The Borough of Dacorum is a local government district in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England that includes the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring and

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former Manorialism, manor and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part o ...

. The district, which was formed in 1974, had a population of 137,799 in 2001. Its name was taken from the old hundred of Dacorum which covered approximately the same area. It is the westernmost of Hertfordshire's districts, being bordered to the west by the Chiltern and Aylesbury Vale districts of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

History

The name Dacorum comes from Latin and it means "of the Dacians" (with a " hundred" implied). The latter word was used mistakenly in the Middle Ages for 'Danes'. This happened because of a legend asserting that certain tribes from Dacia had migrated to Denmark. The hundred of Dacorum was first recorded in 1196, although it has existed since the 9th and 10th centuries, when it lay near the southern boundary of the Danelaw, on the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...

. In 1086, the Domesday Book records the hundreds of Tring and Danais (hundred), Danais in places that became parts of the hundred of Dacorum. In 1974, the modern district of Dacorum was formed under the Local Government Act 1972. Major components were the municipal borough of Hemel Hempstead, the Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban districts of Berkhamsted and Tring, the rural districts of Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead Rural District, Hemel Hempstead and those parts of the rural districts of St Albans Rural District, St Albans and Watford Rural District, Watford which were within the designated area of Hemel Hempstead new towns in the United Kingdom, new town. The district was granted borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in 1984. Hemel Hempstead had maintained Charter Trustees from 1974 to 1984. The amalgamation of the former local authorities was symbolised in the seven oak leaves which surround a tudor rose on the Dacorum coat of arms.

Main settlements

The main towns and villages of the borough are: Aldbury, Bovingdon, Berkhamsted, Bourne End, Hertfordshire, Bourne End, Bulbourne, Hertfordshire, Bulbourne, Chipperfield, Cow Roast, Dudswell, Hertfordshire, Dudswell, Flamstead, Flaunden, Frithsden, Gaddesden Row, Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead,

, Little Gaddesden, Little Tring, Long Marston, Hertfordshire, Long Marston, Markyate, Nettleden, New Mill, Hertfordshire, New Mill, Northchurch, Potten End, Ringshall, Berkhamsted, Ringshall, Tring, Tringford, Water End, Dacorum, Water End, Wigginton, Hertfordshire, Wigginton and Wilstone The borough is entirely civil parish, parished, apart from Hemel Hempstead.

Political representation

Dacorum Borough Council consists of 51 elected members, representing twenty-five Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral wards. 14 of the wards elect two councillors each. Six, indicated below, elect three councillors each. Five, also shown below, elect one each. The council is currently controlled by the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives, who hold 31 of the 51 seats. The Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrats hold 19, and 1 seat is held by an independent.

Composition

Wards

Dacorum consists of twenty-five wards. Wards electing three members are denoted with an asterisk (*). Those electing one member are denoted with an obelus (†).

Political control

Premises

From its creation, the council was based at Dacorum Civic Centre on Marlowes in Hemel Hempstead. This building had previously been called Hemel Hempstead Town Hall, having been built for Hemel Hempstead Borough Council in 1966 to replace the Old Town Hall on High Street. On 16 January 2017 the council opened its new headquarters at The Forum, on the corner of Marlowes and Combe Street, immediately south of the Civic Centre, which was demolished shortly afterwards.

Arms

Town twinning

*The Borough of Dacorum is Town twinning, twinned with: ** Neu-Isenburg, Germany Two of the civil parishes in England, civil parishes in the borough also maintain their own separate twinning arrangements: * Berkhamsted Town Council is twinned with: ** Beaune (France) *

Parish Council with: ** Bakau, Gambia, Bakau (Gambia).

References

Sources

The Dacorum Heritage Trust
The Trust is the museum organisation for the Borough of Dacorum.

More local museums.

External links

Dacorum Borough Council - official website

Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter - Night Shelter, Day Centre, Foodbank, Rent Aid,warehouse
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