Boxmoor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boxmoor, or Boxmoor Village, is a district of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England. It lies about a kilometre west of the modern town centre, next to the River Bulbourne.
The nearby Hemel Hempstead railway station was formerly known as "Boxmoor and Hemel Hempstead", with a branch line - known as the "Nicky Line" - running through Hemel Hempstead to Harpenden.
The Box Moor Trust owns areas of open land in the area, for grazing and amenity use.
The location was developed in the nineteenth century when the London and Birmingham Railway was forced, by local landed interests, to build its main line and station to the west of Hemel Hempstead. Boxmoor offered fast commuting to London combined with a small country town life, attractive to wealthier commuters.
The area was absorbed into the expanded Hemel Hempstead new town during the 1950s and 1960s but retains a local character. The station was then renamed from Boxmoor to Hemel Hempstead.
The area has little industry and limited commerce but its mostly Victorian family houses are in demand for those who work elsewhere in Hemel Hempstead and especially commuters who use the rail station to reach London in around 30–40 minutes.
The remains of a Roman villa have been discovered under the station car park.
