Dacorum
Dacorum is a
local government district and
borough in
Hertfordshire,
England. It includes the towns of
Hemel Hempstead,
Berkhamsted, and
Tring. The district is entirely
parished, apart from Hemel Hempstead.
The District of Dacorum was formed in
1974 by the
Local Government Act 1972 by the amalgamation of 7 smaller local authorities, each symbolised in the 7 oak leaves in the centre of the coat of arms. They were :
*The Municipal Borough of
Hemel Hempstead,
*
Berkhamsted urban district,
*
Tring urban district,
*
Berkhamsted Rural District,
*
Hemel Hempstead Rural District,
*Part of the
St Albans Rural District *Part of
Watford Rural District.
Dacorum became a
borough on 1st April,
1984.
It takes its name from the old
hundred of
Dacorum which covered approximately the same area. The name of the hundred, first recorded in
1196, is simply the
Latin for "of the
Danes", since the hundred lies at the margin of the
Danelaw, the southern boundary of which was formed by the
River Lea. This hundred was a combination of the two
Domesday Book hundreds of
Tring and
Danais.
It had a population of 137,799 at the 2001 census.
The Borough is twinned with the town of
Neu-Isenburg in
Germany. Berkhamsted is twinned separately with
Beaune (France) and
Kings Langley with
Baku (
Ghana).
The council is made up of 52 seats.
Representation at March 2004 is as follows:-
*
Conservative 32 - drawing support largely from the better off parts of Hemel Hempstead and the surrounding rural areas.
*
Labour 14 - drawing support largely from the post war estates of Hemel Hempstead new town
*
Liberal Democrat 6 - drawing support largely from the smaller towns of Tring and Berkhamsted
*
Borough of Dacorum Home page*
History of the name*
More history
