With prizes including Premium FindMyPast & 1921 census subscriptions, click here for a National Archives / BALH competition, looking for “local history stories that capture the imagination and show what local history is all about”.

Historical Graffiti at 7pm by Susan Holmes

Historical graffiti and inscriptions in St Peters Church:
St Peter’s is fortunate to have a rich & fascinating collection of medieval and later inscriptions. Learn the history of these once acceptable graffiti, & how many were carefully executed.

Heraldry in St Peter’s Church at 8pm by John Abbott

The talk will include a general introduction to Heraldry with descriptions and examples of coats of arms displayed in stained glass windows, memorial tablets and hatchments, with a discussion of links to local Berkhamsted families.

BLH&MS talk on Wed 19 Oct 2022 at 8pm in the Wellcome Great Hall, Town Hall Berkhamsted. Visitors are always welcome @ £3 at the door.

Winston Churchill’s Toy Shop by Gordon Rogers. Gordon writes: “Only ten years ago did I learn that the premises from which, as a schoolboy, I nicked a couple of Blacker bombard anti-tank missiles and a box of L-delay fuzes was ‘Winston Churchill’s Toyshop’, the UK’s premier weapons experimental station in WW2”.

BLH&MS talk on Wed 21 Sep 2022 at 8pm in the Wellcome Great Hall, Town Hall Berkhamsted.
Visitors are always welcome @ £3 at the door.

Amersham-on-the-Hill Architecture. From the heyday of the ‘Arts & Crafts’ period, on to ‘Metroland’ and Modernism – and the significance of local architect J.H. Kennard, by Chris Collier and Alison Bailey.

Come and celebrate Berkhamsted’s architecture and culture
at this year’s Heritage Open Days

This year’s HODs will be between 9 and 18 Sep 2022
Click here for HODs 2022 pdf file
Click here for details on HODs website

All events are FREE, but places are limited and must be booked via Eventbrite.

We have a new exhibition this year:
People at Work
This is an exhibition of prints and paintings/ line drawings of people at work from bygone industries.  There is no need to obtain tickets for this exhibition – just drop into The Open Door Cafe. The exhibition runs from 14-18 Sep 2022 from 10.30 to 15.30pm daily.

Also don’t miss St Peters talks on the 8 Sep at 7pm on Historical Graffiti and Inscriptions.

Check out our Publications page for some bargains on Local History books…

Berkhamsted’s parish church is 800 years old. Here lies all the history of Berkhamsted. St Peter’s was the government of our town, it oversaw our births, marriages and deaths and the myriad events since the birth of the town. And it is our future.

In May, as part of the celebrations, there will be an exhibition and three talks of particular interest to Berkhamsted historians. These have been arranged in cooperation between St Peter’s and Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society and you are very welcome to come to see the show and hear our four distinguished and knowledgeable speakers. The exhibition will be in St Peter’s Church throughout May and the talks will be in St Peter’s at 8pm

Tuesday 3rd May Talk 1. The History of Berkhamsted -speaker  Julian Hunt

Tuesday 10th May Talk 2. The History of St Peter’s Church – speaker Dr Christopher Green

Tuesday 17th May Talk 3. Berkhamsted in the Next 100 Years – speaker Peter Matthews

More information here

Change to programme – next two talks will be…
16 Feb 2022
The history of allotments
Kate Harwood
[This talk will be via Zoom to members]

Just months before the outbreak of WWI, George Loosley wrote of Fulks and Osborn, two 90-year-olds:
They both cultivate their own garden, and the latter has an allotment which he also attends to. Two years ago, his son laughingly told me he asked his dad if he should dig up his potatoes for him. “No,” he said, “you’d leave half of ’em in the ground,” which goes to prove that the old man did his ground thoroughly. (Bucks Herald, 28 Feb 1914).

16 Mar 2022
Family & Estates of Berkhamsted
Tony Statham, BLH&MS Member
(this talk preceded by AGM)

19 Jan 2022
House Histories
Carol Fulton

Due to the Omicron variant, this talk will be via Zoom to members.