Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the
home counties
The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
in southern
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It borders
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
and
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
to the north,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
to the east,
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
to the south, and
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
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
Hart often refers to:
* Hart (deer)
Hart may also refer to:
Organizations
* Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer
* Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer
* Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores
* Hart's Reptile Wo ...
(stag) and a
ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
, as represented on the county's coat of arms and on the
flag.
Hertfordshire County Council
Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, ...
is based in Hertford, once the main
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
and the current county town. The largest settlement is
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
.
Since 1903
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249.
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
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
,
Stevenage,
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
and
St Albans (the county's only
''city'') each having between 50,000 and 100,000 residents.
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
,
Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River.
Hoddesdon ...
and
Cheshunt
Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, ...
are close behind with around 47,000 residents.
Elevations are higher in the north and west, reaching more than in the
Chilterns near
Tring
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
. The county centres on the headwaters and upper valleys of the rivers
Lea
Lea or LEA may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lea River, Tasmania, Australia
* Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows
* RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA"
England
* Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish
* Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...
and the
Colne
Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds.
The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...
; both flow south, and each is accompanied by a canal. Hertfordshire's undeveloped land is mainly agricultural, with much of it protected by
green-belt policies.
Services
Service may refer to:
Activities
* Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty
* Civil service, the body of employees of a government
* Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
have become the largest sector of the county's economy. Hertfordshire is well served with motorways and railways for access to London, the
Midlands and the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
.
See the
List of places in Hertfordshire
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
and also
List of settlements in Hertfordshire by population
This is a list of settlements in Hertfordshire ordered by population based on the results of the 2001 and 2011 censuses. In 2011 there were 35 settlements with 5,000 or more inhabitants in Hertfordshire. The next United Kingdom census will tak ...
articles for extensive lists of local places and districts.
History
The county's landmarks span many centuries, ranging from the
Six Hills
The Six Hills are a collection of Roman barrows situated alongside the old Great North Road on Six Hills Common in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. They are classed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are protected by law. They form the lar ...
in
Stevenage built by local inhabitants during the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
period, to
Leavesden Film Studios
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in South East England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film an ...
. 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
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
.
In 913, Hertfordshire was the area assigned to a fortress constructed at
Hertford under the rule of
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin ...
. Hertford is derived from the
Anglo-Saxon ''heort ford,'' meaning
deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
crossing (of a watercourse). The name Hertfordshire is first recorded in the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' 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
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymously ...
. It was first farmed during the
Neolithic period
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
and permanent habitation appeared at the beginning of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. This was followed by tribes settling in the area during the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
.
Following the
Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, the aboriginal
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 ...
quickly submitted and adapted to the Roman life; resulting in the development of several new towns, including
Verulamium
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
(St Albans) where in c. 293 the first recorded British martyrdom is traditionally believed to have taken place.
Saint Alban
Saint Alban (; la, Albanus) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs rec ...
, 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
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
. By the 6th century, the majority of the modern county was part of the
East Saxon
la, Regnum Orientalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Saxons
, common_name = Essex
, era = Heptarchy
, status =
, status_text =
, government_type = Monarch ...
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
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879) Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era= Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ...
. 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
Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin ...
, in his reconquest of Norse-held lands in what was to become
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, established a "
burh
A burh () or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constr ...
" or fort in Hertford, which was to curb Norse activities in the area. His father,
King Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who ...
, established the River Lea as a boundary between his kingdom and that of the Norse lord
Guthrum
Guthrum ( ang, Guðrum, c. 835 – c. 890) was King of East Anglia in the late 9th century. Originally a native of what is now Denmark, he was one of the leaders of the "Great Summer Army" that arrived in Reading during April 871 to join forces ...
, with the north and eastern parts of the county being within the
Danelaw
The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...
. 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 king
This is a list of Monarchy of Denmark, Danish monarchs, that is, the kings and queens regnant of Denmark. This includes:
* The Kingdom of Denmark (up to 1397)
** Personal union of Denmark and Norway (1380–1397)
* The Kalmar Union (1397–1536) ...
s
Swein Forkbeard and
Cnut the Great
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...
harried the country as part of their attempts to undermine and overthrow English king
Athelred the Unready.
A century later,
William of Normandy
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...
received the surrender of the surviving senior English Lords and Clergy at
Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...
, resulting in a new Anglicised title of
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
, before entering London unopposed and being crowned at
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
. Hertfordshire was used for some of the new Norman castles at
Bishop's Stortford, and at
King's Langley
Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The villa ...
, a staging post between London and the royal residence of
Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...
.
The
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
recorded the county as having nine
hundreds.
Tring
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
and
Danais became one
Dacorum
The Borough of Dacorum is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England that includes the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring and Kings Langley. The district, which was formed in 1974, had a population of 137,799 in 2001. I ...
from Danis Corum or Danish rule harking back to a
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
not
Saxon past. The other seven were
Braughing
Braughing is a village and civil parish, between the rivers Quin and Rib, in the non-metropolitan district of East Hertfordshire, part of the English county of Hertfordshire. Braughing gave its name to a county division in Hertfordshire, kn ...
,
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 the 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
Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house, a leading example of the prodigy house, was built in 1611 by Robert Cec ...
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
Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
to London.
As London grew, Hertfordshire became conveniently close to the English capital; much of the area was owned by the
nobility
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...
and
aristocracy, this
patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
helped to boost the local economy. However, the greatest boost to Hertfordshire came during the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
, after which the population rose dramatically. In 1903,
Letchworth
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249.
Letchworth ...
became the world's first
garden city and
Stevenage became the first town to redevelop under the
New Towns Act 1946
The New Towns Acts were a series of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to found new settlements or to expand substantially existing ones, to establish Development Corporations to deliver them, and to create a Commission to wind up the ...
.
The first shooting-down of a
zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
over Great Britain during WW1 happened in Cuffley.
From the
1920s until the late
1980s, the town of
Borehamwood
Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...
was home to one of the major British
film studio complexes, including the
MGM-British Studios
MGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established (as MGM London Films Denham) at Denham Film Studios in 1936. It was in limbo during the Second World War; however, following the end of hostilities, a facility was acquire ...
. Many well-known films were made here including the first three ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' movies (
IV,
V, &
VI). The studios generally used the name of
Elstree
Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...
. American director
Stanley Kubrick not only used to shoot in those studios but also lived in the area until his death. ''
Big Brother UK
''Big Brother'' is the British version of the international reality television franchise '' Big Brother'' created by producer John de Mol in 1997. Broadcast yearly from 2000 to 2018, and due to return in 2023, the show follows the format of ot ...
'' and ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and l ...
'' have been filmed there. ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
'' is filmed at Elstree. Hertfordshire has seen development at
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in South East England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film ...
; the
''Harry Potter'' series was filmed here and the 1995 James Bond film ''
GoldenEye
''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the se ...
''.
On 17 October 2000, the
Hatfield rail crash
The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. It was caused by a metal fatigue-induced derailment, killing four people and injuring more than 70.
The accident exposed major stewardship shortco ...
killed four people with over 70 injured. The crash exposed the shortcomings of
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
, which consequently saw speed restrictions and major track replacement. On 10 May 2002, the fourth of the
Potters Bar rail accidents
There have been four railway accidents at Potters Bar (England). Those in 1898 and 1946 were signals passed at danger. The accident in 2002 led to substantial public debate and a national change in policy relating to maintenance of infrastru ...
occurred killing seven people; the train was 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, the
2005 Hemel Hempstead fuel depot explosions occurred at the
Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal.
Geography
Hertfordshire is the county immediately north of London and is part of the
East of England region, a mainly statistical unit.
To the east is
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, to the west is
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
and to the north are
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
and
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
. A significant minority of the population across all districts
commute
Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to:
* Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work
Mathematics
* Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...
to
Central London.
The county's boundaries were roughly fixed by the
Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844
The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. ...
which eliminated
exclaves; amended when, in 1965 under the
London Government Act 1963
The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...
,
East Barnet Urban District
East Barnet Valley was a local government district from 1863 to 1965 around the town of East Barnet. It was partly in the counties of Hertfordshire and Middlesex until 1889, when the Middlesex part was transferred to Hertfordshire. It was renamed ...
and
Barnet Urban District
Barnet was a local government district in south Hertfordshire from 1863 to 1965 around the town of Barnet.
Creation
Barnet Local Government District was created on 25 September 1863, after the town's ratepayers decided to adopt the Local Govern ...
were abolished, their area was transferred to form part of the present-day
London Borough of Barnet
The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest London borough ...
and the
Potters Bar Urban District
Potters Bar Urban District was a local government district in England from 1894 to 1974, covering the town of Potters Bar and the village of South Mimms. The district was initially called the South Mimms Rural District, being renamed in 1934.
...
of
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
was transferred to Hertfordshire.
The highest point in the county is at (
AOD) on
the Ridgeway
The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countryside
The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ...
long distance national path, on the border of
Hastoe
Hastoe (Halstowe or Halstoe in the 13th century) is a hamlet in the civil parish of Tring. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, 1.7m south of the town of Tring in the county of Hertfordshire and on the county boundary with Buckinghamshire.
The hi ...
near
Tring
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
with
Drayton Beauchamp
Drayton Beauchamp (pronounced 'Beecham') is a village and civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the east of the county bordering Hertfordshire, about six miles from Aylesbury and two miles from Tring ...
, Buckinghamshire.
At the 2011 census, among the county's ten districts,
East Hertfordshire
East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and the other main towns are Ware, Bunti ...
had the lowest population density (290 people per km
2) and
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
the highest (4210 per km
2). Compared with neighbouring Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire lacks large towns or cities on the scale of
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...
or
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
, whose populations exceed 200,000, but its overall population (approximately 1 million) is greater than those of the two aforementioned counties.
The
River Lea near
Harpenden runs through
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 ...
, Welwyn Garden City, Hertford, Ware, and Broxbourne before reaching
Cheshunt
Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, ...
and ultimately the River Thames. The far west of the county is the most hilly, with the
Chiltern Hills surrounding
Tring
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
,
Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...
and the Ashridge estate. This
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of ...
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
Kings Langley is a village, former Manorialism, manor and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part o ...
,
Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and ...
,
St. Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of 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 r ...
, Harpenden,
Radlett,
Borehamwood
Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...
,
Potters Bar
Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...
, Stevenage,
Hatfield,
Welwyn
Welwyn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, to distinguish it from the much newer and larger ...
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
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
period, and there are ruins from the Roman settlement of
Verulamium
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
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
Bishops Stortford, along with
Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
* Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
* Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County ...
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
The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon.
The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's Stor ...
. This river rises in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
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
The genus ''Pulsatilla'' contains about 40 species of herbaceous perennial plants native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Derived from the Hebrew word for Passover, "pasakh", the common name pasque flower refers to the ...
is among endemic
county flower
In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to ...
s.
Geology
The rocks of Hertfordshire belong to the great shallow
syncline known as the
London Basin
The London Basin is an elongated, roughly triangular sedimentary basin approximately long which underlies London and a large area of south east England, south eastern East Anglia and the adjacent North Sea. The basin formed as a result of compre ...
. The beds dip in a south-easterly direction towards the syncline's lowest point roughly under the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
. The most important formations are the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
, exposed as the high ground in the north and west of the county, forming the
Chiltern Hills and the younger
Palaeocene,
Reading Beds
The Reading Formation is a geologic formation in southern England. It dates to the Paleocene period, and is part of the Lambeth Group. It overlies the London Basin and is below the Harwich Formation. The formation is composed of "a series of len ...
and
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...
,
London Clay
The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 56–49 million years ago) age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from t ...
which occupy the remaining southern part. The eastern half of the county was covered by glaciers during the
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
and has a superficial layer of glacial
boulder clay
Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...
s.
Natural resources and environment
Much of the west – and much more in the east – have richly diverse countryside.
[''Hertfordshire A Landscape History'' Anne Rowe, Tom Williamson (2013), University of Hertfordshire Press at Introduction, e-page 18 https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Hertfordshire/rBleCUlsT_oC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT18] These range from beech woods of the
Chilterns, clayland
buffer zone countryside of Braughing and the Hadhams across to
ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...
hornbeam
Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Origin of names
The common English name ''hornbeam ...
coppices
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their tree stump, stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems ...
west of the upper Lea valley.
[ The county has sweeping panoramas of chalklands near Royston, ]Baldock
Baldock ( ) is a historic market town and unparished area in the local government district of North Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire, England, where the River Ivel rises. It lies north of London, southeast of Bedford, and north n ...
, Hexton
Hexton is a small village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, about west of Hitchin.
This parish is a salient of Hertfordshire jutting northwards into Bedfordshire. The southern half of the parish is part of the chalky downs of the Ch ...
and Tring
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
.[
Large parts of the county are used for agriculture.
Some ]quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...
ing of sand and gravel occurs around St Albans. In the past, clay has supplied local brick-making and still does in Bovingdon
Bovingdon is a village in Hertfordshire, England, southwest of Hemel Hempstead, and it is a civil parish within the local authority area of Dacorum. It forms the largest part of the ward of Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield, which had a ...
, just south-west of Hemel Hempstead. The chalk that is the bedrock of much of the county provides an aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteris ...
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
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
* Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
* Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County ...
, using the New River built by Hugh Myddleton
Sir Hugh Myddelton (or Middleton), 1st Baronet (1560 – 10 December 1631) was a Welsh clothmaker, entrepreneur, mine-owner, goldsmith, banker and self-taught engineer. The spelling of his name is inconsistently reproduced, but Myddelton appea ...
and opened in 1613. Local rivers, although small, supported developing industries such as paper production at Nash Mills
Nash Mills is a civil parish within Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum Borough Council on the northern side of the Grand Union Canal, formerly the River Gade, and in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead. There is evidence of a mill in this locati ...
.
Hertfordshire affords habitat for a variety of flora and fauna. A bird once common in the shire is the Hooded Crow
The hooded crow (''Corvus cornix''), also called the scald-crow or hoodie, is a Eurasian bird species in the genus ''Corvus''. Widely distributed, it is found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle Eas ...
, 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
Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae.
Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf v ...
, based in Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
and Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...
supported by reliable, clean chalk rivers.
Urban areas
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
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...
and Finmeccanica) MBDA, develops missiles. In the same town, Airbus Defence and Space, Airbus (Defence & Space Division) produces satellites.
Hatfield was where de Havilland developed the first commercial jet liner, the de Havilland Comet, Comet. Now the site is a business park and new campus for the University of Hertfordshire. This major employment site notably hosts EE (telecommunications company), EE, Computacenter and Ocado groceries and other goods e-commerce.
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
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
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
* Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
* Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County ...
and Stevenage.
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
has large premises of Dixons Carphone.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the trade association for UK pharmacies, is based in St Albans.
Kings Langley
Kings Langley is a village, former Manorialism, manor and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part o ...
has the plant-office of Pure Digital, Pure, making Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB digital radios.
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
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 (construction), Vinci and Beko. The 2006 World Golf Championship and the 2013 Bilderberg Conference, took place at The Grove, Watford, The Grove hotel. Warner Bros. owns and runs its main UK base since the 2000s, Warner Studios, in Leavesden, Watford.
Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and ...
hosts Skanska.
Television
Local news is provided by BBC London & ITV London, however northern parts of the county receive BBC East & ITV Anglia from Cambridge.
Sport
In 2012, the Broxbourne (canoeing venue), canoe and kayak slalom events of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place in Waltham Cross, Broxbourne (borough), Broxbourne.
Football
As of the 2021–22 season, there are four Professionalism in association football, professional football teams in Hertfordshire: Watford F.C., Stevenage F.C., Arsenal W.F.C. and Boreham Wood F.C.
Since 1922, Watford play their home games at Vicarage Road. 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 1982–83 Watford F.C. season, 1982, finishing as runners-up to champions Liverpool F.C., 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 Two and have been managed by former player Alex Revell since February 2020.
Arsenal F.C., 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 (Borehamwood), Meadow Park in Borehamwood
Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly know ...
. The club was formed in 1987 and have played in the FA Women's Super League since its inaugural season in 2011 FA WSL, 2011.
Hertfordshire has many semi-professional and amateur clubs. The highest placed are Hemel Hempstead Town F.C., Hemel Hempstead Town and St Albans City F.C., St Albans City, who play one division lower in the National League South.
Rugby
Rugby league
Hemel Stags are a rugby league team based in Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
. Hemel Stags have played at Pennine Way Stadium since the club's founding in 1981. Until 2018, the club played in League 1 (rugby league), league 1, the British rugby league system#Tier 3: League 1, third tier 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 English rugby union system#Level 5: Regional 1 South East, level 5 league.
Landmarks
Below is a list of notable visitor attractions in Hertfordshire:
* Aldenham Country Park
* Ashridge – the estate surrounding the neo-Gothic house by James Wyatt (not open to the public) is National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust land.
** Bridgewater Monument, built in 1832 in memory of Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. tall and open to the public to ascend to the top
* Berkhamsted Castle
* Cedars Park, Broxbourne – historic park once the site of James I's favourite residence, Theobalds Palace. Maintained by Broxbourne Services and the Friends of Cedars Park.
* de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, between London Colney and South Mimms
* Frogmore Paper Mill, Apsley, Hertfordshire, Apsley
* Hatfield
** Hatfield House
Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house, a leading example of the prodigy house, was built in 1611 by Robert Cec ...
– Jacobean house, gardens and park
** Mill Green Watermill in Hatfield
* Henry Moore Foundation, Much Hadham – sculpture park on the work of Henry Moore
* Knebworth House, of country park, venue of many rock and pop festivals
* Leavesden Film Studios
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in South East England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film an ...
, home of the Warner Bros. ''Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, Making of Harry Potter'' studio tour
* Letchworth Garden City – the world's first Garden city movement, Garden City. Site of the first planned Green Belt, the UK's first roundabout, and a number of experiments in early town planning and house and factory design
** Spirella Building
* Magic Roundabout (Hemel Hempstead) – a complex road junction
* Royston Cave – in Royston town centre
* Rye House Gatehouse in Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River.
Hoddesdon ...
(part of the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II of England, King Charles II)
* St Albans
** Beech Bottom Dyke – large-scale Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
defensive or boundary ditch
** Sopwell Nunnery
** St Albans Cathedral
** Verulamium
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
– Ancient Rome, Roman town remains, including museum of Roman life and the remains of a Roman amphitheatre
* Scott's Grotto, Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
* Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
* Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County ...
* Shaw's Corner, Ayot St Lawrence – home of George Bernard Shaw
* Stevenage – the first UK New towns in the United Kingdom, New Town
** Six Hills
The Six Hills are a collection of Roman barrows situated alongside the old Great North Road on Six Hills Common in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. They are classed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are protected by law. They form the lar ...
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
barrows site
* Therfield Heath – a local nature reserve in the north of the county
* University of Hertfordshire – a public research university based in Hatfield
* Welwyn Roman Baths
* Welwyn Viaduct to the north of Welwyn Garden City
* Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum, Tring
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
– a museum-annotated collection of dead mammals, birds, reptiles and insects
* Watford Museum, fine art and local artefacts
Main footpaths
*The Ridgeway
*Icknield Way Path, Icknield Way
*Grand Union Canal 145 mile Race, Grand Union Canal Walk
*Icknield Way Path, Harcamlow Way
*Hertfordshire Way
*Hertfordshire Chain Walk
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 road (Great Britain), A1, A1 road (Great Britain), A1(M), A41 road, A41, A414 road, A414, M1 motorway, M1, M11 motorway, M11, and the M25 motorway, M25.
Four principal national railway lines pass through the county:
* the West Coast Main Line from . Avanti West Coast operates high speed InterCity (British Rail), intercity services via to the Midlands, North Wales, the North West England and Scotland. West Midlands Trains provides local commuter and regional services.
* the East Coast Main Line from . Local commuter and regional services are provided by Govia Thameslink Railway. London North Eastern Railway runs high speed intercity services via to the east coast of Northern England and Scotland
* the Midland Main Line which forms part of the Thameslink, Thameslink route between Bedford railway station, Bedford and Brighton railway station, Brighton via Central London with services are provided by Govia Thameslink Railway. East Midlands Railway provide intercity services along the line from St Pancras railway station, London St Pancras to the East Midlands and Yorkshire
* the West Anglia Main Line from Liverpool Street station, London Liverpool Street. Local commuter and regional services are provided by Greater Anglia (train operating company), Greater Anglia mainly in the east of the county
A number of other local rail routes also cross Hertfordshire:
* the London to Aylesbury Line from Marylebone railway station, London Marylebone runs via Rickmansworth station, Rickmansworth and Chorleywood station, Chorleywood
* the Abbey Line, a local line from Watford to
* the Cambridge Line, a branch of the East Coast line which runs via Royston railway station, Royston and Letchworth Garden City railway station, Letchworth to
Three commuter lines operated by Transport for London enter the county:
* the Lea Valley Lines, a suburban metro line from Liverpool Street to Cheshunt railway station, Cheshunt via Seven Sisters railway station, Seven Sisters
* the Watford DC Line, a suburban metro line from Euston to Watford Junction
* five stations on the London Underground Metropolitan line
Stansted Airport and Luton Airport are both within of the county's borders. The commercial airfield at Elstree
Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of t ...
is for light aircraft.
The Grand Union Canal passes through Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and ...
, Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
, Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
, Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...
and Tring
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
.
Education
Hertfordshire has 26 independent schools and 73 state secondary schools.
The state secondary schools are entirely comprehensive school, comprehensive, although 7 schools in the south and southwest of the county are partially selective school (England), partially selective (see Watford#Education, 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 (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.
See also
* Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire
* High Sheriff of Hertfordshire
* Custos Rotulorum of Hertfordshire – Keeper of the Rolls
* Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency) – Historical list of MPs for Hertfordshire constituency
* List of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom#Hertfordshire, List of Jewish communities in Hertfordshire
* Hertfordshire GAA
* The Hundred Parishes
Notes
References
External links
*
Hertfordshire County Council website
{{authority control
Hertfordshire,
Non-metropolitan counties
Home counties
Counties of England established in antiquity