Other artefacts included a dodecahedron toy, fragments of amphorae for imported wine, bone hairpins, and samian ware pottery associated with high status families.

[5] Archeological excavations have confirmed the existence of a small Roman farmstead, a malting kiln and a Celtic round house in the Chells area, and a cemetery containing 25 cremations.

[6] The most substantial evidence of activity from Roman times is Six Hills, six tumuli by the side of the old Great North Road that are presumably the burial places of members of a local family.

[25][26] Stevenage's prosperity came in part from the Great North Road, which was turnpiked in the early 18th century on the site of the present day Marquess of Granby pub.

Slow growth in Stevenage continued until just after the Second World War, when the Abercrombie Plan called for the establishment of a ring of new towns around London.

[42] The plan was not popular and local people protested at a meeting held in the town hall before Lewis Silkin, minister in the Labour Government of Clement Attlee.

[44] The inaugural chairman of the Stevenage Development Corporation was the architect Clough Williams-Ellis, appointed by Lewis Silkin in 1946, with the radical town planner Dr Monica Felton as his deputy.

There were a number of reasons for her dismissal by the government but a lack of hands-on town planning leadership and her opposition to the Korean War (for which she was later awarded the Lenin Peace Prize) sullied her reputation.

Mary Tabor, with the support of more than 40 housing management staff by 1960, provided a notably personal and caring service to tenants of the town.

[49] In keeping with the sociological outlook of the day, the town was planned with six self-contained neighbourhoods, each to house between ten and twelve thousand people.

[59][60] There are also small- to medium-sized firms such as Stevenage BioScience Catalyst (SBC), a new science park aimed at attracting small and start-up life-sciences enterprises, opened in 2011 on a site next to GSK.

[61] The pedestrianised town centre was the first purpose-built traffic-free shopping zone in Britain, taking its inspiration from the Lijnbaan in Rotterdam,[62] and was officially opened in 1959 by the Queen.

Although revolutionary for its time, the town centre is showing signs of age and, in 2005, plans were revealed for a major regeneration to take place over the next decade.

Multimillion-pound plans to redevelop Stevenage town centre were scrapped owing to the financial crisis of 2007–08 and the lack of interested private-sector partners.

[66] In June 2022, Stevenage Day returned to the King George Playing Fields to celebrate the platinum jubilee of Elizabeth II.

[73] The town has a large central library[74] in Southgate, at the southern end of the pedestrian precinct, with facilities including printing, fax and photocopying, children's events, study space, a carers' information point and a large public computer suite, as well as a small branch library[75] at the northern end of the High Street in the Old Town.

A considerable amount of in-borough development has been undertaken at Chrysalis Park on the old Dixon's Warehouse site adjacent to the Pin Green Industrial Estate.

The town and the Stevenage First partnership has now launched a new, £1bn, 20-year regeneration programme designed to transform central spaces and introduce new residential, commercial and retail facilities, amongst others.

[79][80] In addition, Stevenage's Town Square is also being regenerated with new bars, restaurants, flexible working facilities and shops being introduced to the area.

At the south of the town, there is a retail park called 9Yards[98] (formerly Roaring Meg), its former name being taken from a stream (a tributary of the River Beane) that runs under it.

[107][108][109] The following season, Stevenage held Tottenham Hotspur to a 0–0 draw at home in the fifth round, before losing the subsequent replay 3–1 at White Hart Lane.

Many top class sporting heroes have come from Stevenage, including footballers Kevin Phillips and Ashley Young, seven-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, and golfer Ian Poulter.

The route passes through Graveley, Walkern, Beane Valley, Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Knebworth Park, St Ippolyts and Little Wymondley.

[117] The Boxfield and Foyer Gallery is situated in the Gordon Craig Theatre, which forms part of the large central Leisure Centre.

[122] North of Stevenage Old Town, near St Nicholas' Church, lies Rooks' Nest ("under the big wych-elm"), home of the novelist E. M. Forster from 1884 to 1894.

The bridges were built by Simon Carves of south Manchester, and the main contractor was Martin Cowley Ltd, of Clay Cross, in Derbyshire.

Another operator in the town is unō, who run the 635 between Watford and Hitchin via Stevenage, which provides discounted travel to University of Hertfordshire students.

Many schools were built in the 1950s/60s due to an influx of Londoners to affordable terraced housing in areas such as Shephall, Broadwater, Chells and St Nicholas.

[218] Saxondale a critically acclaimed 2007 situation comedy starring Steve Coogan as a divorcee and ex-roadie with anger management issues.

[219] In one episode of UK quiz show Only Connect, one of the contestants made what could be seen as a frivolous mention of Stevenage, playfully suggesting that that could be where the literary character Mrs Malaprop comes from.