Some older trees in Harpenden

Archive photos from the 1960s onwards

Please click on the small picture to see it full size, and its caption. 

Harpenden is a particularly ‘leafy’ town.  The Baa Lamb trees on the common are a landmark, and much of the High Street is obscured by trees – notably the early-blooming horse chestnuts at the southern end.  Huge elm trees lined the Lower High Street, along the banks of an intermittent stream which was enclosed in the drainage scheme of the 1920s.  The elms succumbed to Dutch Elm disease, and have been replaced mainly by maples.  The avenue of lime trees through Rothamsted Park and on through the Rothamsted estate to the Manor was planted in 1880, replacing the earlier ‘Coach Lane’ from the Manor to the southern end of Leyton Road.

Comments about this page

  • Hi, my dad Michael Cleary lived and worked in Harpenden in the 1950s. One building site in town had a tree,  and the instructions were that the tree was not to be damaged. One of the workmen banged into this tree accidentally with a dumper, which resulted in a fence being placed around the tree. We have just been over to visit Harpenden after 57 years back in Ireland, and yes the tree is still there, healthy and strong.

    Ed.  Christy tells us the tree is behind the shops and flats on the west of Church Green 

    By Christy Cleary (03/11/2017)

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