Shephall () is a neighbourhood of the town of Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, England. It was formerly a separate village and parish, being absorbed into Stevenage in 1953.
Name
Spellings of Shephall have included: Scepa-halh (before 1066); Escepehale (in the Domesday Book of 1086); Sepehale (in the St Albans Abbey rolls for 1077–93); Sepehalle, Scephale and Shephale (11th and 12th centuries); Schephale, Shepehale and Chepehale (15th century); and Shepehalle and Shepholde (16th century). It was often called Sheephall in the 19th century. The English Place-Names Society translates the name as "a corner of land where sheep are pastured". The meaning "ash-tree slope" has also been supported, but evidence from the nearby Fairlands, which has origins in the Scandinavian word faar, meaning "sheep", makes it more likely that "Shephall" does mean "a sheep pasture". At this time, the entire manor of five hides, made up of arable land, meadows, woodland and pasture, was held by the Abbot of St Albans. After the conquest, two of the hides were obtained by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Domesday Book of 1086 shows that "Escepehale" was in the Hundred of Broadwater, and it lists 11 villagers, two cottagers and one slave in 1086, though the actual population is unsure as each individual listed may have represented a household, and the entry may not include the entire population. The population could have been around 56 people. A small wooden church, St Mary's, was built in Shephall in the 12th century, The church was confirmed to the monastery of St Alban by Pope Honorius III in 1218, and a vicarage was ordained and endowed. The manor passed through the Nodes family, and eventually, George Nodes' great-great-nephew, Charles Nodes, became Lord of the Manor in 1634. The Nodes family lived in the original, small manor house known as Shephalbury Manor. The house had twelve rooms and domestic offices. No male heirs could be found, so the estate was split between his three daughters. After 1782, one of the daughters, Sarah Jacques sold her share to Michael Heathcote of London. and had a new neo-Gothic house built, designed by T. Roger Smith. It was completed in 1864. The old house was demolished and a rose garden was planted on the site. Other buildings in the village were the Vicarage (later the Rectory), Bury Farmhouse and cottages, many of which were situated on the village green. <!-- One of the buildings at the forge, known as the Old Smithy, which was a Grade II listed building, was demolished without permission in October 2013. --> Also within the parish, close to the boundary with Aston in the south, was Broom Barns, containing about six houses and a farm. Other farms in Shephall were Home Farm, whose farmhouse still exists, though considerably rebuilt, as number 40 Shephall Green, and Half Hyde, of 600 acres. It therefore became part of the Hitchin Rural Sanitary District in 1872, which in turn became the Hitchin Rural District in 1894.
Records indicate that the population of Shephall was less than 100 in 1700, 120 in 1801, 265 in 1841 and 194 in 1921. During the Second World War, the house was used to house children who had been evacuated there by the Waifs and Strays society. When they left, it became a convalescent home for Polish officers, and then a school for Polish children. The civil parish of Shephall was absorbed into Stevenage Urban District on 1 April 1953. The area north of Broadhall Way, including the old village green and the buildings around it, became the Shephall neighbourhood, and the area to the south, including the manor house and its surroundings, became the Broadwater neighbourhood. The modern district council ward of Shephall covers the 1950s neighbourhood and Shephall Green, but is smaller in area than the former parish.
In September 1947, Shephall Manor was commandeered by the Stevenage Development Corporation, who leased it to the Inner London Education Authority. The grounds were then opened for public recreation. Development of the Shephall neighbourhood started in 1953, with new buildings surrounding the old ones. Four cottages built on Shephall Lane for Corporation staff were among the first houses to be built in the New Town. Two estates, Leaves Spring and Loves Wood, were named after existing features of the landscape. The neighbourhood was completed in 1959. including the village green, church, Old Red Lion public house, and some cottages and other buildings, but they were cut off from their former surroundings by Broadhall Way. -->
A neighbourhood shopping centre was built at The Hyde, east of the old village. In August 1956, Shephall received a community centre, the Broadwater Centre, which was opened by Dame Evelyn Sharp. New schools were needed, so Shephalbury Secondary Modern School, Homefield School, Heathcote School and Barnwell School were built. The original core of the village was designated as the Shephall Green conservation area in 1973. As well as St Mary's, Shephall contains two further places of worship: St Hilda's Church (Roman Catholic) and Grace Community Church (Newfrontiers).<!-- are these worth mentioning? pubs: The Shephall Tavern and the Pear Tree. two further smaller shopping centres: Hydean Way and Burwell Road. Other schools: Peartree Spring, Greenside, Featherstone Wood, Ashtree Primary, and Collenswood which became Barnwell East Campus -->
After the New Towns Act 1981, Shephall Manor and most of its land was owned by the New Towns Commission, and the rest was already owned by Hertfordshire County Council. The Inner London Education Authority was disbanded so the Manor was no longer required as a school.
The well canopy in the green, dating to the early 20th century, that covers a medieval well, was scheduled to be removed and not replaced by Stevenage Borough Council in 2012, but was saved after local residents' protests led to a public consultation. The structure was repaired and is now listed on Hertfordshire County Council's Historic Environment Record.