About
Radlett & District Museum occupies a modest building behind the Radlett Village Institute on Watling Street, and it is run entirely by volunteers, open two mornings a week, and free to enter. The scale is small; the subject matter is not. Radlett sits on the Roman road between London and Verulamium, its modern existence was created by a Victorian railway, and for forty years it was the home of one of Britain's most important aircraft manufacturers. The museum covers all three, along with the ordinary village history of Radlett, Aldenham and Letchmore Heath.
Watling Street runs dead straight through the centre of the village, and the Romans did more here than simply pass by: a substantial tile and pottery works operated in the parish, supplying building material to Verulamium a few miles up the road, and its products turn up in excavation across the district. The village that grew alongside the road stayed very small until the Midland Railway drove its London extension through in 1868 and gave Radlett a station. Within a few decades the fields either side of the line had filled with the villas of people who worked in London — the pattern that made most of southern Hertfordshire what it is, visible here in unusually clear form. The museum's current main display is on that railway.
The aerodrome is the story visitors least expect. Handley Page established an airfield and works at Radlett from around 1930, and for four decades the village lived next to serious aircraft manufacture: Halifax bomber work through the Second World War, and afterwards the Victor, the most graceful of the three V-bombers, which first flew from here in 1952. When Handley Page collapsed in 1970 the airfield closed, and the site has since been quarried and fought over in planning inquiries, but the museum holds the photographs, documents and recollections of the people who built and flew those aircraft.
Around this sit the museum's archive of documents, photographs and memorabilia covering Radlett, Aldenham and Letchmore Heath, and a programme of changing themed exhibitions on wartime, transport, schools, churches and village life. It runs memories afternoons with guest speakers, children's sessions, talks and off-site displays, and would like more volunteers — a museum that is very obviously the work of the community it documents.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Two mornings a week only — Wednesday and Saturday, 10:00 to 12:00. There is no afternoon, evening or Sunday opening at all.
- Radlett station is five minutes' walk with direct Thameslink trains, so this is an easy visit without a car.
- Free parking is available behind the Village Institute, immediately alongside the museum.
- Ask what the current main display is. The museum rotates themed exhibitions from its archive and also mounts displays off site in the village.
- If Handley Page is your interest, contact the volunteers in advance — the aviation material extends well beyond what is on show at any one time.
- The first Saturday of the month includes a children's session during normal opening, which makes it a good morning for families.
- Quarterly memories afternoons with guest speakers are ticketed separately and are usually the liveliest thing the museum does.
- School and group visits need two weeks' notice; do not turn up with a party unannounced at a museum this size.
Highlights
Watling Street and Roman Radlett
The road running past the museum door is Watling Street, the Roman route from London to Verulamium and on to the north-west, and it has determined the shape of Radlett for two thousand years. The Romans did more than travel through: a substantial tile and pottery industry operated in the parish, producing building material that went into Verulamium itself, and its products are found across the district.
The museum displays local Roman finds and explains the industry, giving a small commuter village an unexpectedly direct connection to the building of one of Roman Britain's major towns.
Radlett and the Railway
Radlett existed as little more than a scatter of houses on the road until the Midland Railway opened its London extension in 1868 and gave the place a station. Within a generation the fields were being sold for villas and the village had become a commuter settlement, a transformation repeated all along the line and visible here with unusual clarity.
The museum's main display from 2026 is devoted to this story, using maps, photographs, timetables and building records to show how a railway company's decision created a modern village more or less from nothing.
Handley Page and the Radlett Aerodrome
From around 1930 until the company's collapse in 1970, Handley Page ran an airfield and works at Radlett, and the village lived alongside serious aircraft manufacture for four decades. Halifax bomber work occupied it through the Second World War, and afterwards came the Victor, the crescent-winged third of Britain's V-bomber force, which first flew from Radlett in 1952.
The museum holds photographs, documents, components and the recollections of people who worked there — the closest thing to a record of an industry that has left almost no physical trace on the ground.
The Aerodrome After Handley Page
When Handley Page went into liquidation in 1970 the airfield closed, and the land has been quarried, restored and repeatedly fought over in planning inquiries ever since, most recently in connection with proposals for a rail freight interchange. The museum documents the closure, the loss of skilled employment, what happened to the site and to the people, and the long argument about its future that has run for half a century.
It is local history that is still unresolved, and the volunteers have watched most of it happen.
Collections
The collection documents Radlett and the surrounding Hertfordshire parishes, principally Aldenham and Letchmore Heath. It comprises a considerable archive of documents, photographs, pictures, maps and memorabilia covering the district from the nineteenth century onwards, supported by objects relating to village trades, shops, schools, churches, chapels, clubs and sport.
Archaeological material covers Watling Street and the Roman tile and pottery production carried on in the parish for the Verulamium market.
Transport holdings cover the Midland Railway's arrival in 1868 and the growth of Radlett as a commuter settlement. A substantial aviation section documents Handley Page's aerodrome and works at Radlett from about 1930 to 1970, including Halifax bomber production, the Victor V-bomber and the aftermath of the company's collapse.
Twentieth-century material covers both world wars, home front organisation and the postwar development of the village.
Radlett and The Railway
The museum's main display from 2026, covering the Midland Railway's arrival in 1868 and the transformation of a roadside hamlet into a Hertfordshire commuter village.
Handley Page at Radlett
Photographs, documents and recollections of the aerodrome and aircraft works, from Halifax bomber production in the Second World War to the Victor V-bomber and the company's collapse in 1970.
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.