Hemel Hempstead Water Gardens are a National Disgrace
The Water Gardens, designed for Hemel Hempstead New Town, are decaying. They should be Listed as a Grade 1 landscape and garden design.
The very best of Britain’s First Generation New Town plans was Geoffrey Jellicoe’s design for Hemel Hempstead. He was invited back to design the Water Gardens. Susan Jellicoe did the planting plan and they both saw it as their most successful project. I went there last year and again this week. The Water Gardens are in terrible condition and it is very depressing. The beds are full of weeds. The pleached limes are unclipped. The benches are smashed up. The canal is so over-stocked with ducks that the edges have eroded. The concrete bridges are crumbling. Some idiot has painted the steel railings green, instead of ‘Festival of Britain’ white.
Though I can’t find it, I wrote an article about New Towns for the TCPA Journal (c1980) and described the Hemel Hempsted Water Gardens as the space which best captures the spirit of the British New Towns. They used the photograph on the front cover of the journal. If writing another article on the New Towns I would re-take the photograph and used it lament the sad demise of an excellent idea. The Landscape Institute should gird its loins and call for the New Towns Act to be brought back into operation. It is a much better way of managing urban growth than constant expansion of villages into small towns, of small towns into large towns and of large towns into conurbations. The fact that Gordon Brown’s Eco-Towns policy came to nothing demonstrates the need to do things properly, by bringing the New Towns Act back into use.
harlow water gardens are now a shopping centre alas
Comment by Pete — June 25, 2009 @ 9:02 am
I am not sure if they were moved but the Harlow Water Gardens look much as they did before the shopping centre was built. See http://www.francisfrith.co.uk/harlow/photos/water-gardens-c1965_H22121/ The main change is that the greenspace in which they were set is now a shopping centre. William Mitchell’s sculptures are still there: http://www.william-mitchell.com/harlow.htm. The Harlow Water Garden is Grade II listed on the English Heritage register - but the design is not nearly as interesting, or as beautiful, as Jellicoe’s design for the Hemel Hempstead Water Gardens.
Comment by Tom Turner — June 25, 2009 @ 6:48 pm
whoops. my mistake. I live in the town but i’ve never been to the water gardens centre. can’t think why I thought they had gone! then again i’ve never been to the Gibbard Gardens
Comment by Pete — June 25, 2009 @ 7:47 pm
For the current proposal to develop the Jellicoe Water Gardens, see these links (kindly provided by Annabel):
http://www.thornfieldproperties.co.uk/uploads/files/Hemel_Hempstead_Case%20Study_May08.pdf
http://www.dacorum.gov.uk/pdf/Spatial%20Planning%20-%20Hemel%202020%20Vision%20Brochure.pdf
When I went back to Hemel Hempstead after a 10 year gap, last year, I was delighted to see signs reading ‘To the Water Gardens’ but then discovered that this is the name Dacorum Borough Council has given to one of their car parks! The 2020 development proposal seems to be mainly about building above the car parks. This illustrates how a small crime can so easily lead to a larger crime (though the car parks are ghastly and the proposed buildings could be better).
Comment by Tom Turner — June 26, 2009 @ 9:32 am
Can you explain why Hemel Hempstead is listed but neither of the Garden City’s are? Are they too idealistic may, be or is it because the residents really care about their heritage and strive to protect it.
Comment by Peter Lowe — June 28, 2009 @ 12:21 am
Sorry that should read ‘Garden Cities’ and the comma should come after the be!
Comment by Peter Lowe — June 28, 2009 @ 12:23 am
English Heritage maintains a Register of Parks and Gardens http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1422 You have to go to Swindon to see it, for some extraordinary reason, and I do not go there very often. But I believe Harlow Water Gardens are listed on the Register and Hemel Hempstead Water Gardens are not listed - and I think Harlow Water Gardens were listed because they were threatened with being destroyed to make way for a shopping centre.
Comment by Tom Turner — June 28, 2009 @ 5:18 am