Benslow is a district of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. It is located very close to the railway station. Houses in the area range from those built in the late 19th century to a more modern housing estate at the top of Benslow Lane built in the 1990s. The original properties were built as a response to the arrival of the railway in Hitchin and the housing needs this created, and consist mainly of terraced housing, with some larger properties. Situated in the area is Pinehill private hospital, St Andrew's CofE primary school, and a nursing home Benslow House which was originally the first Higher Education College for women, founded by

Emily Davies Sarah Emily Davies (22 April 1830 – 13 July 1921) was an English feminist and suffragist, and a pioneering campaigner for women's rights to university access. She is remembered above all as a co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton Coll ...

, which later moved to

Girton College, Cambridge Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college statu ...

.Hugh Madgin. "Benslow" in ''Hitchin Town Through Time'' (Amberley; 2014) () Linking Benslow Lane with Chiltern Road is a large green open space, often referred to as Benslow or Pinehill field, which is detached playing field for

Hitchin Girls' School Hitchin Girls' School (HGS) is a secondary school with academy status in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. The school has 1079 students and is in a consortium for sixth form teaching with Hitchin Boys' School and The Priory School. It gained ac ...

. Also in the district of Benslow is the

Benslow Music Trust Benslow Music Trust is a charitable trust established to promote music education. The trust is based in the Benslow area of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England, and primarily operates as an adult education college. Under its trading name of Be ...

, an independent charity which hosts residential and day courses for adult amateur musicians of all standards. It occupies the 1859 house originally known as 'Fairfield' and later as 'Little Benslow Hills', which was built by Quaker William Ransom and bequeathed to the Rural Music Schools Association by Esther Seebohm on her death in 1951. It was the first of the Rural Music Schools, and their Association was founded in Hitchin in 1929 by (Ellen) Mary Ibberson (1892–1979), who held the role of Director until 1947.Our Story

(accessed 8 June 2022)

References

Areas of Hitchin {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub