Shephall () is part of the town of

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

in Hertfordshire. It was formerly a separate village and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, being absorbed into Stevenage in 1953. Shephall was an

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

in the

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of Cashio. It appears in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086, when it was owned partly by

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

and partly by the

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. It was described as having eleven households of villagers, two households of cottagers and one slave. The village was clustered around Shephall Green. The parish church of St Mary, on the east side of the green, was built in the 14th century. The parish of Shephall was included in the

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

Poor Law Union from 1835. It therefore became part of the Hitchin

Rural Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

in 1872, which in turn became the

Hitchin Rural District Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county. Evolution The district had its origins in the Hitchin Rural Sanitary District. This had been created unde ...

in 1894. In 1946 Shephall was included in the designated area for the

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

of Stevenage. The new town was initially developed as six neighbourhoods, each with its own facilities including shops and schools. Work began on the Shephall neighbourhood in 1953, gradually surrounding the old village. A neighbourhood shopping centre was built at The Hyde, east of the old village. The original core of the village was designated as the Shephall Green

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in 1973. The civil parish of Shephall was absorbed into Stevenage

Urban District Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

on 1 April 1953. The modern district council ward of Shephall covers the 1950s neighbourhood and Shephall Green, but is smaller in area than the former parish. In 1951 the parish had a population of 432.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Hertfordshire Former civil parishes in Hertfordshire Stevenage