Stevenage lies along the Great North Road (a major English transport artery) on the northern periphery of the London metropolitan complex. It was the first new town to be designated by British planners under the New Towns Act, 1946, with the aim of catering to the needs of London's overspill population. The old town, with its old coaching inns, 12th-century church, 16th-century grammar school, and market (granted 1281), forms one neighbourhood. The main shopping centre, from which vehicles are excluded, is in the new town, and modern industries, mainly the manufacture of electronic equipment, lie alongside the A1 motorway, which bypasses Stevenage. The district was created in 1974 with an area of 10 square miles (26 square km) to coincide roughly with the designated area of the new town.
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