Chaulden is a residential district in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England, located west of the town centre and bordering on open countryside. It was an early development in the construction of Hemel Hempstead new town, commenced in 1953 and has its own neighbourhood shopping centre. The name Chaulden can be traced back to 1523 as a local field name and as meaning a chalky valley. A country house and estate called Chaulden House occupied the area during the nineteenth century. Chaulden House stables and an octagonal tower dating from the mid-19th century are all that now remain of the house. The tower may have been a

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...

. It is currently used by the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

. For many years a waterwheel on the River Bulbourne pumped water up to the house. The ancient Chaulden Lane is thought to preserve the route of Akeman Street, the

Roman Road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

along the Bulbourne valley A large part of the site was previously occupied by Pixies Hill – a children's camp run by the National Camps Corporation. The old camp buildings were converted into the district's first school before permanent schools could be constructed. Building work on the new town district commenced in 1953 with the first houses occupied in December of that year. Tudor Rose Chaulden

The Chaulden Neighbourhood centre – a

parade of shops A shopping parade, also known as a parade of shops, suburban parade, neighbourhood parade, or just a simply a parade is a group of between five and 40 shops in one or more continuous rows, mostly being retail and serving a local customer base; in ...

set in a crescent around a car park – was completed in 1958. A nearby pub, the Tudor Rose, also built by the New Town corporation, celebrates Hemel Hempstead's link to the Tudor

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

, who gave the town its charter. The population of the appropriate Dacorum Ward (Chaulden and Warner's End) at the 2011 Censuswas 9,146.

Sport

Hemel Hempstead (Camelot) Rugby Club play on Chaulden Meadow off Chaulden Lane.

References

Villages in Hertfordshire Areas of Hemel Hempstead {{Hertfordshire-geo-stub