The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead

The Old town Hall is a perfoming arts theatre located in the heart of Hemel Hempstead’s Old town. It has been a municipal building in the High Street, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. The hall, which was the meeting place of Hemel Hempstead Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building which is now a buzzing arts space that is filled with entertainment for a lot of different people.

Initially, the building had been established as a market place under a charter awarded by Henry III in 1539. The market took the form of a long range of corn lofts which stood on pillars so that underneath it, markets could be held. A courtroom was also established. It was based at the north end. A town hall was later erected at the middle of the structure in 1825. After total disintegration of the market, civic leaders agreed on demolishing some parts of the old building in sections and then renovating the parts that wouldn’t undergo demolition.

The new buildings were extended to the north along High Street with arcading on the ground floor, so as to make it possible for a corn exchange. Its marketplace was also further extended after the purchase of Mary’s Churchyard in 1888.
Population growth led to the opening of the Boxmoor Railway Station on the London and Birmingham Railway, and the opening of Hemel Hempstead railway station prompting the area to become a municipal borough with Town hall as its headquarters. It continued to serve like this for much of the 20th century before ceasing its operations after a new civic centre designed by Clifford Culpin came into completion in 1966.

The town hall is now being used for theatre performances and has been renovated to a modern arts centre. The theatre has a wide variety of entertainment choices including stand up comedies, plays, films, exhibitions, music and film events, workshops and more to that, individuals can chose to hire the venue to shoot their own plays or videos, or even hire for the sake of having fun. This has brought about some good reviews of the place by the people who have visited there, assuring one of the great moments that one interested in art, could experience.