Explore the UK’s New Towns

Essex‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 4 January 1949When designated to regulate the scattered settlements of the existing Plotlands and to assist in the decentralisation…

Berkshire‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 17 June 1949Following the rejection, due to agricultural value and airfield operations, of Patrick Abercombie’s Greater London Plan proposals…

Lancashire‘Mark Three’ New Town – Designated 26 March 1970Central Lancashire New Town was essentially a regeneration and development programme for Preston, Leyland and Chorley. The…

Northamptonshire‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 1 April 1950Increased demand for iron and steel in the late 1940s led to the expansion of steelworks at…

West Sussex‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 9 January 1947The second of the New Towns and designed to accommodate London’s overspill, Crawley New Town included…

Essex‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 25 March 1947Identified as the location for a London ‘ring town’ in Patrick Abercrombie’s 1944 Greater London Plan, Harlow’s…

Hertfordshire‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 20 May 1948Hatfield was designated alongside Welwyn Garden City, having first been identified for expansion in Abercrombie’s Greater London…

HertfordshireDesignated 4 February 1947The third of the London ‘ring towns’, Hemel Hempstead was designated to help in decentralising the population of Greater London. Hemel Hempstead…

Buckinghamshire‘Mark Three’ New Town – Designated 23 January 1967Designated to accommodate overspill from Greater London (the first New Town with this purpose since Bracknell in…

County Durham ‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 19 April 1947Following a period of decline resulting from the collapse of the coal-mining industry in the area,…

Northamptonshire‘Mark Three’ New Town – Designated 14 February 1968Historically a market town, Northampton was designated as a New Town to accommodate London overspill and provide…

Cambridgeshire‘Mark Three’ New Town – Designated 21 July 1967Peterborough was a city long before it was designated a New Town. The feasibility of a large-scale…

County Durham‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 10 March 1948Situated on what was the richest seam of the Durham coalfield, Peterlee was conceived to provide…

Worcestershire‘Mark Two’ New Town – Designated 10 April 1964Redditch was already a market town of notable size when in 1964 it was designated as the…

Cheshire‘Mark Two’ New Town – Designated 10 April 1964Runcorn’s masterplan aimed for ‘unity and balance’ between all of its elements, including between public and private…

Lancashire‘Mark Two’ New Town – Designated 9 October 1961Skelmersdale was the forerunner of the ‘Mark Two’ New Towns and the first in the North West.…

Hertfordshire‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 11 November 1946Stevenage was the first New Town to be designated under the New Towns Act 1946. Located in…

Shropshire‘Mark Two’ New Town – Designated 16 January 1963Telford was originally designated as Dawley, changing its name to Telford (with an increase in designated area)…

Cheshire‘Mark Three’ New Town – Designated 26 April 1968Initially designated with twin aims of accommodating Manchester overspill and revitalising industrial areas, Warrington’s purpose soon became…

Tyne and Wear‘Mark Two’ New Town – Designated 24 July 1964Faced with the post-war decline of the traditional industries of coal-mining and shipbuilding, with knock-on…

Hertfordshire‘Mark One’ New Town – Designated 20 May 1948Welwyn Garden City has a unique story. Having started life in 1919 as England’s second Garden City,…