Libraries and leisure

Hertfordshire's built heritage

Hertfordshire has little local building stone, so its vernacular buildings have always been eclectic, borrowing materials and techniques from East Anglia, the Midlands and London. The most distinctive local building form is probably the 'Hertfordshire spike', a slender spire seen on top of many of the county's churches, for example at Ashwell. Most notable of the early brick buildings are Hertford Castle and St Albans Abbey.

Many great architects have worked in the county and there are a large number of country houses with parks designed by Capability Brown. Hertfordshire also boasts the grand estates of Hatfield House and Knebworth House.

Hertfordshire contains important early examples of Arts and Crafts style buildings, including the early phases of the building of the two garden cities at Letchworth and Welwyn. These towns set environmental standards in housing design and layout for the twentieth century. After the Second World War Hertfordshire saw new 1950s and '60s architectural styles with the New Towns - with Stevenage followed by Hemel Hempstead and Hatfield.

The county's prosperous economy has resulted in a number of prestigious office and factory buildings such as the Spirella factory at Letchworth, Rank Xerox at Welwyn Garden City, and Canada Life at Potters Bar. There are large out-of-town centres such as the Galleria at Hatfield as well as major developments within town centres, such as Marlowes at Hemel Hempstead and the Harlequin Centre at Watford.