988.
Family history links
The Uk and Ireland Genealogy website explains where to find parish registers. This is the page for Letchworth parish.
The Uk and Ireland Genealogy website explains where to find parish registers. This is the page for Norton parish.
The Uk and Ireland Genealogy website explains where to find parish registers. This is the page for Willian parish.
The Family Search website links to free and subscription resources. This is the page for Letchworth parish.
The Family Search website links to free and subscription resources. This is the page for Norton parish.
The Family Search website links to free and subscription resources. This is the page for Willian parish.
Further reading
Burleigh, G R, Matthews, K J and Went, D A 1990 The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Letchworth: an archaeological investigation. Letchworth Garden City: North Hertfordshire District Council
Fitzpatrick-Matthews, K J 2008 Howard Park and Howard Garden, Letchworth Garden City, Herts: Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Letchworth Garden City: North Hertfordshire District Council.
Macfarlane, M 1955 Caslon Way, Letchworth Garden City. [file note] Letchworth Museum
Macfarlane, M 1955 Hawthorn Hill, Letchworth Garden City [file note] Letchworth Museum
Matthews, K J and Burleigh, G R 1988 Archaeological Evaluation of an Early Iron Age Site at Jack’s Hill, Graveley [Letchworth Civil Parish]. North Hertfordshire Museums internal report
Miller, M Letchworth: the First Garden City. Second edition. Chichester: Phillimore & Co
Moss Eccardt, J 1976 Wilbury Hill, Letchworth 1974 Hertfordshire Archaeological Review (10) (Summer 1976), 192-4
Moss-Eccardt, J 1988 Archaeological Investigations in the Letchworth Area, 1958-1974: Blackhorse Road, Letchworth; Norton Road, Baldock; Wilbury Hill, Letchworth. Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 77, 35-103
Rushton, N 2003 Norton Bury Farm – Excavations for the Time Team Big Dig 28/29 June 2003. Letchworth Garden City: North Hertfordshire District Council