Knebworth is a village and
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 ...
in the north of
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, immediately south of
Stevenage
Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...
. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of
Datchworth,
Woolmer Green,
Codicote,
Kimpton,
Whitwell,
St Paul's Walden and
Langley, and encompasses the village of Knebworth, the small village of Old Knebworth and
Knebworth House.
History
There is evidence of people living in the area as far back as the 11th century as it is mentioned in 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 ...
of 1086 where it is referred to as Chenepeworde with a recorded population of 33 households and land belonging to Eskil (of Ware),
a
thegn
In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn or thane (Latin minister) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and ealdormen. He had to be a substantial landowner. Thanage refers to the tenure by which lands were ...
of
King Edward the Confessor. The name 'Knebworth' may mean either the farm belonging to the 5th century Saxon
Dane, Cnebba, or simply There is an alternative interpretation, though, that the name could instead have meant 'village on the hill'.
The spelling of the name 'Chenepeworde' has since changed to become the modern spelling of 'Knebworth'.
The original village, now known as Old Knebworth, developed within the parish of the
Church of St Mary and St Thomas. The stone church was built around 1120, and although the Domesday Book makes no mention of the church there is speculation to suggest there may have been a
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 ...
church of timber on the site before the more substantial one was built.
The manor passed into the hands of the Lytton family around 1492, when the manor house was rebuilt to a
Late Gothic manor house. The house changed very little until the 19th century when it was re-modelled into the present-day
Tudor Gothic building.
Knebworth was a largely agricultural community, producing wheat and barley in particular.
The proximity to London via the
Great North Road (subsequently the
A1, and now the
B197 since the opening of the
A1(M) motorway
A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate controlled-access highway, motorway sections in the UK. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1 road (Great Britain), A1, a major north–south road which connects Greater ...
in 1962) made it possible to transport produce.
By the start of the 19th century Knebworth had a population of around 250 people but the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
and the railway coming to Knebworth changed that. Initial development of the newer Knebworth village was centred a mile to the east of Old Knebworth on the area around the new railway station and the
Great North Road.
The route of the railway – which was originally meant to go through
Codicote to the west – was negotiated by
Lord Lytton so that it would go through the grounds of Knebworth, and have a station built there. The
Great Northern Railway, itself opened in 1850, opened a station at Knebworth in 1884.
The station created a brand-new settlement called Knebworth Station – known later as New Knebworth, and later still, just as Knebworth – with the original village becoming known as Old Knebworth.
Lord Lytton set up a company, Knebworth Garden Villages, to build homes either side of the railway embankment.
Prior to this, only a few farmhouses had stood nearby, including Swangley's farm and Deards End farm.
The station site eventually grew to include a signal box and goods yard to the north, approximately where Kerr Close is now.
Migrants from London, neighbouring counties, and even more distant areas of the country came to work in the new settlement.
At the turn of the century the architect
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
built
Homewood, south-east of Old Knebworth, as a
dower house
A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish estate (house), estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house fr ...
for
Edith Bulwer-Lytton. Her daughter, the suffragette
Constance Lytton, also lived there, until just before her death in 1923.
Edith's third daughter,
Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton, had married
Lutyens in 1897. Lutyens was responsible for a number of notable buildings in the new village of Knebworth as well, including the Bank,
St Martin's church, the Golf Clubhouse and the telephone exchange.
Knebworth has, since 1974, been famously associated with numerous major open air rock and pop
concerts at Knebworth House. These include Knebworth Fair in 1976, featuring the
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
and
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd (, ) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom ...
, which had an attendance of almost 250,000 as well as
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
's final live performance which took place on 9 August 1986 and drew an attendance estimated at 125,000.
On 30 June 1990,
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
, &
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
played at Knebworth. Nearly 31 years later, on 30 April 2021, Pink Floyd this performance was released as a live album.
In 1996,
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment[Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...]
performed to the largest crowd ever assembled for a single performer.
Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering Knebworth, at
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
,
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
, and
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
level: Knebworth Parish Council, North Hertfordshire District Council, and
Hertfordshire County Council.
The parish council generally meets at Knebworth Village Hall on Park Lane.
For national elections, Knebworth forms part of the
Stevenage constituency.
[
]
Twinning
On 16 June 1990 the village was twinned with the commune of Châtelaillon-Plage in France. In their own words, the Knebworth Twinning Association exists to "encourage friendships between schools, sports clubs and social groups in the two towns". The group organises social events throughout the year.
Knebworth is twinned with:
* Châtelaillon-Plage, France
Facilities
*Knebworth Post Office
*Doctors Surgery
Knebworth Village Hall
* Lytton Mausoleum
''Education and leisure''
*Knebworth Primary and Nursery school, Swangleys Lane
*Raja Tandoori, restaurant and takeaway, London Road
*The Roebuck Inn, its oldest public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
(now in Stevenage), which dates back to 1420
*The Lytton Arms (public house in Old Knebworth), an early Victorian building
*The Station, a public house, built in 1883
*Recreation ground, incorporating football pitches, tennis courts, bowling green and children's play equipment
''Places of worship''
* St Martin's, Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...
and consecrated by the bishop of St Albans, Edgar Jacob, in 1915
* St Mary's, Church of England, parts of which date back to 1120, the traditional burial place of the Lytton family
*St Thomas More, Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, built in 1962 having replaced a temporary church that had existed since 1935.
*Trinity Church, a Methodist Church
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
and United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.
The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...
local ecumenical partnership built in 1996 with roots in the village dating back to 1880
Sport and leisure
Knebworth has a Non-League football
Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
club Knebworth F.C. who play at Knebworth Recreation Ground. Knebworth Tennis Club and Knebworth Bowls Club are also based at the Recreation Ground.
Knebworth Park Cricket Club play at their ground in Knebworth Park. Green Dragon Bowmen, an archery club, are also based in the Park.
Nature reserve
Knebworth Woods is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...
.
Transport
Knebworth has a railway station, which has four platforms, running on the East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...
. Southbound services run towards London King's Cross while northbound services run towards Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
and Peterborough
Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
. The station and its train services are operated by Great Northern.
Demography
At the 2021 census, the population of the parish was 4,538.[ The population had been 4,496 in 2011 Census.
]
Notable inhabitants
* A. Duncan Carse, painter, of Deards End (1922–1923)[Royal Academy Dictionary of Exhibitors: Summer Exhibition catalogue archives]
* Barbara Follett, politician
* David Ensor, British lawyer, actor, author and Labour Party politician
* David Lytton Cobbold, 2nd Baron Cobbold
* Chryssie Lytton Cobbold, Baroness Cobbold
* Denis Patrick O'Brien (1939-2023), English economist
* Earls of Lytton
* Edward Bulwer-Lytton
* Henry Lytton Cobbold, 3rd Baron Cobbold
* James Oswald (1710–1769), 18th-century composer
* Ken Follett, author
* Robert Wilson, MBE, founder of Music for Youth
* Tony Byworth, country music journalist
Local publications
''The Knebworth Parish News'' is published monthly and delivered to around 800 homes in Knebworth. It is published on paper only. Although it contains secular articles, the cost of production is underwritten by the Parochial Church Council, which has editorial control of the publication.
''The Stevenage Comet'' is delivered to a small number of homes in the village.
See also
* Concerts at Knebworth House
References
External links
Knebworth Parish Council
{{authority control
Villages in Hertfordshire
Civil parishes in Hertfordshire
North Hertfordshire District