Hertfordshire
County of England
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Watford, and the county town is Hertford.
The county has an area of and had a population of 1,198,800 at the 2021 census. After Watford (131,325), the largest settlements are Hemel Hempstead (95,985), Stevenage (94,470) and the city of St Albans (75,540). For local government purposes Hertfordshire is a non-metropolitan county with ten districts beneath Hertfordshire County Council.
Elevations are higher in the north and west, reaching more than in the Chilterns near Tring. The county centres on the headwaters and upper valleys of the rivers Lea and the Colne; both flow south and each is accompanied by a canal. Hertfordshire's undeveloped land is mainly agricultural and much of the county is covered by the Metropolitan green belt.
Since 1903, Letchworth has served as the prototype garden city while Stevenage became the first town to expand under post-war Britain's New Towns Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68). Services have become the largest sector of the county's economy.
History.
The county's landmarks span many centuries, ranging from the Six Hills in Stevenage built by local inhabitants during the Roman period, to Leavesden Film Studios. The volume of intact medieval and Tudor buildings surpasses London, in places in well-preserved conservation areas, especially in St Albans, which includes remains of the Roman town of Verulamium.
In 913, Hertfordshire was the area assigned to a fortress constructed at Hertford under the rule of Edward the Elder. Hertford is derived from the Anglo-Saxon "heort ford," meaning deer crossing (of a watercourse). The name Hertfordshire is first recorded in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" in 1011. Deer feature in many county emblems. Many of the names of the current settlements date back to the Anglo-Saxon period, with many featuring standard placename suffixes attributed to the Anglo-Saxons: "ford", "ton", "den", "bourn", "ley", "stead", "ing", "lett", "wood", and "worth", are represented in this county by Hertford, Royston, Harpenden, Redbourn, Cuffley, Wheathampstead, Tring, Radlett, Borehamwood and Rickmansworth.
There is evidence of human life in Hertfordshire from the Mesolithic period. It was first farmed during the Neolithic period and permanent habitation appeared at the beginning of the Bronze Age. This was followed by tribes settling in the area during the Iron Age.
Following the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, the Catuvellauni tribe accepted peace and adapted to the Roman life; resulting in the development of several new towns, including Verulamium (St Albans) where in c. 293 the first recorded British martyrdom is traditionally believed to have taken place. Saint Alban, a Romano-British soldier, took the place of a Christian priest and was beheaded on Holywell Hill. His martyr's cross of a yellow saltire on a blue field is reflected in the flag and coat of arms of Hertfordshire as the yellow field to the stag or Hart representing the county. He is the Patron Saint of Hertfordshire.
With the departure of the Roman Legions in the early 5th century, the now-unprotected territory was invaded and colonised by the Anglo-Saxons. By the 6th century, the majority of the modern county was part of the East Saxon kingdom. This relatively short-lived kingdom collapsed in the 9th century, ceding the territory of Hertfordshire to the control of the West Anglians of Mercia. The region finally became an English shire in the 10th century, on the merger of the West Saxon and Mercian kingdoms.
In the midst of the Norse invasions, Hertfordshire was on the front lines of much of the fighting. King Edward the Elder, in his reconquest of Norse-held lands in what was to become England, established a "burh" or fort in Hertford, which was to curb Norse activities in the area. His father, King Alfred the Great, established the River Lea as a boundary between his kingdom and that of the Norse lord Guthrum, with the north and eastern parts of the county being within the Danelaw. There is little evidence however of Norse placenames within this region, and many of the Anglo-Saxon features remained intact to this day. The county however suffered from renewed Norse raids in the late 10th to early 11th centuries, as armies led by Danish kings Swein Forkbeard and Cnut the Great harried the country as part of their attempts to undermine and overthrow English king Athelred the Unready.
Norman invasion onwards.
A century later, William of Normandy received the surrender of some senior English Lords and Clergy at Berkhamsted, before entering London unopposed and being crowned at Westminster. Hertfordshire was used for some of the new Norman castles at Bishop's Stortford, and at King's Langley, a staging post between London and the royal residence of Berkhamsted.
The Domesday Book recorded the county as having nine hundreds. Tring and Danais became one—Dacorum—from Danis Corum or Danish rule harking back to a Viking not Saxon past. The other seven were Braughing, Stevenage, Cashio, Buntingford, Hertford, Hitchin and Odsey.
In the later Plantagenet period, St. Albans Abbey was an initial drafting place of what was to become Magna Carta. And in the later Wars of the Roses, St. Albans was the scene of two major battles between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.
In Tudor times, Hatfield House was often frequented by Queen Elizabeth I. Stuart King James I used the locale for hunting and facilitated the construction of a waterway, the New River, supplying drinking water to London.
As London grew, Hertfordshire became conveniently close to the English capital; much of the area was owned by the nobility and aristocracy, this patronage helped to boost the local economy. However, the greatest boost to Hertfordshire came during the Industrial Revolution, after which the population rose dramatically. In 1903, Letchworth became the world's first garden city and Stevenage became the first town to redevelop under the New Towns Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68).
The first shooting-down of a zeppelin over Great Britain during WW1 happened in Cuffley.
From the 1920s until the late 1980s, the town of Borehamwood was home to one of the major British film studio complexes, including the MGM-British Studios. Many well-known films were made here including the first three "Star Wars" movies (IV, V, & VI). The studios generally used the name of Elstree. American director Stanley Kubrick not only used to shoot in those studios but also lived in the area until his death. "Big Brother UK" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" have been filmed there. "EastEnders" is filmed at Elstree. Hertfordshire has seen development at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden; the "Harry Potter" series was filmed here and the 1995 James Bond film "GoldenEye".
On 17 October 2000, the Hatfield rail crash killed four people with over 70 injured. The crash exposed the shortcomings of Railtrack, and resulted in speed restrictions and major track replacement. On 10 May 2002, seven people died in the fourth of the Potters Bar rail accidents; the train was travelling at high speed when it derailed and flipped into the air when one of the carriages slid along the platform where it came to rest.
In early December 2005, there were explosions at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal at Buncefield on the edge of Hemel Hempstead.
Geography.
Hertfordshire is located in the south-eastern part of England and is the county immediately north of London. It is officially part of the East of England region, a mainly statistical unit. To the east is Essex, to the west is Buckinghamshire and to the north are Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. A significant minority of the population across all districts commute to Central London.
The county's boundaries were roughly fixed by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 which eliminated exclaves; amended when, in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, East Barnet Urban District and Barnet Urban District were abolished, their area was transferred to form part of the present-day London Borough of Barnet and the Potters Bar Urban District of Middlesex was transferred to Hertfordshire.
The highest point in the county is at (AOD) on the Ridgeway long distance national path, on the border of Hastoe near Tring with Drayton Beauchamp, Buckinghamshire.
At the 2011 census, among the county's ten districts, East Hertfordshire had the lowest population density (290 people per km2) and Watford the highest (4210 per km2). Compared with neighbouring Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire lacks large towns or cities on the scale of Luton or Milton Keynes, whose populations exceed 200,000, but its overall population (1.2 million in 2021) is greater than those of the two aforementioned counties.
The River Lea near Harpenden runs through Wheathampstead, Welwyn Garden City, Hertford, Ware, and Broxbourne before reaching Cheshunt and ultimately the River Thames. The far west of the county is the most hilly, with the Chiltern Hills surrounding Tring, Berkhamsted and the Ashridge estate. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty runs from near Hitchin in the north to Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
Many of the county's major settlements are in the central, northern and southern areas, such as Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, Rickmansworth, St. Albans, Harpenden, Redbourn, Radlett, Borehamwood, Potters Bar, Stevenage, Hatfield, Welwyn and Welwyn Garden City, Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock. These are all small to medium-sized locations, featuring a mix of post-WWII new towns and older/more historical locales. The City of St. Albans is an example of a historical settlement, as its cathedral and abbey date to the Norman period, and there are ruins from the Roman settlement of Verulamium nearby the current city centre. Stevenage is a mix of post-WWII new town planning amidst its prior incarnation as a smaller town. The Old Town in Stevenage represents this historic core and has many shops and buildings reflecting its pre-WWII heritage. Hitchin also has a historic centre, with many Tudor and Stuart era buildings interspersed amongst more contemporary structures.
Hertfordshire's eastern regions are predominantly rural and arable, intermixed with villages and small to medium-sized towns. Royston, Buntingford and Bishop's Stortford, along with Ware and the county town of Hertford are major settlements in this regard. The physical geography of eastern Hertfordshire is less elevated than the far west, but with lower rising hills and prominent rivers such as the Stort. This river rises in Essex and terminates via a confluence with the Lea near to Ware.
Apart from the Lea and Stort, the River Colne is the major watercourse in the county's west. This runs near Watford and Radlett, and has a complex system/drainage area running south into both Greater London and Buckinghamshire.
An unofficial status, the purple star-shaped flower with yellow stamens, the Pasqueflower is among endemic county flowers.
Geology.
The rocks of Hertfordshire belong to the great shallow syncline known as the London Basin. The beds dip in a south-easterly direction towards the syncline's lowest point roughly under the River Thames. The most important formations are the Cretaceous Chalk, exposed as the high ground in the north and west of the county, forming the Chiltern Hills and the younger Palaeocene, Reading Beds and Eocene, London Clay which occupy the remaining southern part. The eastern half of the county was covered by glaciers during the Ice Age and has a superficial layer of glacial boulder clays.
Natural resources and environment.
Much of the west – and much more in the east – have richly diverse countryside. These range from beech woods of the Chilterns, clayland buffer zone countryside of Braughing and the Hadhams across to ancient hornbeam coppices west of the upper Lea valley. The county has sweeping panoramas of chalklands near Royston, Baldock, Hexton and Tring.
Large parts of the county are used for agriculture.
Some quarrying of sand and gravel occurs around St Albans. In the past, clay has supplied local brick-making and still does in Bovingdon, just south-west of Hemel Hempstead. The chalk that is the bedrock of much of the county provides an aquifer that feeds streams and is also exploited to provide water supplies for much of the county and beyond. Chalk has also been used as a building material and, once fired, the resultant lime was spread on agricultural land to improve fertility. The mining of chalk since the early 18th century has left unrecorded underground galleries that occasionally collapse unexpectedly and endanger buildings.
Fresh water is supplied to London from Ware, using the New River built by Hugh Myddleton and opened in 1613. Local rivers, although small, supported developing industries such as paper production at Nash Mills.
Hertfordshire affords habitat for a variety of flora and fauna. A bird once common in the shire is the hooded crow, the old name of which is the eponymous name of the regional newspaper, the "Royston Crow" published in Royston. A product, now largely defunct, was watercress, based in Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted supported by reliable, clean chalk rivers.
Economy.
This is a table of trends of regional gross value added of Hertfordshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
Hertfordshire has the main operational and/or headquarters UK site of some very large employers. Clockwise from north:
In Stevenage (a subsidiary of: BAE Systems, Airbus and Finmeccanica) MBDA, develops missiles. In the same town, Airbus (Defence & Space Division) produces satellites.
Hatfield was where de Havilland developed the first commercial jet liner, the Comet. Now the site is a business park and new campus for the University of Hertfordshire. This major employment site notably hosts EE, Computacenter and Ocado groceries and other goods e-commerce.
Welwyn Garden City hosts Tesco's UK base, hosts the UK Cereal Partners factory and in pharmaceuticals it hosts Roche UK's headquarters (subsidiary of the Swiss Hoffman-La Roche). GlaxoSmithKline has plants in Ware and Stevenage.
Hemel Hempstead has large premises of Dixons Carphone.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the trade association for UK pharmacies, is based in St Albans.
Kings Langley has the plant-office of Pure, making DAB digital radios.
Watford hosts national companies such as J D Wetherspoon, Camelot Group, Bathstore, and Caversham Finance (BrightHouse). It is also the UK base of multi-nationals Hilton Worldwide, TotalEnergies, TK Maxx, Costco, JJ Kavanagh and Sons, Vinci and Beko. The 2006 World Golf Championship and the 2013 Bilderberg Conference, took place at The Grove hotel. Warner Bros. owns and runs its main UK base since the 2000s, Warner Bros. Studios, in Leavesden, Watford.
Rickmansworth hosts Skanska.
Media.
Television.
Most of the county is served by BBC London & ITV London, however Stevenage and North Hertfordshire is served by BBC East & ITV Anglia. Some northwestern parts of the county around Tring can also receive BBC South and ITV Meridian.
Radio.
Local radio for the county is provided by BBC Three Counties Radio, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (covering Royston), Heart Hertfordshire, Greatest Hits Radio Bucks, Beds and Herts (formerly Mix 96), Mix 92.6 (formerly Radio Verulam St. Albans) and Community Radio Dacorum (Hemel Hempstead).
Newspapers.
Local newspapers in the county are:
Sport.
Watersports.
Waltham Cross, Broxbourne, is the location of the Lee Valley White Water Centre, a purpose-built venue opened in 2010 for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The site consists of two white water courses; one 300m Grade IV "Olympic" run; and one 160m Grade III "legacy" run.
During the games the center was the venue for the canoe and kayak slalom events.
Lee Valley has since hosted the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships twice. First in 2015, and most recently in 2023, where Britain topped the medal table with 5 golds.
Football.
As of the 2024–25 season, there are four professional football teams in Hertfordshire: Watford, Stevenage, Arsenal WFC and Boreham Wood
Watford have played their home games at Vicarage Road since 1922. The club joined the Football League in 1920 as a founding member of the Third Division and first played in the First Division of English football in 1982, finishing as runners-up to champions Liverpool. Watford was promoted to the Premier League at the end of the 2020–2021 season. After spending one season in the Premier League, they were relegated to the Championship again for the 2022–2023 season.
Stevenage F.C. was formed in 1976 as Stevenage Borough and have played at Broadhall Way since 1980. Stevenage was the first club to win a competitive match at the new Wembley Stadium, beating Kidderminster Harriers 3–2 in the 2007 FA Trophy Final. The club currently play in the EFL League One and have been managed by former player Alex Revell since February 2020.
Arsenal, whilst based at the Emirates Stadium in the London Borough of Islington, has long held a training ground in the county. Until 1999, it held the London Colney University of London facility, until it built a new purpose-built compound adjacent to it. Watford FC currently utilises the old Arsenal training area as its training facility.
Arsenal W.F.C. play at Meadow Park in Borehamwood. The club was formed in 1987 and have played in the FA Women's Super League since its inaugural season in 2011.
Hertfordshire has many semi-professional and amateur clubs. The highest placed are Boreham Wood, Hemel Hempstead Town and St Albans City, who all play in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football.
Rugby.
Rugby league.
Hemel Stags are a rugby league team based in Hemel Hempstead. Hemel Stags have played at Pennine Way Stadium since the club's founding in 1981. Until 2018, the club played in league 1, the of the British rugby league system, and now compete in the Conference League South.
Rugby union.
The Hertfordshire Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in Hertfordshire and is responsible for any interested parties involved in rugby.
Tring Rugby play matches at Cow Lane, Tring. The first XV currently play in the Regional 1 South East, League. A league.
GAA.
Gaelic Football is played within Hertfordshire, with clubs from Oxfordshire all the way to Cambridge playing in the Hertfordshire League and Championship. Eire Óg, Oxford are the 2022 County Champions. Hurling is played by an amalgamated team, St Declan's CLG, with players contributed from all football teams across Hertfordshire. St Declan's currently play in the Warwickshire League and Championship, having previously played in the London GAA championship. A number of St Declan's players have also played for the Warwickshire Senior Hurling team, playing in the Lory Meagher and Nicky Rackard competitions, including Patrick Lancaster, Eamon Doherty, Alan Hayes, and Alex Hanley.
Landmarks.
Below is a list of notable visitor attractions in Hertfordshire:
Transport.
Hertfordshire is a home county with many towns forming part of the London commuter belt and has some of the principal roads in England including the A1, A1(M), A41, A414, M1, M11, and the M25.
Four principal national railway lines pass through the county:
A number of other local rail routes also cross Hertfordshire:
Three commuter lines operated by Transport for London enter the county:
The distance travelled by buses in Hertfordshire has reduced by 56.5% since 2017.
Stansted Airport and Luton Airport are both within of the county's borders in Essex and Bedfordshire, respectively. The commercial airfield at Elstree is for light aircraft.
The Grand Union Canal passes through Rickmansworth, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring.
Education.
Hertfordshire has 26 independent schools and 73 state secondary schools.
The state secondary schools are entirely comprehensive, although 7 schools in the south and southwest of the county are partially selective (see Education in Watford).
All state schools have sixth forms, and there are no sixth form colleges.
The tertiary colleges, each with multiple campuses, are Hertford Regional College, North Hertfordshire College, Oaklands College and West Herts College.
The University of Hertfordshire is a modern university based largely in Hatfield. It has more than 23,000 students.
Literature.
Hertfordshire is the location of Jack Worthing's country house in Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance of Being Earnest".
Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice" is primarily set in Hertfordshire.
The location of Mr Jarndyce's Bleak House in Charles Dickens's "Bleak House" is near St Albans.
The eponymous residence in E. M. Forster's novel "Howards End" was based on Rooks Nest House just outside Stevenage.
George Orwell based "Animal Farm" on Wallington, Hertfordshire, where he lived between 1936 and 1940. Manor Farm and The Great Barn both feature in the novel.
Notes.
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References.
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East of England
Region of England
The East of England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The northern part of the region, consisting of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, is known as East Anglia. Unlike many other regions of England, it is considered an informal region so is often considered either part of either the Southern England or Midlands grouping or a separate area of land in its own right, equivalent to the latter.
The population of the East of England in 2022 was 6,398,497. Bedford, Luton, Basildon, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea, Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford and Cambridge are the most populous settlements. Peterborough is the largest city in the East of England at 215,000. The southern part of the region lies in the London commuter belt.
Geography.
The East of England has the lowest elevation range in the UK. Twenty per cent of the region is below mean sea level, most of this in North Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and on the Essex Coast. Most of the remaining area is of low elevation, with extensive glacial deposits. The Fens, a large area of reclaimed marshland, are mostly in North Cambridgeshire. The Fens include the lowest point in the country in the village of Holme: 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) below mean sea level. This area formerly included the body of open water known as Whittlesey Mere. The highest point in the region is at Clipper Down at 817 ft (249 m) above mean sea level, in the far southwestern corner of the region in the Ivinghoe Hills.
Communities known as New Towns, responses to urban congestion and World War II destruction, appeared in Basildon and Harlow (Essex), as well as in Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire), in the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s, the Roskill Commission considered Cublington in Buckinghamshire, Thurleigh in Bedfordshire, Nuthampstead in Hertfordshire and Foulness in Essex as locations for a possible third airport for London. A new airport was not built, but a former Royal Air Force base at Stansted, which had previously been converted to civilian use redeveloped and expanded in the following decades.
Historical use.
The East of England succeeded the standard statistical region East Anglia (which excluded Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, then in the South East). The East of England civil defence region was identical to today's region.
East Anglia with Home Counties.
Essex, despite meaning East-Saxons, previously formed part of South East England, along with Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, a mixture of definite and debatable Home counties. The earliest use of the term is from 1695. Charles Davenant, in "An essay upon ways and means of supplying the war", wrote, "The Eleven Home Counties, which are thought in Land Taxes to pay more than their proportion..." then cited a list including these four. The term does not appear to have been used in taxation since the 18th century.
Despite The East Of England being an informal region, there are many theories of what grouping it falls into, with the most popular theories being that it falls into either the Southern England or Midlands grouping, with many parts of The East Of England falling into other definitions. Furthermore, due to The East Of England serving as the area of land between The Midlands and Southern England, there are many theories that several areas in The East Of England correspond to different groupings, the most popular belief being that there is an official divide between the northern side, East Anglia, and the southern side. This means the northern side, East Anglia, is considered the area of land within The East Of England that corresponds with The Midlands and the southern side is considered the area of land that corresponds with Southern England, backed by the idea that Hertfordshire and Essex are considered Home Counties. The latter counties can also be considered part of South East England for that reason.
Some native Eastern English citizens believe The East Of England should be its own independent state. This also came into play during the Brexit debacle where many citizens wanted Eastern England to leave The United Kingdom and become a separate state respectively to avoid the European Union split. However, these plans never came into fruition.
Climate.
East Anglia is one of the driest parts of the United Kingdom, with average rainfall ranging from . The area receives such low rainfall amounts because low pressure systems and weather fronts from the Atlantic lose a lot of moisture over land (and therefore are usually much weaker) by the time they reach Eastern England.
Winter (mid-November – mid-March) is mostly cool, but non-prevailing cold easterly winds can affect the area from the continent. These can bring heavy snowfall if the winds interact with a low-pressure system over the Atlantic or France. Northerly winds also can be cold but are not usually as cold as easterly winds. Westerly winds bring milder and, typically, wetter weather. Southerly winds usually bring mild air (if from the Atlantic or North Africa) but chill if coming from further east than Spain.
Spring (mid-March – May) is a transitional season that initially can be chilly but is usually warm by late-April/May. The weather at this time is often changeable (within each day) and occasionally showery.
Summer (June – mid-September) is usually warm. Continental air from mainland Europe or the Azores High usually leads to at least a few weeks of hot, balmy weather with prolonged warm to hot temperatures. The number of summer storms from the Atlantic, such as the remnants of a tropical storm, usually coincides with the location of the jet stream. The East tends to receive much less rain than the other regions.
Autumn (mid-September – mid-November) is usually mild with some days being very unsettled and rainy and others warm. At least part of September and early October in the East have warm and settled weather, but only in rare years is there an Indian summer where fine weather marks the entire traditional harvest season.
Dust devils were reported in Essex and Cambridgeshire on 17 August 2024, causing minor injuries and some disruption. These small whirlwinds, which form from the ground up, are less powerful than tornadoes. In Essex, they caused tents and gazebos to be lifted during a local event, resulting in minor injuries. Witnesses described the event as unexpected, noting that such phenomena are rare in the area.
Politics.
Elections.
In the 2015 general election there was an overall swing of 0.25% from the Conservatives to Labour and the Liberal Democrats lost 16% of its vote. All of Hertfordshire and Suffolk became Conservative. The region's electorate voted 49% Conservative, 22% Labour, 16% UKIP, 8% Liberal Democrat and 4% Green. Like other regions, the division of seats favours the dominant party in the region and the Conservatives had 52, Labour 4 (Cambridge, Luton South, Luton North and Norwich South), UKIP 1 (Clacton) and 1 Liberal Democrat (North Norfolk).
In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, the Conservatives gained Peterborough and Ipswich from Labour. They also gained North Norfolk from the Liberal Democrats but lost St Albans to Daisy Cooper.
Governance and regions.
East of England Plan.
The East of England Plan, a revision of the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England, was published on 12 May 2008. It was revoked on 3 January 2013.
Local government.
The official region consists of the following subdivisions:
Eurostat NUTS.
In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), the East of England was a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKH", which was subdivided as follows:
After the UK's departure from the EU, the UK NUTS regions were renamed as International Territorial Level regions in 2021.
History.
Civil War and the Protectorate.
The East of England was a major force and resource for Parliament and, in particular, in the form of the Eastern Association. Oliver Cromwell came from Huntingdon.
Second World War.
Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex played host to the American VIII Bomber Command and Ninth Air Force. The Imperial War Museum at Duxford has an exhibition, commemorating their participation and sacrifice, near to the M11 south of Cambridge.
Stansted Airport was RAF Stansted Mountfitchet, home to the 344th Bombardment Group. The de Havilland Mosquito was mainly assembled at Hatfield and Leavesden, although much of the innovative wooden structure originated outside the region from the furniture industry of High Wycombe; the Mosquito entered service in 1942 with 105 Sqn at RAF Horsham St Faith. RAF Tempsford in Bedford is the airfield from where SOE secret agents for Europe took off, with 138 Sqn which parachuted agents and equipment and 161 Sqn which landed and retrieved agents. 19 Sqn at Duxford was the first to be equipped with the Spitfire on 4 August 1938.
Cold War.
The 81st Tactical Fighter Wing was at RAF Bentwaters from January 1952 and also at RAF Woodbridge; in the late 1980s some of the aircraft went to RAF Alconbury. Alconbury closed in 1992 and Bentwaters closed in 1993, with the American air forces being in the area for 42 years; the USAF aircraft subsequently moved to Spangdahlem Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
At RAF Marham in west Norfolk, 214 Sqn with the Vickers Valiant developed the RAF's refuelling system; later the squadron would be equipped with the Handley Page Victor. Work on refuelling had also taken place at RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset.
From the 1950s, RAF Wyton was an important reconnaissance base for the RAF, mainly 543 Sqn. The base is now home of the Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre, previously known as JARIC, or the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre from 1956.
Official region.
The East of England region was officially created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999.
Healthcare.
NHS East of England, which was the strategic health authority for the area until the abolition of these areas in 2013, is on Capital Park, next to Fulbourn Tesco, Fulbourn Hospital, and the Cambridge-Ipswich railway, on the eastern edge of Cambridge. The East of England Ambulance Service is on Cambourne Business Park on Cambourne, of the A428 (the former A45) west of Cambridge. The East Anglian Air Ambulance operates from Cambridge Airport and Norwich Airport; Essex Air Ambulance operates from Boreham.
Economy.
The former electricity company for the area, Eastern Electricity, has the area's distribution now looked after by UK Power Networks at Fore Hamlet in Ipswich. UK Power Networks also looks after London and most of the South-East. Business Link in the East of England is near to the headquarters of Ocado in Hatfield, at the roundabout of the A1057 and the A1001 on the Bishops Square Business Park. The region's Manufacturing Advisory Service is at Melbourn in Cambridgeshire, off the A10 and north of Royston. UK Trade & Investment for the region is in Histon with its international trade team based next to Magdalene College.
Hertfordshire.
The Greater Watford area is home to British Waterways, Vinci (which bought Taylor Woodrow in 2008), the UK of the international firm Total Oil, retailers TK Maxx, Bathstore, Majestic Wine, Mothercare, Costco and Smiths Detection, Iveco, BrightHouse (at Abbots Langley), Leavesden Film Studios, Sanyo, Europcar, Olympus, Kenwood and Beko electronic goods manufacturers, Wetherspoons pub chains, the European HQ of the Hilton hotel group and Nestlé Waters; in Garston is the UK headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, on the A412 and the Building Research Establishment. Comet was previously, and Camelot Group (owners of the National Lottery) currently is, on the A4145, are in Rickmansworth. Ferrero (maker of Nutella and Kinder Chocolate) is in Croxley Green. Renault and Skanska (construction) are in Maple Cross.
Bedfordshire.
Moto Hospitality has its headquarters at Toddington in Bedfordshire (at the Toddington services).
Luton is home to EasyJet,(based at the airport), Hain Celestial Group (which makes Linda McCartney Foods and is based on the B579 in Biscot), Eurolines (UK office), Thomson Holidays (based at Wigmore on the eastern edge of the town) and Chevrolet (at Griffin House, the Vauxhall head office). At the 85-acre Capability Green off the A1081 and junction 10a of the M1, is the Stonegate Pub Company (owner of Scream Pubs, Yates's, Slug and Lettuce and Hogshead), InBev UK (which bought most of Whitbread's beer brands), Chargemaster (electric vehicle network under the POLAR brand), AstraZeneca's UK Marketing Company division and Alexon Group (ladies clothing). Vauxhall produced its last Vauxhall Vectra in March 2002 at the plant near the A6/A505 roundabout, and now makes vans (Vivaro/Renault Trafic) at the former Bedford Vehicles plant, based in the north of the town at the GM Manufacturing Luton plant.
East Anglia.
The economy in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk is traditionally mostly agricultural. Norfolk is the UK's biggest producer of potatoes. Nationally known companies include the RAC, Archant (publishing), Virgin Money and Aviva (formerly Norwich Union) in Norwich. In Carrow, to the east of the city, Colman's makes a wide range of mustards, and Britvic makes Robinsons squash, which was owned by Colman's until 1995. Across the River Yare near the A47/A146 junction in Trowse with Newton is May Gurney, the construction company. Bernard Matthews Farms has a large turkey farm on the former RAF Attlebridge in Weston Longville. Campbell Soup was made in Kings Lynn until 2008, and on the Hardwick Industrial Estate at the A47/A149 junction is PinguinLutosa the UK, which packs frozen vegetables, and Caithness Crystal.
Foster Refrigerator is the UK's leading manufacturer of commercial refrigerators and blast chillers, owned by Illinois Tool Works, based on the industrial estate; with Multitone Electronics, which has a manufacturing plant there, and which invented the pager in 1956, for St Thomas' Hospital; and Snap-on Diagnostics makes diagnostic tools for garages. British Sugar's Wissington is the world's largest sugar beet factory in Methwold, on the B1160 near the River Wissey. Lotus Cars and Team Lotus are on the eastern edge of the former RAF Hethel, east of Wymondham (A11) at Hethel (Bracon Ash). Jeyes Group makes household chemicals in Thetford, off the A134; Multiyork makes furniture and Baxter Healthcare has a manufacturing plant in the south of the town. Aunt Bessie vegetable products (roast potatoes) are made by Heinz at Westwick, in a factory built by Ross Group.
Around Cambridge on numerous science parks, are high technology (electronics and biochemistry) companies, such as ARM Holdings on Peterhouse Technology Park in the south-east of the town, Adder Technology (KVM switches) at Bar Hill at the A14/B1050 junction north of the town, Monsanto, Play.com on the Cambridge Business Centre. The Wellcome Trust Genome Campus has the European Bioinformatics Institute at Hinxton east of Duxford near the M11 spur for the A11. These form the so-called Silicon Fen. Marshall Aerospace is at Cambridge Airport on the A1303 in the east of the town, towards Teversham. South of the airport, Carl Zeiss NTS makes scanning electron microscopes in Cherry Hinton. Syngenta is to the east of Cambridge, on Capital Park at Fulbourn. Premier Foods has a large plant in Histon making Robertson's and Hartley's jam, Gale's honey, Smash instant potato, and Rose's marmalade. Addenbrooke's Hospital is a pioneering hospital in the UK, based at Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Universities.
The most famous university in the region is the University of Cambridge. The university has been officially rated as the best in the world in 2010. It has the second-best medicine course in the world, and in 2010 became the only university outside of the US to raise over £1 billion in charitable donations.
There are eight universities in the region. Cambridge hosts two universities: the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University. It is also the home of the Open University's East of England branch. Norwich also hosts two universities: the University of East Anglia and Norwich University of the Arts. There are also other towns and cities in the region which have universities including Bedford and Luton (University of Bedfordshire), Colchester (University of Essex) and Hatfield (University of Hertfordshire). Other higher education centres in the region include University Centre Peterborough, University of Suffolk and Writtle College.
The University of Cambridge receives almost three times as much funding as any other university in the region, due to its huge research grant—the largest in England (and the UK). The next largest, by funding, is UEA in Norwich. The University of Essex and Cranfield University also have moderately large research grants, but no other universities in the region do. The largest university by student numbers is ARU, and the next biggest is Cambridge. The smallest is Essex.
For total income to universities, Cambridge receives around £1 billion—around six times larger than any other university in the region. The University of Bedfordshire receives the least income. Cambridge has the lowest drop-out (discontinuation) rate in the region. Once graduated, over 50% of students stay in the region, with 25% going to London and 10% going to the South East. Very few go elsewhere—especially the North of England.
Sport.
Football.
During the nineteenth century, several formulations of the laws of football, known as the Cambridge rules, were created by students at the University. One of these codes, dating from 1863, had a significant influence on the creation of the original laws of The Football Association.
East of England's top representatives in the English football league system today are Ipswich Town, Norwich City, Watford and Luton Town, who have competed in the top flight at various points. Alongside teams Peterborough United, and Cambridge United.
Literature.
Children's author Dodie Smith lived near the town of Sudbury in Suffolk, and part of her famous novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians which inspired the Disney animated film of the same name takes place in the town at St Peter's Church.
Media.
Television.
Much of the region receives the BBC East and ITV Anglia television services, both based in Norwich (the BBC moving from All Saints' Green to The Forum in 2003, and Anglia remaining at its original base, Angia House.) These services broadcast from the Sandy Heath, Sudbury and Tacolneston transmitter groups. Some areas in close proximity to London, including Luton and south Essex, may receive their service from BBC London and ITV London; in addition, the Hemel Hempstead relay transmitter is a relay of the London services from Crystal Palace, bringing London television into parts of Hertfordshire. Northwestern parts of Norfolk including Kings Lynn receive a better TV signal from the Belmont transmitter that broadcast BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and ITV Calendar. Some editions of "Look East" and "ITV News Anglia" broadcast split news programming for the West (Home Counties) and East (East Anglia/Essex) of the region, with the West subregions broadcasting from Sandy Heath; the BBC's Western opt-outs are broadcast from studios in Cambridge, also the base of BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, whilst both versions of the ITV Anglia output have broadcast from Anglia House in Norwich since the split service was introduced in 1990.
References.
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Hertford
Town in Hertfordshire, England
Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, near its confluences with the rivers Mimram, Beane, and Rib. The Lea is navigable from the Thames up to Hertford. Fortified settlements were established on each side of the ford at Hertford in 913AD. The county of Hertfordshire was established at a similar time, being named after and administered from Hertford. Hertford Castle was built shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066 and remained a royal residence until the early seventeenth century.
Hertfordshire County Council and East Hertfordshire District Council both have their main offices in the town and are major local employers, as is McMullen's Brewery, which has been based in the town since 1827. The town is also popular with commuters, being only north of central London and connected to it by two railway lines.
Toponymy.
The earliest reference to the town appears in the "Ecclesiastical History of the English People", written by Bede in 731 AD, which refers to . is the Old English spelling of "hart", meaning a fully mature stag; thus the meaning of the name is a ford where harts are found. The Domesday Book of 1086 gives a spelling of .
History.
One possible earlier mention of the town was in 672 AD: the first synod of a number of the bishops in England was held either in Hertford or at Hartford, Cambridgeshire. The synod was called by Theodore of Tarsus; decisions included the calculation of the date of Easter.
The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" records that in 913AD, Edward the Elder ordered the construction of two burhs (earthwork fortifications) either side of the ford over the River Lea at Hertford as part of his campaign against the Danes.
By the time of the Domesday Book, Hertford had two churches, two markets and three mills. The Normans began work on Hertford Castle, and Hertford Priory was founded by Ralph de Limesy. King Henry II rebuilt the castle in stone, but in 1216, during the First Barons' War, it was besieged and captured after 25 days by Prince Louis of France. The castle was regularly visited by English royalty and in 1358, Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II, died there. The priory was dissolved in 1536 and subsequently demolished and in 1563, the Parliament of England met at the castle because of an outbreak of plague in London.
Hertford grew and prospered as a market and county town; communication was improved by the construction of the Lea Navigation Canal in 1767 and the arrival of the railway in 1843. The Port Hill drill hall was completed in 1898 and Yeomanry House was brought into military use in 1910.
Hartford, Connecticut is named after Hertford.
Governance.
Hertford has three tiers of local government at parish (town), district, and county level: Hertford Town Council, East Hertfordshire District Council, and Hertfordshire County Council, all three of which are based in the town.
Hertford has been the county town of Hertfordshire since the county was founded in Saxon times. The town also gave its name to the hundred of Hertford. The town was initially governed by the king's reeves. By the thirteenth century, the reeves had been replaced by a bailiff, elected by the burgesses. Charters of 1554 and 1589 established a common council of eleven chief burgesses and a bailiff. Another charter of 1605 changed the bailiff's title to mayor. Under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, Hertford became a Municipal borough; the ratepayers elected twelve councillors, who chose four aldermen, with the aldermen and councillors together composing the council (also known as the corporation), which elected the mayor.
The Hertford poor law union was established in 1835, covering the town and surrounding rural parishes.
Hertford Corporation used part of the Shire Hall as a Town Hall until 1911, when it moved into the surviving gatehouse of Hertford Castle.
Under the Local Government Act 1972, Hertford Municipal Borough was abolished, merging with other districts to become part of the district of East Hertfordshire with effect from 1 April 1974. A successor parish was created covering the former borough of Hertford, with its parish council taking the name Hertford Town Council. The town council is based at the former offices of the borough corporation at Hertford Castle.
The headquarters of Hertfordshire County Council is at County Hall, built in 1939 to replace the Shire Hall. East Hertfordshire District Council's offices almost adjoin County Hall, being at Wallfields, which prior to 1974 had been the offices of Hertford Rural District Council.
Arms.
From at least 1634, Hertford Corporation used an escutcheon (shield) depicting a hart above water to indicate a ford. The borough council was granted the right to complement its arms with a badge in 1925, and supporters were added in 1937. The coat of arms is now used by Hertford Town Council.
Geography.
Hertford is at the confluence of four river valleys: the Rib, Beane and Mimram join the River Lea at Hertford to flow east and then south toward the Thames as the Lee Navigation, after Hertford Castle Weir. The shared valley of the Lea and the Beane is called Hartham Common and this provides a large park to one side of the town centre running towards Ware and lying below the ridge upon which Bengeo is situated.
The town centre still has its medieval layout with many timber-framed buildings hidden under later frontages, particularly in St Andrew Street. Hertford suffers from traffic problems despite the existence of the 1960s A414 bypass called Gascoyne Way which passes close to the town centre. Plans have long existed to connect the A10 with the A414, by-passing the town completely. Nevertheless, the town retains very much a country-town feel, despite lying only north of Central London. This is aided by its proximity to larger towns such as Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Stevenage where modern development has been focused. <templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>
Economy.
A fair amount of employment in the town is centred on County Hall (Hertfordshire County Council), Wallfields (East Hertfordshire District Council) and McMullens Brewery, one of a dwindling number of independent pre-1970 family brewers in the United Kingdom. Many residents commute to work in London.
Hertford differs from neighbouring towns as it lacks a modern shopping development (mall). However, it has most of the usual supermarkets. A Tesco store occupies part of the former Christ's Hospital Bluecoat Girls School, which closed down in 1985. Sainsbury's opened a new store on part of the McMullens Brewery site in June 2012. A Waitrose occupied a reasonably large store in the Bircherley Green Shopping area that closed on 12 September 2017. The local branch of Woolworths closed for good on 27 December 2008, after the collapse of that store chain. There are fewer of the usual chain shops found in most high streets and this makes Hertford stand out from other "clone towns". There are a high number of independent shops in the town, with a variety of boutiques and salons.
Sport and leisure.
Hertford has a leisure centre and swimming pool, skatepark, bowling green and tennis courts on Hartham Common.
Football.
The town has a Non-League football club, Hertford Town F.C., which plays at Hertingfordbury Park. Hertford Town Youth FC, a FA Charter Standard Football Club, plays at County Hall Playing Fields, situated next to the headquarters of Hertfordshire County Council at County Hall in Hertford. Other clubs in the surrounding area include Bury Rangers, Hertford Heath Youth FC and Bengeo Tigers Football Club (an award-winning FA Charter Standard Community Football Club.)
Cricket.
Hertford Cricket Club is based in the town. Records for a Hertford club go back a far as 1825. However, the club in its present form has been in existence since 1860. The club plays its matches at Balls park, Hertford. Currently the club runs five teams and all the teams play in the local league.
Transport.
Rail.
Two railway stations serve Hertford - Hertford East and Hertford North. Transport for London Oyster cards are valid for payment and travel at both stations.
Hertford East.
Hertford East is the northwestern terminus of the Hertford East Branch Line.
Greater Anglia manages the station and operates trains between Hertford East and London Liverpool Street in the City of London.
The Hertford East Branch Line along with the West Anglia Main Line provide the town with direct connections to Ware, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, Tottenham Hale and Hackney Downs. At Broxbourne - the southeastern terminus of the branch line - the West Anglia Main Line runs northbound towards Bishop's Stortford, Audley End and Cambridge.
Hertford North.
Hertford North is on the Hertford Loop Line, a branch of the East Coast Main Line.
Great Northern operates trains northbound towards Watton-at-Stone and Stevenage. Southbound, Great Northern trains run towards London Moorgate in the City through Enfield Chase, Alexandra Palace, Finsbury Park and Highbury and Islington. Some timetabled services run southbound into London King's Cross instead of Moorgate.
North of Stevenage, trains run towards Hitchin, Peterborough, the North and Scotland, and towards Letchworth, Royston and Cambridge. South of Finsbury Park, services run towards King's Cross, London St Pancras, Farringdon, Gatwick Airport and Brighton.
Road.
The A10 runs north-south through the east of Hertford. Kingsmead Viaduct carries the A10 across the River Lea between Hertford and Ware. Southbound, the route runs towards the M25 London Orbital motorway and the City of London, through Cheshunt, Enfield and Tottenham. Northbound, the route runs towards King's Lynn in Norfolk via Buntingford, Royston, Cambridge and Ely.
The A414 runs east-west through Hertford, along Hertingfordbury Road, Gascoyne Way and London Road. The primary route runs eastbound towards the A10, Harlow, the M11 motorway, Chelmsford and Maldon. Westbound, the route carries traffic towards Hatfield, the A1(M) motorway, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead.
The A119 runs eastbound from Hertford into Ware. The route runs northbound from Hertford towards Watton-at-Stone and the A602 for Stevenage.
Bus and coach.
Hertford Bus Station lies to the east of Bircherley Street in Hertford town centre.
Long-distance routes through Hertford include:
Hertfordshire County Council manages the Intalink enhanced partnership which choreographs the local bus network. In January 2024, the local town network was connected into an integrated group of routes numbered H1-H6, operated by Vectare under the Central Connect brand.
Bus routes in Hertford include:
Cycling.
National Cycle Route 61 runs east-west through Hertford. Between Welwyn Garden City and Ware, through Hertford, the route is also known as Cole Green Way. The route's western terminus is near Taplow in Berkshire, near Slough and Maidenhead. To the east, NCR61 meets NCR1 near Hoddesdon.
Hertford is the northern terminus of the Lee Navigation and the associated towpath, which carries NCR61 for part of its route. The towpath's southern terminus is in Limehouse, East London. The cycle route passes through Ware, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Enfield Lock, Tottenham, Leyton and Hackney Wick.
River.
Hertford is the northern terminus of the navigable River Lea, which is managed by the Canal and River Trust. Southbound, the river runs towards Bromley-by-Bow in East London, through Ware, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Enfield Lock, Tottenham, Leyton and Hackney Wick. The river meets the navigable River Stort at Hoddesdon, which runs northbound through Harlow, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop's Stortford.
The Hertford Union Canal and the Limehouse Cut connect the Lee Navigation with the Regent's Canal in London.
Lee and Stort Boat Company runs a waterbus at various points throughout the year, with a route between Hertford and Ware.
Education.
Secondary schools in Hertford include the Sele School, Richard Hale School and Simon Balle All-through School (which also includes primary provision; other primary schools include Hollybush JMI, Millmead Community School, Bengeo Primary School, Morgans Primary School and Nursery, Abel Smith School (named after banker and MP Abel Smith (1788–1859)), St Andrew's School, St. Josephs RC School and Wheatcroft School.
Private schools include St. Joseph's in the Park in Hertingfordbury, Duncombe School, (a preparatory school in Bengeo) and Haileybury College in Hertford Heath.
Pinewood and Middleton Schools are special needs schools that are available in neighbouring Ware.
Former schools include The Pines JMI School, which was built on the Pinehurst estate in 1977 and closed in 2003.
Media.
Hertford is within the BBC London and ITV London region. Television signals are received from the Crystal Palace TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Three Counties Radio on 90.4 FM and Heart Hertfordshire on 106.9 FM. Hertford's local newspaper is the Hertfordshire Mercury.
Entertainment.
Hertford Theatre, previously known as Castle Hall, is a modern theatre, cinema and art gallery complex at The Wash in the town centre. The Hertford Corn Exchange is a building where entertainment such as comedy and art exhibitions take place. Hertford has many food, drink and entertainment establishments which have grown in number considerably since the eighties and nineties. It attracts people from nearby towns, and often the North London suburbs. There are approximately 25 pubs and clubs in the area, and around 35 restaurants, takeaways and snack bars.
Hertford also benefits from public swimming pool and gym facilities and a small skatepark, all situated on Hartham Common.
Town twinning.
Hertford is twinned with:
References.
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History of Hertfordshire
History of English county
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The history of Hertfordshire includes such a number of events of primary importance that it is somewhat difficult to make a selection of those most fitted to appear in the limited space available.
—Richard Lydekker, author of "Hertfordshire", writing in 1909.
Hertfordshire is an English county, founded in the Norse–Saxon wars of the 9th century, and developed through commerce serving London. It is a land-locked county that was several times the seat of Parliament. From origins in brewing and papermaking, through aircraft manufacture, the county has developed a wider range of industry in which pharmaceuticals, financial services and film-making are prominent. Today, with a population slightly over 1 million, Hertfordshire services, industry and commerce dominate the economy, with fewer than 2000 people working in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Hertfordshire is one of the historic counties of England first recorded in the early 10th century. Its development has been tied with that of London, which lies on its southern border. London is the largest city in Western Europe; it requires an enormous tonnage of supplies each day and Hertfordshire grew wealthy on the proceeds of trade because no less than three of the old Roman roads serving the capital run through it, as do the Grand Union Canal and other watercourses. In the 19th century, rail links sprang up in the county, linking London to the north. Hatfield in Hertfordshire has seen two rail crashes of international importance (in 1870 and 2000).
Though nowadays Hertfordshire tends to be politically conservative, historically it was the site of a number of uprisings against the Crown, particularly in the First Barons' War, the Peasants' Revolt, the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War. The county has a rich intellectual history, and many writers of major importance, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Beatrix Potter, have connections there. Quite a number of prime ministers were born or grew up in Hertfordshire.
The county contains a curiously large number of abandoned settlements, which K. Rutherford Davis attributes to a mixture of poor harvests on soil hard to farm, and the Black Death which ravaged Hertfordshire starting in 1349.
Early history.
The earliest evidence of human occupation in Hertfordshire come from a gravel pit in Rickmansworth. The finds (of flint tools) date back 350,000 years, long before Britain became an island.
People have probably lived in the land now called Hertfordshire for about 12,000 years, since the Mesolithic period in Ware (making Ware one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe). Settlement continued through the Neolithic period, with evidence of occupation sites, enclosures, long barrows and even an unusual dog cemetery in the region. Although occupied, the area had a relatively low population in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, perhaps because of its heavy, relatively poorly drained soil. Nevertheless, just south of present-day Ware and Hertford there is some evidence of an increase in the population, with typical round huts and farming activity having been found at a site called Foxholes Farm. There is no evidence of settlement at Hertford itself from this period, although Ware and perhaps Hertford seem to have been occupied during Roman times.
In the Iron Age, a Celtic tribe called the Catuvellauni occupied Hertfordshire. Their main settlement (or oppidum) was Verlamion on the River Ver (near present-day St Albans). Other "oppida" in Hertfordshire include sites at Cow Roast near Tring, Wheathampstead, Welwyn, Braughing, and Baldock. Hertfordshire contains several Iron Age hill forts, including the largest example in Eastern England at Ravensburgh Castle in Hexton.
There is a wealth of Iron Age burial sites in Hertfordshire, making it a place of international importance in Iron Age study. The large number of sites of all types indicates dense and complex settlement patterns immediately prior to the Roman invasion.
The Roman Invasion of Britain.
In 55 BCE when the Romans first attempted to invade Britain, the Catuvellauni (which is Brythonic for "Expert Warrior") were the largest British tribe. Caesar's report to the Senate said that "Cassivellaun" (Cassivellaunus) was leader of the Britons, and Cassivellaunus' headquarters were near Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire. On Caesar's second invasion attempt in 54 BCE, Cassivellaunus led the British defensive forces. The Romans besieged him at Wheathampstead, and partly because of the defection of the Trinovantes (whose King Cassivellaunus had had murdered), the Catuvellauni were forced to surrender. However, after the siege of Wheathampstead, Caesar returned to Rome without leaving a garrison.
Cunobelinus became king of the Catuvellauni in 9 or 10 CE and ruled for about thirty years, conquering such a large area of Britain that the Roman writer Suetonius called him "Britannorum Rex" ( "King of Britain"). He built Beech Bottom Dyke, a defensive earthwork, at St Albans, which may be related to another Iron Age defensive earthwork, the Devil's Dyke, at Cassivellaunus' headquarters in nearby Wheathampstead. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni again in July 43 CE and this time, garrisoned Britain. When the Romans took over, their settlement, laid out in 49 CE, became known as Verulamium. Alban, a Roman army officer who became Britain's first Christian martyr after his arrest at Chantry Island, died in the 3rd or 4th century and gave his name to the modern town of St Albans. Verulamium became one of Roman Britain's major cities, the third-largest and the only to be granted self-governing status. Strong though Verulamium's defences may have been, they were not enough to stop Boudica, who burned the city in 61 CE. Verulamium was rebuilt, with defences enclosing a site of some and was occupied into the 5th century.
A number of Roman Roads run through Hertfordshire including Watling Street and Ermine Street. The ancient trackway, the Icknield Way also runs through Hertfordshire. These are three of the "four highways" of medieval England (the other being the Fosse Way, which does not run through Hertfordshire) which were still the main routes through the country more than a thousand years later. The first Roman Road to be built was the Military Way, constructed very early in the Roman conquest to speed the troops' access north. Later, Ermine Street would be built directly on top of it.
Hertfordshire in the Early Middle Ages.
After the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain, the Hertfordshire area formed parts of the Kingdom of Mercia and the Kingdom of Essex. The main early Saxon tribes there seem to have been the "Hicce", "Brahhingas" and "Wæclingas". Place names tend to derive from Celtic rather than Saxon, and there is a "singular lack of Early Saxon place names." The Synod of Hertford, which was the first national Synod of the English Church, took place on 26 September 672–3. It was at this Synod that the "question of Easter" was settled, and the church agreed how to calculate the date of Easter. The Synod also marked the end of the conflict between the Celtic Church and the Romanised church introduced by Saint Augustine.
King Offa of Mercia (died 796) built a church at Hitchin in Hertfordshire, but it burned down in 910 CE and the monks moved to St Albans. Offa defeated Beornred of Mercia at Pirton, near Hitchin and gave his name to the village of Offley ("Offa's Lea"). Some sources (including Matthew Paris, who was a monk at St Albans) suggest he died at Offley, though he was buried fifteen miles away in Bedford. One of Offa's last acts was to found St Albans Abbey.
Origins of the county.
The word Hertfordshire (Saxon "Heorotfordscir" or "Heorotfordscír") is attested from 866. The first reference (as "Heoroford") in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" is for 1011, but the county's true origins lie in the 10th century, when Edward the Elder established two "burhs" in Hertford in 912 and 913 respectively.
Hertfordshire did not exist in any practical sense in the late 9th century. In the war between Saxon and Norseman, Hertfordshire was on the front line. When, after the Saxon victory in the Battle of Ethandun in 878, the Saxon King Alfred the Great and Norse King Guthrum the Old agreed to partition England between them, the dividing line between their territories split what was to become Hertfordshire almost through the middle, along the line of the River Lea and then along Watling Street. Their agreement survives in the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum which establishes the Danelaw's extent. It seems the land now comprising Hertfordshire was then partly in the Kingdom of Essex (nominally under Norse control, though still populated by Saxons) and partly in the Kingdom of Mercia (which remained Saxon).
Alfred was also responsible for building weirs on the River Lea at Hertford (Saxon "Heorotford", ford used by deer) and Ware (Saxon "Waras", weir), presumably to prevent Viking ships coming upriver. King Edgar the Peaceful is credited with making Hertford the capital of the surrounding shire, presumably between 973 and 975 CE.
Early Middle Ages.
Alfred died in 899, and his son Edward the Elder worked with Alfred's son-in-law, Æthelred, and daughter, Æthelflæd, to re-take parts of southern England from the Norse. During these campaigns he built the two "burhs" of Hertford as already noted. Their sites have not been found, and probably lie beneath the streets of Hertford itself. From Hertford, together with Stafford, Tamworth and Witham, Edward and Æthelflæd pushed the Danes back to Northumbria in a series of battles. Anglo-Saxon Hertford is an example of town planning as demonstrated by its organised rectangular grid street pattern.
There is considerable evidence of a mint in Hertford at this period. Edward the Martyr (from 975 to 978), Æthelred the Unready (from 978 to 1016) and Knut the Great (from 1016 to 1035) all had coins struck there. The mint itself has not been found, but many coins exist. Over 90% of these coins were found on the Continent or in Scandinavia, which may suggest they were used for payment of Danegeld.
The St Brice's Day massacre of 1002 probably started at Welwyn in Hertfordshire. The massacre was to be a slaughter of the Norse in England, including women and children. One of those executed was Gunhilde, the sister of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. He invaded England next year in retaliation. Forkbeard's assault on England lasted ten years, until 1013, when Æthelred fled to the continent. Forkbeard was crowned King of England on Christmas Day, but only reigned for five weeks before dying. Æthelred returned briefly and unsuccessfully until 1016, at which time he was succeeded by Forkbeard's son Knut, who granted the Royal Manor of Hitchin to his second in command, Earl Tovi.
High Middle Ages.
After the Norman Invasion, Edgar the Ætheling (the successor to Harold Godwinson) surrendered to William the Conqueror at Berkhamsted. William created the manor of Berkhamsted, and bestowed it on Robert, Count of Mortain, who was his half-brother. From Robert's son William de Mortain it passed to King Henry I, and is still owned by the royal family. Henry held court there in 1123.
The Domesday Book, completed in 1086, lists 168 settlements in Hertfordshire. Hertfordshire's population grew quickly from then until the Black Death reached the county in 1349. The Norman church at St Albans Abbey was finished in 1088.
Hertfordshire had a conflicted relationship with the King during the High Middle Ages. Like most counties in the south-east, most of Hertfordshire was in private (i.e. non-royal) ownership during the High Middle Ages. Royal land comprised about 7% of the county's area. The first Earl of Hertford, Gilbert de Clare, was so titled in 1138. He bore one of the first two sets of heraldic arms in England: three gold chevrons on a red shield. His grandson Richard de Clare once offered King John £100 in respect of legal proceedings concerning his inheritance, but then during the First Barons War he sided with the Barons against the King. Richard became one of the twenty-five Barons sworn to enforce Magna Carta, for which he was excommunicated in 1