Hatfield

This post covers three New town churches, the oldest of which is St Luke, a Cemetery chapel built 1877, extended as a cruciform church in 1893 by H T Shillitoe and not of any interest.

St John is a 1950's A frame new build which I only included in the list because I liked the design.

St Michael & All Angels was an erroneous inclusion but must qualify as one of the oddest I've visited - bearing in mind that at this point it was my 895th church. To quote their website "The church is a basilica style building consecrated in 1955 to replace a ‘Nissan Hut’ erected to serve the growing community in the war years." To be honest it looks like a bungalow on steroids.

Hatfield New Town had already developed to the NW, before it was established as one of the ‘New Towns’ in the sense of today. It had first grown in conjunction with the de Havilland Factory (1935, by J. M. Munro). A little earlier still, the COMET, by E. B. Musman, 1933, one of the earliest inns in England, built in the style of the C20, without borrowings from the past. Of the new New Town one neighbourhood is growing up in 1951-2: ROE GREEN, just S of the Comet. The plans and most houses by Lionel Bret: and Kenneth Boyd. So far about one-third of the new population lives in four-storey flats, the rest in terrace houses. Density c. 16 dwellings to the acre. Well calculated vistas, and nice contrasts of yellow and red brick with a certain amount of white plastering. May it stay white. Also flats by Hening & Chitty.

Mee isn't a fan of new towns: Hatfield has one of the three New Towns of Hertfordshire and what was a few years ago open farmland is now covered with thousands of mediocre houses and other buildings.

Flickr.