[1] After it was formed in 1898, Great Berkhampstead Urban District Council (as it was initially called) met in the local workhouse (on the corner of High Street and Kitsbury Road).

These premises comprised a house facing High Street, behind which was a former Wesleyan Chapel (by then used as a workshop), with a large yard and other outbuildings.

[2][3][4][5] In the early 1930s, after the council decided it needed more office space, it acquired the adjacent fishmonger's shop and demolished both buildings.

[9] The civic centre continued to serve as the local seat of government until the enlarged Dacorum Borough Council was formed in 1974.

[15][16] A wooden sign bearing the coat of arms of the town was presented by the Berkhamsted Citizens Association and erected on the pavement outside the civic centre in 1983.