Home Books Harpenden Wheathampstead

Wheathampstead and Harpenden A local history in 6 parts (plus associated volumes)

I: The Settlement:
the settlement of Wheathampstead and Harpenden
Harpenden & St Albans Branches of the WEA, 1973

The Boundary of Westminster Abbey's Estate
The Local Geography
The Valleys and the early settlers
Roman Roads
The Coming of the English
Open Field Farming along the River Valleys
Settlement of the Uplands
Local Manors and their Courts

II: New Men and a New Society:
the 16th and early seventeenth century
Harpenden & St Albans Branches of the WEA, 1974

CHANGES IN LOCAL SOCIETY
Houses and buildings; Enclosures and changes in the landscape; Change and local customs
Newcomers; Local population growth; Changes in public opinion and private behaviour
THE NEW MEN
The decline in the abbey's influence; Landlords old and new; The middling classes; Women and property; The poor
APPENDIX: Glossary
APPENDIX: List of local inhabitants with information about their wills and inventories
It includes the following family trees (with supporting text):
Catlin Family Tree; Brocket-Heyworth Family Tree; Neale Family Tree; Carpenter Family Tree; Bardolph Family Tree; Neales of Pollards Family Tree

III: Church and Chapel
Harpenden & St Albans Branches of the WEA, 1975

BEFORE THE REFORMATION
THE REFORMATION AND THE RISE OF PURITANISM
THE RESTORATION AND THE GROWTH OF DISSENT
THE PARISH CHURCHES AFTER THE REFORMATION
THE CHURCHES FROM THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY
(22 religious establishments listed)
THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE

IV: The Age of Independence
Squires, farmers and tradesmen from the Civil War to the Industrial Revolution
The Harpenden Publishing Society, Harpenden, 1978

THE CIVIL WAR AND THE SQUIRES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT: THE VESTRY AND THE POOR LAW
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
THE MIDDLING CLASSES: FARMERS AND TRADESMEN
    Farmers and farms; Farming; Inns and alehouses; Food shops: butchers, bakers, grocers; Building trades: carpenters, brickmakers, bricklayers, plumbers, glaziers and thatchers; Clothing trades: shoemakers, tailors, clothmakers; Papermakers; Wheelwrights, blacksmiths and coopers; Doctors and farriers; Schoolteachers; Mills and millers
    CHRISTIAN NAMES
THE CHANGING SCENE
Wheathampstead; Harpenden
APPENDIX:
Farms in Harpenden; Farms in Wheathampstead; List of Wills and Inventories

V: The Old Order Changeth
The places, the people, their work, problems and pleasures in the nineteenth century
The Harpenden Publishing Society, Harpenden, 1991

THE RISE OF THE MODERN VILLAGES
Harpenden central area; Bowling Alley; Wheathampstead central area; The Folly; Middle Class Developments
TRADES AND INDUSTRIES
Farmers and farm workers; Farms; Straw Plait and hats; Brewing; Brickmaking; Mills; Blacksmiths; Saddle and harness making; Wheelwrights and coachbuilders; Building trades; Food shops; Clothing trades; Other shops
TRANSPORT
Coaches and carriers; Railways; Bicycles
ARTS AND SCIENCE
John Bennet Lawes; Frank Salisbury; Apsley Cherry-Garrard
PLEASURES AND PASTIMES
The May Races; The Lecture Institution, societies and clubs; The Queen's Jubilee
HARDSHIPS
Poverty, pregnancy and passing on; Charity; The Agricultural Workers' Union; Self-help societies; Helping others
FORCE AND BRIGADE
Crime; Police; Fire Brigade
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Poor Law and public health; Parish Councils; Water; Street Lighting; Harpenden Common

VI: The Schools
Harpenden & St Albans Branches of the WEA, 1976

EARLY SCHOOLS
Private Schools; Sunday Schools
VOLUNTARY SCHOOLS
Wheathampstead National Schools; Harpenden British School; Harpenden National School; Plaiting Schools; Literacy, school attendance and new schools; Fees and Grants; Reasons for absence; Teachers and Pupil Teachers; Curriculum and methods of teaching; Misbehaviour and punishments; Holidays and treats; Inspectors, managers and visitors
STATE EDUCATION
Mundella Act and the School Board; Wheathampstead National Schools; Harpenden National Schools; Harpenden British Schools; The Board School;Council Schools 1902-14; First World War  
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Roman Catholic schooling; St. Dominic's; St. George's School
THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE STATE EDUCATION SYSTEM
APPENDICES

Harpenden, A Picture History
An Illustrated Introduction to a History of Harpenden, Hertfordshire
Harpenden Branch of the Workers Educational Association, 1973

This contains many pictures of the town, with a good supporting commentry, 

About Wheathampstead:
Its Old Houses, the Families who built them, and those who lived in them
Harpenden & St Albans Branches of the WEA, 1974

THE CHURCH AND HIGH STREET
St Helen's Church; The High Street; The White Cottage
CHURCH STREET, BURY GREEN AND BREWHOUSE HILL
Bury Farm Cottages
THE SOUTH-WEST QUARTER
Piggotts; Cross Farm; The Grove
THE SOUTH-EAST QUARTER
Waterend; Wheathampstead House; Wheathampstead Place
THE NORTH-WEST QUARTER
Mackerye End Farm; Mackerye End
for sample extracts see Castle Farm and Great & Little Cutts Farms
THE NORTH-EAST QUATER
Bride Hall, Lamer, Owen's Corner

The Index
Compiled by John Carpenter
The History Publishing Society, Harpenden, 2000

Page updated May 2007