02 Jun 2026
New Harpenden Mayor Cllr Kirsti Wenn discovered more about the town’s history between the wars at the museum’s latest exhibition.
Cllr Wenn, who is also honorary president of the Harpenden History Society, checked out the maps, photos and text which made up Inter-war Development in Harpenden 1919-39: “Visiting the new exhibition, I was struck by how much changed in a short period; the population almost doubled from 7,000 to 13,000, and the housing stock grew to match. One fifth of the town’s residents today live in houses built in the inter-war period.
“The exhibition is informative, entertaining, and it is expertly displayed. Philip Smith and team have done a fabulous job. Peter Wilson’s photographic enhancements bring it all to life.
“The special exhibitions, running for four months at a time and focusing on particular periods or events in Harpenden’s history, give people real reason to come back again and again.
The research team was led by Dr Philip Smith, who said: “Planners used maps in 1925 marking up proposed new roads as red lines and houses as red dots. If your house was built inter-war, it is likely that you can see it as a red dot on the map.”
The exhibition runs until September at the Museum, located on the lower floor of the Eric Morecambe Centre, Rothamsted Par. It is ordinarily open 11am-3pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Admission is free. Membership of the Society helps to support the exhibitions.
