Hemel Hempstead

Town in Hertfordshire, southeast England, 37 km/23 mi northwest of London, on the River Gade; population (2001) 83,100. It was designated a new town in 1946. Paper, electrical goods, information systems, software and computers, electronics components, and brushes are manufactured. It has a large administrative and service sector, including telephone call centres for financial concerns.

The town was formerly a centre of the straw-plaiting industry. The mainly Norman church of St Mary's dates from the 12th century. Remains of a Roman villa have been discovered at nearby Boxmoor.