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Wheathampstead
Wheathampstead is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north of St Albans. The population of the ward at the 2001 census was 6,058. Included within the parish is the small hamlet of Amwell. History Settlements in this area were made about 50 BC by Belgic invaders. They moved up the rivers Thames and Lea from what is now Belgium. Evidence for them was found in Devil's Dyke, at the eastern side of Wheathampstead. The Devil's Dyke earthworks are part of the remains of an ancient settlement of the Catuvellauni and thought to have been the tribe's original capital. The capital was moved to Verlamion (which after the Roman conquest the Romans would rename Verulamium, which in turn would become modern St Albans) in about 20 BC. Although silver Republican coins dating back to 100 BC are common finds around the verulam settlement. The Devil's Dyke is reputedly where Julius Caesar defeated Cassivellaunus in 54 BC, although this claim is disputed. Some historians suggest ...
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Harpenden
Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. Harpenden is a commuter town, with a direct rail connection through Central London and property prices well over triple the national average. History There is evidence of pre-Roman Belgic farmers in the area. In 1867 several items were found including a bronze escutcheon, rams-head shaped mounts, and a bronze bowl. There are Roman remains in land around Harpenden, for instance the site of a mausoleum in the park at Rothamsted. A tumulus near the river Lea was opened in the 1820s and it contained a stone sarcophagus of Romano-Celtic origin. Five objects dating from around 150 AD, were inside including a glass jug with a Mediterranean stamp and samian ware dishes used for libations. Up to the 13th century the area of the parish cons ...
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Devil's Dyke, Hertfordshire
Devil's Dyke is the remains of a prehistoric defensive ditch which lies at the east side of the village of Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England. It is protected as a Scheduled Monument. It is generally agreed to have been part of the defences of an Iron Age settlement belonging to the Catuvellauni tribe of Ancient Britain. It has possible associations with Julius Caesar's second invasion of Britain (54 BC) Description Historic England refers to the Devil's Dyke as being part of a much larger site. Other sources are more specific as to what sort of earthwork it may be, suggesting that the dyke protects one side of an oppidum (a large fortified Iron Age settlement) covering about 40 ha. The area is marked as a "Belgic oppidum" on Ordnance Survey maps. Although recent archaeological studies have proven the main 'devil's dyke' ditch, the deepest part of what was assumed to be defensive ditches, around the settlement, was in fact the only part to have such ditches. It was though ...
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St Helen's Church, Wheathampstead
St Helen's Church is the oldest church in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England, although the date of its origins is unknown. The wooden Anglo-Saxon structure pre-dated the Norman conquest of England, but no records survive which establish the date upon which it was founded. It is a Grade I listed building. Restoration was begun during the early part of the 13th century, the original Saxon church having become dilapidated. The Normans rebuilt and lengthened the chancel in around 1238. The east window triple lancets which still survive in the structure today date from this time as do the window and doorway with its dog-tooth decoration on the north side of the sanctuary. However, from the Lincoln Cathedral Registry—Wheathampstead fell with the See of Lincoln until 1845—the building of the central tower dates to about 1290 AD, which is the first definitive date that can be ascribed to the church. St. Helen's is built of flint rubble, or Totternhoe clunch, with flint facing ...
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City Of St Albans
The City and District of St Albans () is a local authority district in Hertfordshire in the East of England region. The main urban settlements are St Albans and Harpenden. The council offices are in St Albans. History St Albans City and District is a non-metropolitan district and city created on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the Municipal Borough of St Albans, the Harpenden Urban District and most of St Albans Rural District. The municipal borough had had city status since 1877 and it was granted to the entire district by letters patent on 9 July 1974. Geography The district is in the west of Hertfordshire, bounded on the north west by Luton, on the north east by North Hertfordshire, on the east by Welwyn Hatfield, on the south by Hertsmere, on the south west by Watford and Three Rivers and on the west by Dacorum. The largest urban settlement is St Albans, followed in size by Harpenden, with lesser settlements at Redbourn, Wheathampstead, London Colney, Chiswell Green an ...
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Hitchin And Harpenden (UK Parliament Constituency)
Hitchin and Harpenden is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Bim Afolami, a Conservative. History The constituency was created for the 1997 general election from parts of several former Hertfordshire seats. Prior to 1997, Hitchin was included in the abolished North Hertfordshire constituency and Harpenden in the St Albans constituency, while the village of Wheathampstead was part of the Welwyn Hatfield constituency. The seat's first MP was Peter Lilley, a former Secretary of State for various government departments in the Major ministry in the 1990s, who had previously represented St Albans from 1983 to 1997. He announced he would not contest the seat at the 2017 general election. He was succeeded in 2017 by Bim Afolami of the Conservatives, who retained it at the 2019 general election, albeit with a reduced majority. Boundaries 1997–2010: The District of North Hertfordshire wards of Ashbrook, Bearton, Cadwell, Highbury ...
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Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For government statistical purposes, it forms part of the East of England region. Hertfordshire covers . It derives its name – via the name of the county town of Hertford – from a hart (stag) and a ford, as represented on the county's coat of arms and on the flag. Hertfordshire County Council is based in Hertford, once the main market town and the current county town. The largest settlement is Watford. Since 1903 Letchworth has served as the prototype garden city; Stevenage became the first town to expand under post-war Britain's New Towns Act of 1946. In 2013 Hertfordshire had a population of about 1,140,700, with Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford and St Albans (the county's only ''city'') each having between 50,000 and 100,000 r ...
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Verlamion
''Verlamion, or Verlamio, was a settlement in Iron Age Britain. It was the centre of Tasciovanus' power and a major center of the Catuvellauni from about 20 BC until shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43. Its location was on Prae Hill, 2 km to the west of modern St Albans. Etymology The etymology is uncertain: perhaps the name means "settlement above the marsh", or " ettlement ofUerulamos road-Hand in Brittonic.Isaac, G. R., "Place-Names in Ptolemy's Geography: An electronic data base with etymological analysis of the Celtic name-elements (2004). The elements *wer- and *lamā- meant "high" and "hand" respectively in Common Brittonic (*-i- is adjectival, denoting a place, and *-on is the usual o-stem neuter suffix). An alternative etymology may be guessed via back construction from modern Welsh, as bank of the (River) Ver, where Ver could mean short, or be a contracted form of Veru, or Berw, meaning a foaming or bubbling river (cf Berwyn). Iron age It is believed tha ...
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Catuvellauni
The Catuvellauni (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī'', "war-chiefs") were a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century. The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their kings before the conquest can be traced through ancient coins and scattered references in classical histories. They are mentioned by Cassius Dio, who implies that they led the resistance against the conquest in AD 43. They appear as one of the ''civitates'' of Roman Britain in Ptolemy's ''Geography'' in the 2nd century, occupying the town of Verlamion (modern St Albans) and the surrounding areas of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and southern Cambridgeshire. Their territory was bordered to the north by the Iceni and Corieltauvi, to the east by the Trinovantes, to the west by the Dobunni and Atrebates, and to the south by the Regni and Cantiaci. Name The name 'Catuvellauni' (Common Brittonic: *''Catu-wellaunī/Catu-uellaunī'', 'war-chiefs, ...
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Cassivellaunus
Cassivellaunus was a historical British military leader who led the defence against Julius Caesar's second expedition to Britain in 54 BC. He led an alliance of tribes against Roman forces, but eventually surrendered after his location was revealed to Julius Caesar by defeated Britons. Cassivellaunus made an impact on the British consciousness. He appears in British legend as Cassibelanus, one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's kings of the Britons, and in the '' Mabinogion'', the ''Brut y Brenhinedd'' and the Welsh Triads as Caswallawn, son of Beli Mawr. Name The Common Brittonic personal name ''Cassiuellaunos'' stems from the word ''uellaunos'' ('chief, commandant'). The meaning of the prefix ''cassi-'' has been debated, but it possibly signifies 'tin, bronze'. Cassivellaunus may thus been translated as 'Chief-of-Tin', that is to say 'the inflexible'. The personal name ''Ver-cassivellaunus'' ('True-Chief-of-Tin') is related. History Cassivellaunus appears in Julius Caesar's ''Co ...
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River Lea
The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames. The river's significance as a major east–west barrier and boundary has tended to obscure its importance as north–south trade route. Below Hertford the river has since medieval times had alterations made to make it more navigable for boats between the Thames and eastern Hertfordshire and Essex, known as the Lee Navigation. This stimulated much industry along its banks. The navigable River Stort, the main tributary, joins it at Hoddesdon. While the lower Lea remains somewhat polluted, its upper stretch and tributaries, classified as chalk streams, are a major source of drinking water for London. An artificial waterway known as the New River, opened in 1613, ...
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St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman Britain, Roman road of Watling Street for travellers heading north and became the city of Verulamium. It is within the London commuter belt and the Greater London Built-up Area. Name St Albans takes its name from the first British saint, Saint Alban, Alban. The most elaborate version of his story, Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', relates that he lived in Verulamium, sometime during the 3rd or 4th century, when Christians were suffering persecution. Alban met a Christian priest fleeing from his persecutors and sheltered him in his house, where he became so impressed with the priest's piety that he converted to Christianity. When the authorities searched Alban's house, he put on the priest's cloa ...
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Edward The Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeeded Cnut the Great's son – and his own half-brother – Harthacnut. He restored the rule of the House of Wessex after the period of Danish rule since Cnut conquered England in 1016. When Edward died in 1066, he was succeeded by his wife's brother Harold Godwinson, who was defeated and killed in the same year by the Normans under William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. Edward's young great-nephew Edgar the Ætheling of the House of Wessex was proclaimed king after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 but was never crowned and was peacefully deposed after about eight weeks. Historians disagree about Edward's fairly long 24-year reign. His nickname reflects the traditional image ...
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