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{{bdm}}{{EngvarB|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|latitude= 51.8062
|longitude= -0.1932
|static_image_name=The Parkway Fountain.jpg
|static_image_caption= View to the northwest from the Parkway Fountain
|official_name= Welwyn Garden City
| population = 43,252
| population_ref = <ref>[http://www.hertsdirect.org/infobase/docs/pdfstore/tabKS01sett.pdf Office for National Statistics, 2001 Census, Key statitistics for HCC settlements] Usual resident populations</ref>
|shire_district= [[Welwyn Hatfield]]
|shire_county = [[Hertfordshire]]
|region= East of England
|constituency_westminster= [[Welwyn Hatfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Welwyn Hatfield]]
|post_town= WELWYN GARDEN CITY
|postcode_district = AL7, AL8
|postcode_area= AL
|dial_code= 01707
|os_grid_reference= TL245135
|london_distance={{convert|20|mi|km|0|abbr=on}}
}}
'''Welwyn Garden City''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɛ|l|ɪ|n}}, also known locally as "WGC" or "Welwyn Garden", is a town in [[Hertfordshire]], England. It is located approximately {{convert|19|mi|km|0}} from [[Kings Cross, London|Kings Cross]], London. Welwyn Garden City was the second [[Garden city movement|garden city]] in England (founded 1920) and one of the first [[New towns in the United Kingdom|new towns]] (designated 1948).
It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and exemplifies the physical, social and cultural planning ideals of the periods in which it was built.
==History==
Welwyn Garden City was founded by Sir [[Ebenezer Howard]] in the 1920s following his previous experiment in [[Letchworth Garden City]]. Howard had called for the creation of planned towns that were to combine the benefits of the city and the countryside and to avoid the disadvantages of both. The [[Town and Country Planning Association|Garden Cities and Town Planning Association]] had defined a garden city as
<blockquote>"a town designed for healthy living and industry of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life but not larger, surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of the land being in public ownership, or held in trust for the community"<ref name=soissons/></blockquote>
In 1919, Howard arranged for the purchase of land in Hertfordshire that had already been identified as a suitable site. On 29 April 1920 a company, Welwyn Garden City Limited, was formed to plan and build the garden city, chaired by Sir Theodore Chambers. [[Louis de Soissons]] was appointed as architect and town planner, C.B Purdom as finance director and [[Frederic Osborn]] as secretary.<ref name=soissons/> The first house was occupied just before Christmas 1920.<ref>[http://cashewnut.me.uk/WGCbooks/web-WGC-books-1925-1.php Review of C. B. Purdom, ''The Building of Satellite Towns'', J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1925]</ref>
The town is laid out along tree-lined boulevards with a [[Georgian architecture|neo-Georgian]] town centre.<ref name=herts>[http://www.hertfordshire.com/pages/towns/guides/642/ Hertfordshire.com]</ref> It has its own environmental protection legislation, the Scheme of Management for Welwyn Garden City.<ref>[http://www.welhat.gov.uk/planning/developmentcontrol_2/estatemanagementscheme Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council]</ref> Every road has a wide grass verge. The spine of the town is Parkway, a central mall or scenic parkway, almost a mile long. The view along Parkway to the south was once described as one of the world's finest urban vistas.<ref>Welwyn Garden City Conservation Area Appraisal 2006.</ref> Older houses are on the west side of Parkway and newer houses on the east side<ref name=herts/>
The original planners intended that all the residents of the garden city would shop in one shop and created the Welwyn Stores, a monopoly which caused some local resentment.<ref name=soissons/> Commercial pressures have since ensured much more competition and variety, and the Welwyn Stores were in 1984 taken over by the [[John Lewis Partnership]].
During World War II the [[Special Operations Executive]] (SOE) had a research department in the town, and the Inter-Services Research Bureau, developed the [[Welrod]] pistol and the [[Welgun]] sub-machinegun there. [[Station IX]] was a secret SOE factory making commando equipment at the Frythe Hotel.
In 1948, Welwyn Garden City was designated a new town under the [[New Towns Act 1946]] and the Welwyn Garden City company handed its assets to the Welwyn Garden City Development Corporation. Louis de Soissons remained as its planning consultant. That year ''[[The Times]]'' compared Welwyn Garden City with Hatfield. It described Welwyn Garden City as a world-famous modern new town developed as an experiment in community planning and Hatfield as an unplanned settlement created by sporadic building in the open country. "Welwyn, though far from perfect, made the New Towns Act possible, just as Hatfield, by its imperfection, made it necessary."<ref>''The Times'', Saturday, 3 January 1948, p. 5</ref> In 1966, the Development Corporation was wound up and handed over to the [[Commission for New Towns]]. The housing stock, neighbourhood shopping and green spaces were passed to Welwyn Hatfield District Council between 1978 and 1983.<ref name=soissons>Maurice de Soissons, ''Welwyn Garden City'', Cambridge, Publications for Companies, 1988</ref>
[[File:Welwyn Garden City Hospital, 20151011 144700-S.jpg|thumb|upright|The Queen Elizabeth II hospital]]
There was a large general hospital in the town, the [[Queen Elizabeth II Hospital]], but in 2014 emergency and inpatient services were transferred to the Lister Hospital in Stevenage. A new hospital, completed in June 2015, offers outpatient, diagnostic and ante/postnatal services.
A shopping mall, the [[Howard Centre]], was built in the 1980s, incorporating the original [[Welwyn Garden City railway station|railway station]].
There is a resurgence of interest in the ethos of the garden city and the type of neighbourhood and community advocated by Howard, prompted by the problems of metropolitan and regional development and the importance of [[sustainability]] in government policy.<ref>David Schuyler, ''From Garden City to Green City: The Legacy of Ebenezer Howard'', Johns Hopkins, 2002</ref>
Roman baths are preserved in a steel vault underneath junction 6 of the A1(M) and are open to visitors.<ref name=herts/>
The local civic society, which aims to preserve and conserve the garden city ethos, is the Welwyn Garden City Society.
The international ecumenical [[Focolare]] movement has its British headquarters at Welwyn Garden City.
[http://www.focolare.org/gb/history-of-the-focolare/in-great-britain/].
In 2008, during construction of a site for [[HSBC]], 60 unsecured argonite fire suppressant cylinders discharged, killing one person, injuring six other and causing substantial damage. Three firms were later convicted of health and safety offences.<ref>[http://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/fatal_welwyn_garden_city_explosion_three_firms_admit_safety_failings_1_1985782 Fatal Welwyn Garden City explosion: Three firms admit safety failings]. ''[[Welwyn Hatfield Times]]'', 20 March 2013. Accessed 26 February 2016</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-23227796 'Flying gas cylinder' firms fined over death and injuries]. [[BBC News]], Northampton, 8 July 2013. Accessed 26 February 2016</ref>
==Population==
Welwyn Garden City had a population of 46,619 in 2011.<ref>Welwyn Garden City is made up of seven wards in the borough of North Hertfordshire http://ukcensusdata.com</ref>
==Governance==
<!-- Commented out: [[File:arms-welwyn-gc.jpg|thumb|right|120px|Arms of the former Welwyn Garden City Urban District Council]] -->
Welwyn Garden City is part of the [[Welwyn Hatfield|Welwyn Hatfield Borough]] and comprises seven local authority wards. It is in the county of Hertfordshire and the parliamentary constituency of Welwyn Hatfield. The MP for Welwyn Hatfield is [[Grant Shapps]] ([[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]). The nearby town of Hatfield<ref>[http://www.hertsdirect.org/atozofservices/twcoun3y/twytow4y/594171 Parish Councils]</ref> and the village of Welwyn<ref>[http://www.hertsdirect.org/atozofservices/twcoun3y/twypar4y/876536 Parish councils]</ref> have [[Parish councils in England|parish councils]] with limited responsibilities, but Welwyn Garden City has none, although it had one between 1921 and 1927.<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=046-fjo&cid=-1&Gsm=2008-06-18#-1 National Archives]</ref>
==Geography==
Welwyn Garden City experiences an [[oceanic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Cfb'') similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.
{{Weather box
|location = Welwyn Garden City
|metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes
|Jan high C = 8
|Feb high C = 9
|Mar high C = 12
|Apr high C = 14
|May high C = 18
|Jun high C = 21
|Jul high C = 23
|Aug high C = 20
|Sep high C = 20
|Oct high C = 16
|Nov high C = 11
|Dec high C = 8
|year high C = 15
|Jan low C = 5
|Feb low C = 5
|Mar low C = 6
|Apr low C = 8
|May low C = 10
|Jun low C = 13
|Jul low C = 15
|Aug low C = 16
|Sep low C = 13
|Oct low C = 11
|Nov low C = 8
|Dec low C = 5
|year low C = 10
|Jan precipitation mm = 50.7
|Feb precipitation mm = 39.9
|Mar precipitation mm = 31.7
|Apr precipitation mm = 46.2
|May precipitation mm = 38.9
|Jun precipitation mm = 46.4
|Jul precipitation mm = 33.1
|Aug precipitation mm = 43.6
|Sep precipitation mm = 49.7
|Oct precipitation mm = 70.7
|Nov precipitation mm = 58.1
|Dec precipitation mm = 56.9
|year precipitation mm = 565.9
|source 1 =<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://weather.msn.com/monthly_averages.aspx?wealocations=wc:UKXX0534&q=Welwyn+Garden+City%2c+GBR+forecast:averagesm | title =Averages for Welwyn Garden City| publisher = | language = }}</ref>
|date=August 2010
}}
==Economy==
Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:
* Henleys Medical Supplies Ltd
*Baxters
*British Lead Mills
*Cashbrokers
*[[Carl Zeiss]]
*The [[Danish Bacon]] Company (DBC foodservice)
* [http://www.duncanprint.co.uk/ Duncan Print and Packaging]
*Emis Professional Publishing
*[[Figleaves.com]]
*[[HSBC]]'s high-security global data centre
*[[Hoffmann-La Roche|Roche]]
*[[Ocado]]
*[[PayPoint]]
*Ratcliff Palfinger
*[[Sigma Corporation]]
*[[Tesco]] has a head office at Shire Park, and a business park in the north of the town.
*VEGA Group
*Welwyn Tool Group (formerly Welwyn Tool Company)
*[[Xerox]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ihertfordshire.co.uk/profile/115404/Welwyn-Garden-City/Xerox-Ltd/ |title=Xerox Ltd |publisher=ihertfordshire |website=www.ihertfordshire.co.uk |accessdate=2 February 2014}}</ref>
*Hertfordshire County Council's County supplies and contract services centre
*[[Hertfordshire Constabulary]] headquarters
Welwyn Garden City was once well known as the home of the breakfast cereal [[Shredded Wheat]], formerly made by [[Nabisco]]. The disused Shredded Wheat factory with its large white silos is a landmark on rail routes between London and the north of England.<ref name=soissons/> The factory, designed by de Soissons and built in 1924 by Peter Lind & Company, is a Grade II [[listed building]]. Cereal production moved to [[Staverton, Wiltshire|Staverton]], Wiltshire in 2008 when the owner, [[Nestlé]], decided that the factory required significant and prohibitive investment, due to the age of the building. Tesco applied to build a new supermarket on the site, but planning permission was refused by the local authority in January 2012 after significant public protest.<ref>Tesco scheme for Broadwater Road http://www.broadwaterroad.com</ref>
The former supermarket chain [[Fine Fare]] had its head office in the town at one time, as did [[Imperial Chemical Industries|ICI]]'s Plastics Division.
There is now a redeveloped and enlarged [[Sainsburys]] in the town centre, and a [[Morrisons]] in Panshanger along Black Fan Road.
Welwyn Garden City's proximity to London makes it a convenient [[commuter town]].
==Transport==
Buses are provided by [[Arriva]], [[Centrebus]] and [[Uno (bus company)|Uno]], with some assistance from [[Hertfordshire County Council]]. Arriva's 300/301 Centraline service links Welwyn Garden City to the major nearby towns of [[Stevenage]], [[Hatfield, Hertfordshire|Hatfield]], [[St Albans]] and [[Hemel Hempstead]], as well as neighbouring villages [[Woolmer Green]] and [[Knebworth]]. The 301 additionally connects both the nearby hospitals in Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City, while the 300 provides a direct link to recreational areas such as [[Stanborough park|Stanborough Lakes]] in Welwyn Garden City and [[Verulamium]] Roman town in St Albans. Buses run every 15 minutes Monday-Friday, every 20 minutes Saturday, and hourly on Sunday. Additional bi-hourly service 314 is provided by Centrebus, connecting Welwyn to [[Codicote]] and [[Hitchin]]. The bus station is located very closely to the railway station too.
Uno buses serve the nearby towns of Hatfield, St Albans, [[Potters Bar]], Hemel Hempstead, [[Watford]] and [[Chipping Barnet|Barnet]]. Uno buses also serve further out into North London. Uno are the only provider in Welwyn Garden City to offer a regular double decker bus service, although not guaranteed, on the 601 service. Both the 601 and 653 also provide links to the [[University of Hertfordshire]] with the 601 leaving Welwyn Garden City station every 30 minutes on weekdays only and the 653 leaving every 20 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays.
[[Green Line Coaches]] 724 runs a service from Welwyn Garden City to [[Heathrow Airport]], stopping at stops such as Watford and [[Rickmansworth]].
The nearest railway station is [[Welwyn Garden City railway station]] in the town centre. Trains are operated by [[Thameslink and Great Northern|Great Northern]] and run every 20 minutes Monday to Friday south to London Moorgate and north to Hitchin and Stevenage, and every 30 minutes south to London Kings Cross and north to Cambridge or Peterborough with a weekend service of every 30 minutes on Saturday and Sunday south to London's Kings Cross and north to Cambridge.
Welwyn Garden City is well-served by major arterial road routes, namely the [[A1(M)]] and the [[A414]]. The [[Great North Road (Great Britain)|Great North Road]] also passes around it next to the A1(M). In addition, there are other links to St. Albans, [[Harpenden]] and [[Luton]] (via B653), [[Hatfield, Hertfordshire|Hatfield]] (via A1000 and A1001) and [[Hertford]] (via B1000). During the growth in car ownership in the 1950s and 1960s the town struggled to build enough garages or hard-standing spaces for the additional vehicles, which has led to many properties losing their traditional hedges and front gardens to accommodate driveways.
==Education==
Welwyn Garden City has five secondary schools:
* Sherrardswood School
*[[Sir Frederic Osborn School]], a specialist [[Sports College]] (Formed by the merging of The Welwyn Garden City High School and Attimore Hall School in 1968)
*[[Monks Walk School]], a specialist [[Science College]],
* Knightsfield School for the Deaf
*[[Stanborough School, Welwyn Garden City|Stanborough School]], a specialist [[Maths and Computing College]] (Formerly Welwyn Garden City Grammar School)
Tewin Water School moved from [[Digswell]] to Monk's Walk School in 1998 and was later renamed Knightsfield School to create links with hearing pupils.
The former Sir John Newsom School merged with Stanborough School on 1 September 1998.<ref>[http://www.school-index.co.uk/urn/117546.php School Index]</ref>
Monks Walk School, Stanborough School and Sir Frederic Osborn School are part of the Welwyn Hatfield 14–19 Consortium, which includes a variety of secondary schools in Welwyn Hatfield.
==Culture==
Welwyn Garden City's Music Society gave its first concert in 1921 within weeks of the town's foundation; its choir and orchestra, led by [[James Ross (conductor)|James Ross]], have performed a regular concert season in the town ever since. The town also boasts a Concert Club, which promotes chamber music recitals, and a Male Voice Choir. Welwyn Garden City Band was founded in 1934.
==Sport and leisure==
The Gosling Sports Centre in the town houses a dry ski slope, golf driving range, indoor and outdoor tennis, squash, football pitches, an athletics track, [[velodrome]], a gym and bowls.
The local [[Welwyn Garden City F.C.|Welwyn Garden City football team]] founded in 1921 are known as the Citizens are based in Herns Lane. The King George V playing field, on the boundary of the old Hatfield Hyde village, was once used by the England football team for training.
There are three golf courses: Panshanger, owned and operated by the borough council, Mill Green Golf Course located in Gypsy Lane and the Welwyn Garden City Golf Club, of which [[Nick Faldo]] was once a member.
The Digswell Park Sports Association brings together Welwyn Garden City Cricket Club, Welwyn Garden City Bowls Club and the Digswell Park Sports and Social Club, all based at Digswell Park, Knightsfield. Welwyn Garden City Cricket Club was founded in 1921 and runs 7 weekend senior sides along with a busy youth cricket programme. WGCCC First XI competes in the Saracens Herts Premier League.
The town also has a rugby club called [[Welwyn RFC]].
The Stanborough Park and lakes is the venue for a free annual Water Carnival and firework display and a 5 November fireworks display, both of which attracted large crowds from great distances.
==Popular culture==
Several films and television programmes were shot in whole or in part in Welwyn Garden City, including
*''[[The Tweenies]]''
*''[[Superstars]]'' (Stanborough Lakes and Gosling Sports Stadium)
*''[[UFO (TV series)|UFO]]'' (Gravel pit in Cole Green Lane)
*''[[Holby City]]'' (Exterior shots of Queen Elizabeth II hospital)
*[[Kellogg Company]]'s cornflakes "Train Buffet Car" commercial (Railway station)
* ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' (interior scenes of theatre production and theatre bar shot in the Barn Theatre)
*''[[The World's End (film)|The World's End]]'' (Various public houses around the town)
Scenes in the film ''[[Battle of Britain (film)|Battle of Britain]]'' were shot at Panshanger Aerodrome, and the film of [[Graham Greene]]'s ''[[Brighton Rock (1947 film)|Brighton Rock]]'' was made at the [[Associated British Picture Corporation]]'s Welwyn Garden City studios.
Welwyn Garden City is sometimes referred to on account of its name or suburban character, for example in
[[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Keep the Aspidistra Flying]]'', the 1973 film "[[Steptoe and Son Ride Again]]", a sketch by [[Mel Smith]] and [[Griff Rhys Jones]] in ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]'', the TV series ''[[Porridge (TV series)|Porridge]]'' and ''[[Strange (TV series)|Strange]]'', in the lyrics of ''Billy's Line'' by [[Red Box (band)|Red Box]], and in a song by [[Edwyn Collins]].
==See also==
*[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rickmansworthherts/howard1.htm Sir Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City Movement – Norman Lucey 1973]
* [[Fine Fare]]
* [[Garden city movement]]
* [[El Palomar, Buenos Aires|Ciudad Jardin, Buenos Aires]]
* [http://www.wgcms.org.uk Welwyn Garden City Orchestra and Chorus]
* [[Howard Centre]]
* [[Welwyn RFC]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Welwyn Garden City}}
* [http://www.welhat.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=723 Welwyn Roman Baths]
* [http://www.hertsdirect.org/libsleisure/libraries/where/libs/wgc Campus West Library]
* [http://www.welwyngarden-heritage.org The Welwyn Garden Heritage Trust]
* [http://www.longcroftcathotel.co.uk Longcroft Luxury Cat Hotel]
{{Hertfordshire}}
{{Civil parishes of Hertfordshire}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Settlements established in 1920]]
[[Category:New towns in England]]
[[Category:Towns in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:British intentional communities]]
[[Category:Welwyn Garden City]]
{{usedwps}}