Our Vision for Heath Barn
What this building could become and why it's waited long enough
For over five years, one of Boxmoor's most beautiful buildings has stood empty and silent.
Heath Barn has served this community for 500 years, as a working farm, a music school, a gathering place for generations of local families. The last students left in 2019. Since then the gates have been closed.
We think that's long enough.
Every generation deserves a place to gather.
Every town deserves somewhere truly beautiful.
Heath Barn can be both.
A Building Unlike Anything Else in Hemel Hempstead
Heath Barn is a Grade II listed, 16th century building arranged around a beautiful central courtyard on St Johns Road in Boxmoor. Three separate listed buildings working together as one. As they always have throughout their 500 year history.
Our architect Hugo Hardy, who has worked on heritage projects including Frogmore Paper Mill, has developed detailed proposals for the sensitive restoration and reimagining of the site. What you see here is a building ready to serve its community again.
"Every hour spent making your town more beautiful is an hour invested in making people love it more."
Jeff Siegler
A Space For Everyone
Heath Barn won't serve one part of the community. It will serve all of it.
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The Café
A courtyard restaurant and café at the heart of the building. The kind of place you pop into on a Saturday morning and stay for two hours.
The Events Space
A gallery and events space for exhibitions, performances and community gatherings.
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Therapy and Well-being Rooms
Quiet, professional spaces for therapists, counsellors and wellbeing practitioners.
The Courtyard
The heart of the building. A protected, beautiful outdoor space for the community to gather in every season.
Office Space
Affordable workspace for local creatives, freelancers and small organisations.
Creative Workshops
Flexible rental spaces for artists, makers, tutors and therapists to run sessions and build their practice.
Kitchen Garden
Herb beds and growing space connecting the building to the outdoors.
Young People
A dedicated space where the younger generation can connect
The Research Behind the Vision
This isn't just a lovely idea. It's a response to a real and growing need.
Dacorum's population is ageing and by 2043, nearly one in four residents will be over 65. Research shows that prolonged social isolation is as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Recent studies found that isolation in older adults increases dementia risk by 27%.
But this isn't only about older people. Families, young people and men are equally in need of spaces that foster genuine connection. The World Health Organisation has concluded that active engagement with arts and culture supports child development, encourages healthy behaviours and helps prevent the onset of mental illness.
Heath Barn is designed to address all of this not simply by providing services, but by creating the conditions for connection to happen naturally.
A café where you bump into your neighbour.
A class where you meet someone new.
A courtyard where your children play while you talk to someone you've never met before.
That's not a community centre. That's a community.
We've Already Started
You don't have to wait to see what Heath Barn feels like. The community is already gathering.
Our Heath Barn Unlocked events have been bringing local people together across Boxmoor for historic walks, community gatherings and phone free evenings. Hundreds of local people have already experienced what's possible when this community comes together.
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We haven't even opened the doors of Heath Barn yet. Imagine what happens when we do.
500 Years Of Stories
Heath Barn has been many things to many people. A farm. A theatre. A music school. A wedding venue. It's a place where this community has always gathered, in one form or another.
We have photographs dating back decades, archive material from the Horniman Museum in London and stories from local people who remember the building in its heyday.
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Ready To Be Part of What Comes Next?
You've seen what Heath Barn could become. You've seen the plans, the vision and the research behind it. Now we need the community to make it real.
How You Can Help
Every pound brings Heath Barn closer to the community.
Your donation goes directly towards our community bid.
No amount is too small as every contribution is a vote for what Boxmoor deserves.
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Own A Piece Of Heath Barn
Become a founding member of Heath Barn by investing in our Community Benefit Society.
From as little as £100 you become a member-owner with a real vote on how Heath Barn is run, for generations to come.
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Heath Barn has waited 500 years for this moment.
Now it's our turn