A town of commons, greens and a famous research station

Who lives here

At the 2021 Census, 31,128 people lived in Harpenden’s civil parish, and 30,674 in the built-up area. The parish covers about 12.8 square kilometres (just under 5 square miles).

The name is thought to come from Old English, probably meaning “harp valley”.

A short history

1. 1217

   St Nicholas is built as a chapel of ease. The first mention of a parish church comes in 1221.

2. 1843

   Rothamsted Research is founded, now one of the world’s leading agricultural research centres.

3. 1859

   Harpenden becomes its own church parish, separate from Wheathampstead.

4. 1860s

   The railway arrives, and the Midland main line opens in 1868, turning a village into a commuter town.

5. 1974

   Harpenden Urban District Council is abolished and today’s Town Council takes over as the parish council.

6. 2021

   The Eric Morecambe Centre opens, replacing the old Harpenden Public Halls.

Want to dig deeper? The Harpenden & District Local History Society has been researching the town since 1973. Their website has street-by-street histories, old photographs and town trails, and they run Harpenden Museum at the Eric Morecambe Centre.

Green spaces

Harpenden Common covers 238 acres (96 hectares) and won a Green Flag Award in 2007. Nomansland Common lies just to the south. In town there’s Rothamsted Park, Batford Park and Batford Springs Nature Reserve, Lydekker Park and Kinsbourne Green, plus Church Green, Leyton Green and the greens along the High Street. The Nickey Line, a shared path on an old railway line, runs right across the town.

Schools

State secondary schools are St George’s School, Sir John Lawes School, Roundwood Park School and Katherine Warington School, alongside around nine state primary schools. Independent schools include Aldwickbury School, The King’s School and St Hilda’s School.

Getting around

• Trains: Harpenden station is on the Thameslink line, with trains to London St Pancras via St Albans, north to Luton and Bedford, and through to Brighton. Luton Airport Parkway is one stop north, and Gatwick is about 1 hour 10 minutes away on a limited-stop train.
• Buses: routes 321, 366, 610 and 357, plus the community Harpenden Hopper.
• Roads: the M1 is close by at junctions 9 and 10.

Twin towns

Harpenden is twinned with Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire in France and Alzey in Germany.

Sources

• Harpenden, Wikipedia (2021 Census figures from the ONS)
• Harpenden Town Council

Facts checked November 2026.