Dacorum is a

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

with

borough status Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, si ...

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. The council is based 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 ...

. The borough also includes the towns of

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...

and

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked ...

and surrounding villages. The borough had a population of 155,081 in 2021. Dacorum was created in 1974 and is named after the ancient

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

Dacorum Dacorum is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council is based in Hemel Hempstead. The borough also includes the towns of Berkhamsted ...

which had covered a similar area. The borough of Dacorum is the westernmost of Hertfordshire's ten districts. It borders

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, Three Rivers,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

and

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a Districts of England, local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council, a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority. It was created ...

History

Dacorum was one of the hundreds of Hertfordshire. The term 'Dacorum' literally means "of the

Dacians The Dacians (; ; ) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often considered a subgroup of the Thracians. This area include ...

", with

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

being an ancient territory of south-east Europe centred on modern

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. However, in

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

, 'Dacorum' came to be used to mean "of the

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

", based on an old legend (since dismissed by modern historians) that the Danes were descendants of the Dacians. The name appears to reference a period in

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

times when the area formed part of the

Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...

which covered much of what is now eastern England, although the duration and extent of Danish occupation in this area is unclear and continues to be debated by historians. In 1086, 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

records a hundred called Danais (also meaning "of the Danes") and a neighbouring hundred called

; the two had merged into a single hundred by about 1200 which was thereafter called Dacorum. From the seventeenth century onwards, hundreds gradually declined in importance as administrative divisions, with their functions passing to other bodies such as the county courts. The final administrative functions of hundreds were extinguished in 1886. The modern local government district of Dacorum was created on 1 April 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, covering the whole area of five former districts and parts of another two, which were all abolished at the same time: *

Berkhamsted Rural District Berkhamsted Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area to the west of the county. Until 1937 the official spelling of the district's name was Berkhampstead Rural District. Evolution Berk ...

Urban District An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

Municipal Borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

Hemel Hempstead Rural District Hemel Hempstead Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. Evolution The district had its origins in the Hemel Hempstead Rural Sanitary District. This had been created in 1872, giving public health and lo ...

* St Albans Rural District (part within designated area of Hemel Hempstead

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

only) *

Urban District *

Watford Rural District Watford Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire from 1894 to 1974. It initially surrounded but did not include the town of Watford, which was a separate urban district. It gradually ceded territory to other districts, and by the ...

(part within designated area of Hemel Hempstead New Town only) The new district was named Dacorum after the medieval hundred, which had covered a similar area. The district was granted

in 1984, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. Hemel Hempstead had maintained

Charter Trustees In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a civil parish council or in larger settle ...

from 1974 to 1984. The amalgamation of the former local authorities was symbolised in the seven oak leaves which surround a Tudor rose on the Dacorum

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

, issued in 1992.

Governance

Hertfordshire has a two-tier structure of local government, with the ten district councils (including Dacorum Borough Council) providing district-level services, and

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

providing county-level services. Most of Dacorum is also covered by

civil 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es, which form a third tier of local government in their areas.

Political control

The Liberal Democrats won a majority of the seats on the council at the 2023 election. Following changes of allegiance, the party lost its majority in September 2024. Since then, the party has formed a minority administration. Prior to 2023 the Conservatives had held a majority of the seats since 2003. The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: (Put "Dacorum" in search box to see specific results.)

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Dacorum. Political leadership is instead provided by the

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

. The leaders since 1995 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to November 2024, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

The council is based at The Forum on Marlowes in Hemel Hempstead. From the council's creation in 1974 until 2017, the council was based at Dacorum Civic Centre, also on Marlowes in Hemel Hempstead. That building had previously been called Hemel Hempstead Town Hall, having been built for Hemel Hempstead Borough Council in 1966 to replace the Old Town Hall on High Street. On 16 January 2017 the council opened its new headquarters at The Forum, on the corner of Marlowes and Combe Street, immediately south of the Civic Centre, which was demolished shortly afterwards.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2007 the council has comprised 51

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s, representing 25

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. The whole council is elected together every four years.

Wards

The borough's wards are: *

Adeyfield Adeyfield was the first planned neighbourhood to be built in the postwar new town expansion of Hemel Hempstead, in the English county of Hertfordshire. The keys to the first houses to be occupied, in Homefield Road, were handed over to their t ...

East * Adeyfield West * Aldbury and Wigginton * Apsley and Corner Hall *

Ashridge Ashridge is a Estate (land), country estate and stately home in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about north of Berkhamsted and north west of London. The estate comprises ...

* Bennetts End *

Berkhamsted Castle Berkhamsted Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The castle was built to obtain control of a key route between London and the Midlands during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century. Robert of ...

* Berkhamsted East * Berkhamsted West * Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield *

Boxmoor Boxmoor is part of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It is within the district of Dacorum and comprises mainly 19th-century housing and meadowland, with transport links from London to the Midlands. At the 2011 Census, the population of Boxmoor ...

* Chaulden and Warners End *

Gadebridge Gadebridge is a district of Hemel Hempstead in 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, Cambridgeshi ...

Grovehill Grovehill is an area of Hemel Hempstead; it comprises two distinct developments. 'Precinct A' laid out and developed by the New Town Commission in 1967–68 and from the beginning a mixture of private and rented housing specifically intended to ...

Town * Highfield *

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The village is divided between two local governme ...

* Leverstock Green *

Nash Mills Nash Mills is a civil parishes in England, civil parish within Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum Borough Council on the northern side of the Grand Union Canal, formerly the River Gade, and in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead. There is evide ...

Northchurch Northchurch is a village and civil parish in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley in the county of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. It lies between the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring. Situated on the Roman road Akeman Street, a major Northc ...

* Tring Central * Tring East * Tring West and Rural * Watling * Woodhall Farm

Parishes

Hemel Hempstead is an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

. The rest of the borough is divided into 16

es, with Berkhamsted and Tring parish councils taking the style "town council". The civil parishes are: *

Aldbury Aldbury () is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, near the borders of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire in the Bulbourne valley of the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The nearest towns are Tring and Be ...

Bovingdon Bovingdon is a village in Hertfordshire, England, south-west of Hemel Hempstead, and a civil parishes in England, civil parish within the local authority area of Dacorum. Situated close to the Buckinghamshire border, it forms the largest part ...

Chipperfield Chipperfield is a village and civil parish in the Dacorum district of Hertfordshire, England, approximately five miles southwest of Hemel Hempstead and five miles north of Watford. It stands on a chalk plateau at the edge of the Chiltern Hills ...

Flamstead Flamstead is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, England, close to the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway at junction 9. The name is thought by some historians to be a corruption of the original ''Verulamstead''. Flam ...

Flaunden Flaunden is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, close to the border with Buckinghamshire, on the edge of the Chiltern Hills. Old Flaunden was on the banks of the River Chess, but owing to constant flooding, the settlement moved ...

Great Gaddesden Great Gaddesden is a village and civil parish in Dacorum Hundred in Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, north of Hemel Hempstead. The parish borders Flamstead, Hemel Hempstead, Nettleden and Little Gaddesden and als ...

Little Gaddesden Little Gaddesden (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish in the borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire north of Berkhamsted, close to the border with Bedfordshire. As well as Little Gaddesden village (population 694), the parish contains the se ...

Markyate Markyate () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Geography The name of the village has had several former variants, including ''Markyate ...

Nettleden with Potten End Nettleden with Potten End is a civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, covering the villages of Potten End and Nettleden and the surrounding rural area. The parish of Nettleden with Potten End was created on 1 April 1937 from the former parish ...

Tring Rural Tring Rural is a civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. It includes the villages of Long Marston, Wilstone, Puttenham, and the hamlets of Gubblecote and Astrope. It is largely situated to the northwest of the town of Tring. The town of Tring ...

* Wigginton

Arms

Media

In terms of television, Dacorum is served by

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...

and

ITV London ITV London is the on-air brand name used by ''ITV Broadcasting Limited'' for two broadcast franchises of ITV, Carlton Television (weekdays) and London Weekend Television (weekends) in the London ITV region. Its terrestrial digital signal is ...

with television signals received from the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

transmitter and the

relay transmitter. However,

receives regional overlaps of both

Sandy Heath Sandy Heath transmitting station is a television and radio broadcasting station in England, located between Sandy, Bedfordshire and Potton near the B1042. It is owned by Arqiva, formerly NTL Broadcast. It was built in 1965, originally broadcas ...

(

BBC East BBC East is one of BBC's English Regions covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and parts of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire (including the City of Milton Keynes). It is headquartered in The Forum ...

ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

) and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

(

BBC South BBC South is the BBC English Region serving Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, West Sussex, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and parts of Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, and Wiltshire, with geographic coverage varying between ...

ITV Meridian ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at midnight on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

) transmitters. Radio stations for the area are: *

BBC Three Counties Radio BBC Three Counties Radio is the BBC's local radio station serving the counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at Grove Park in Dunstable. According ...

Heart Hertfordshire Heart Hertfordshire (previously known as ''Hertfordshire's Mercury 96.6'') is an Independent Local Radio station owned by Communicorp UK and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts across Hertfordshire. In 2005, it was ...

Greatest Hits Radio Bucks, Beds and Herts Greatest Hits Radio Bucks, Beds and Herts (formerly Mix 96) is an Independent Local Radio station, owned and operated by Bauer, which broadcasts to Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. It is part of the Greatest Hits Radio networ ...

(covering Tring) *

Mix 92.6 Mix 92.6 (formerly ''Radio Verulam'') is a Hertfordshire based non-profit Community radio in the United Kingdom, community radio station run by Verulam Community Radio Ltd (VCRL). The station is staffed by over 70 presentation, production and ...

*Community-based radio stations: Radio Dacorum and Tring Radio Local newspapers are ''

Hemel Hempstead Gazette The ''Hemel Hempstead Gazette & Express'' is a local newspaper in the United Kingdom that covers the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring and the surrounding area in Hertfordshire. History It was first published in 1858 as ''The Hemel ...

'' and ''St Albans Observer''.

Town twinning

*The Borough of Dacorum is twinned with: **

Neu-Isenburg Neu-Isenburg (, ) is a town in Germany, located in the Offenbach (district), Offenbach district of Hesse. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 38,204 (2020). The town i ...

, Germany Two of the

es in the borough also maintain their own separate twinning arrangements: *

Town Council is twinned with: **

Beaune Beaune (; in Burgundian: ''Beane'') is widely considered to be the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and a major ...

(France) *

Parish Council with: **

Bakau Bakau is a town on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Gambia, Gambia, west of Gambia's capital city of Banjul. It is known for its botanical gardens, its crocodile pool ''Bakau Kachikally'' and for the beaches at Cape Point (Gambia), Cap ...

(

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

References

Sources

The Dacorum Heritage Trust
The Trust is the museum organisation for the Borough of Dacorum.

More local museums.

External links

Dacorum Borough Council - official website

Dacorum Emergency Night Shelter - Night Shelter, Day Centre, Foodbank, Rent Aid,warehouse
{{coord , 51, 46, N, 00, 32, W, region:GB, display=title Districts of Hertfordshire Boroughs in England