Hatfield New Town

By Marion Hill

Master Plan for Hatfield
HALS Ref: CNT/WH/77

After the Second World War, there was a great need to create housing for people who had been bombed out, or whose homes were in a very poor condition.  The New Towns Act of 1946 designated certain areas (many of which were in Hertfordshire) as new towns and established Development Corporations to oversee their development.

Hatfield was the ninth New Town to be created under the New Towns Act of 1946, although it was not actually designated until May 1948.  In 1966, the Commission for the New Towns (which was established as a result of the New Towns Act of 1959) took over the administration of the Hatfield (and Welwyn Garden City).

In 1982 the Commission closed its Hertfordshire offices and a large number of its records were transferred to Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies (HALS).

In these records (CNT/WH) you will find meeting minutes, correspondence and reports, public inquiry papers, proposal files, maps and plans, photos and film.

You can read more about the history and development of the town in Hatfield library and in the county local studies library at HALS.  There is information about housing in Hatfield 1948 – 2008 on this site and you can watch a cine film of Hatfield in the early 1950s here.

This page was added on 07/10/2015.

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  • I have just watched the cine film,It is in fact Welwyn Garden City and NOT Hatfield that is portrayed.

    By Ian Waters (11/10/2020)
  • The cine film ‘of Hatfield in the early 1950s’ has considerable sections clearly filmed in Welwyn Garden City.

    By Robstan (09/01/2016)