High Quality Awnings in Harpenden
How the awning became so popular
Although the awning was a well-established and trusted method of giving shade and offering protection to interior furnishings from the ravages of the sun, they rapidly gained ornamental value. This became really noticeable in the 1890s when many people began to install striped canvas awnings on their homes to make their appearance more appealing. Prior to this time, awnings were simply a convenient way of providing shade and comfort for the occupants of a property, but now they were being actively used to enhance the aesthetics of domestic properties and shop fronts alike.
Awnings enjoyed a massive growth in popularity as people continued to enhance and improve their home and building exteriors with canvas coverings in a wide range of colours, patterns, and styles. The awnings were also a much more convenient and cost effective method of providing shelter from the sun, without actually building an extension to the existing property.
Retractable awnings began to be developed for use by shopkeepers, allowing them to collapse their storefront canopies prior to inclement weather or even as a visual sign to customers that they were now closed for business for the day. The use of retractable awnings spread to residential awnings some time later. In the 1940s, aluminium shades replaced canvas ones. However, the use of awnings started to be discontinued and they fell out of fashion altogether in the 1950s as more and more people turned to the wonders of air conditioning to keep cool and comfortable.
Awnings are cheaper than air conditioning
Awnings have been making a comeback over recent years and today, the orders for awning fitting is going through the roof as those with expensive to run air conditioning units begin to feel the pinch with the eye watering energy costs.
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Harpenden is seen as a pleasant place where there are nice pubs, lovely houses and wide open grass areas for the local population to enjoy. It is a town with a village feel.
Vintage car shows, old fashioned fairgrounds and flower shows are never out of place in Harpenden. In short, Harpenden is a lovely place to live, yet it is within easy reach of nearby towns such as Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St Albans and also very close to the A1 (M), so the capital is not difficult to reach either.
Some Harpenden history
There has been ample evidence found to prove the existence of pre-Roman Belgic farmers in the Harpenden area. In 1867 several items were found including a bronze escutcheon, which is a shield or emblem bearing a coat of arms, rams-head shaped mounts, and a bronze bowl.
There are Roman remains in land located around Harpenden, for example, the site of a mausoleum in the park at Rothamsted. A burial mound near the river Lea was opened up in the 1820s and it contained a stone sarcophagus of Romano-Celtic origin. Five objects dating from around 150 AD, were inside including a glass jug with a Mediterranean stamp and samian ware dishes used to hold some sort of liquor to be poured out as an offering to a deity in the form of a libation.
Up to the 13th century the area of the parish consisted of woodland with small hamlets and single farmsteads around cleared areas called “End” or “Green” and there are nineteen Ends and eighteen Greens in the Harpenden area and Wheathampstead parishes. Many of these Ends or Greens still survive to this day.
It’s hard to believe that Westminster Abbey in London owned the Harpenden and surrounding areas, but it was granted by Edward the Confessor in 1060. Harpenden village grew out of Westminster Abbey’s gradual clearing of woodland for farming and settlement within its Wheathampstead manor. A first reference to a parish church is in 1221, where it is referred to as Harpendene, so it is inferred that the village grew up around then. The church of St Nicholas is the oldest church in Harpenden, originally built as a Chapel of ease in 1217.