Letchworth, England

Welcome to Letchworth Garden City, the world’s first garden city located in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. With a population of 33,249, Letchworth is noted for its historical significance as the birthplace of the garden city movement. Letchworth was initially an ancient parish appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086 and remained a small rural village until the start of the 20th century. The construction of the modern town began in 1903 with the purchase of much of the land in Letchworth and its neighboring parishes by First Garden City Limited, founded by Ebenezer Howard and his supporters with the aim of building the first garden city. The town’s initial layout was designed by Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker and includes the United Kingdom’s first roundabout, Sollershott Circus, built around 1909. The layout for Letchworth incorporates extensive parkland and open spaces, including Norton Common and Howard Park. Today, Letchworth is home to large business areas providing jobs in a variety of sectors, and the landlords’ profits are reinvested for the benefit of the community by the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation. As the world’s first garden city, Letchworth has had a notable impact on town planning and the new towns movement; it influenced nearby Welwyn Garden City, which used a similar approach, and aspects of the principles demonstrated at Letchworth have been incorporated into other projects around the world, including the Australian capital Canberra, Hellerau in Germany, Tapiola in Finland, and Mežaparks in Latvia. Visit Letchworth and experience the charm of the world’s first garden city.