Where to Stay in Stevenage, England

What is Stevenage known for?

Stevenage was the earliest town designated under the New Towns Act, and the planned neighbourhoods that followed were laid out around a High Street which had been there long before any of them. Knebworth House stands close by, outside the plan. Six Hills is older still.

The Church of Saint Nicholas and the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin hold the parish record the planners inherited.

What are the main landmarks in Stevenage?

Knebworth House heads the list. Six Hills and the Whomerley Wood moated site are the two pieces of older ground, and the churches follow: the Church of Saint Nicholas, the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, the Church of St Etheldreda, the Church of the Holy Trinity and the Parish Church of St Andrew and St George. Houses make up the remainder.

The Manor House, Gothic House, Beech House, The White House, Beacon House, The Coach House and the Golf Club House are named on the same register as single addresses such as 71 Whitney Drive and the buildings on Ditchmore Lane.

What is the history of Stevenage?

Six Hills came long before the plan. That name belongs to ground the town later grew around, and the Whomerley Wood moated site marks a second layer older than anything the twentieth century laid down here. Parishes came next.

The Church of Saint Nicholas, the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin and the Church of St Etheldreda carry the record of the villages the borough eventually absorbed, while the Church of St Mary and St Thomas, Knebworth keeps the tomb of Anthony James, Viscount Knebworth beside the estate at Knebworth House. The designation of 1946 changed the scale. Stevenage was named the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act, and whole planned neighbourhoods went up around the existing High Street rather than replacing it.

Fragments of the village survive. Asmores at 52 and 54 Long Lane, the buildings at 138 and 140 High Street, the Manor House, Gothic House, Beech House, The White House, Beacon House and The Coach House are the older stock the plan built around, with Rooks Nest House and the Golf Club House further out and Ditchmore Lane among the named streets. Congregations kept pace with the new housing.

The Church of the Holy Trinity and the Parish Church of St Andrew and St George serve neighbourhoods that did not exist before the designation, and Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City show what Hertfordshire had already tried on either side.

Where is Stevenage?

London lies about 28 miles south. Stevenage occupies gently rolling Hertfordshire country east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), with Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south along the same corridor. Distances inside the borough stay short.

Whomerley Wood holds the built area's southern limit, Rooks Nest House and Six Hills sit out at the other edges, and Knebworth begins where the borough stops.

What is the climate of Stevenage?

Winters read grey rather than severe. Inland Hertfordshire has no sea to steady it, so frost lies longest on the open fields around Six Hills and in the shade of Whomerley Wood while the built-up neighbourhoods hold their warmth a little longer. Rain arrives all year.

Knebworth House and its grounds want a summer afternoon, and the Church of Saint Nicholas and the Church of St Etheldreda are the wet-day alternatives.

How do you get to Stevenage?

The A1(M) does the work. Stevenage sits east of junctions 7 and 8, so the motorway carries most arrivals, and London is roughly 28 miles away to the south. Knebworth is minutes off.

Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City are the near neighbours along that corridor, while Rooks Nest House, Six Hills and Whomerley Wood all lie within the borough itself.