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,Rook 1984, p. 20. 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"The Early Mesolithic Period" , Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 9 August 2009. in Ware (making Ware one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe)."Ware - The Story so Far " , Ware Online, retrieved 20 December 2012. Settlement continued through the Neolithic period, with evidence of occupation sites, enclosures, long barrows and even an unusual dog cemetery in the region.Williamson 2000, p. 23.Castleden 1992, pp. 123-126 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.Williamson 2000, p. 24. 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.Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 18. There is no evidence of settlement at Hertford itself from this period,Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 23. although Ware and perhaps Hertford seem to have been occupied during Roman times.Kiln & Partridge 1994, pp. 28-62.
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.Williamson 2000, p. 37. Hertfordshire contains several Iron Age hill forts, including the largest example in Eastern England at Ravensburgh Castle in Hexton."Tribes and Chieftains: The Iron Age" , Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 9 August 2009.
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.Cuncliffe 2005, p. 163.
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.Shields 2010, p. 13. Caesar's report to the Senate said that "Cassivellaun" (Cassivellaunus) was leader of the Britons, and Cassivellaunus' headquarters were near Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire.Shields 2010, p. 17. 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.Shields 2010, p. 18. 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,"British History Timeline", BBC, retrieved 5 May 2010. 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,Cunliffe 2005, p. 161. 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 CERobinson 1978, p. 3. and this time, garrisoned Britain. When the Romans took over, their settlement, laid out in 49 CE,Robinson 1978, p. 4. 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.Darvill et al. 2002, pp. 262-263 Strong though Verulamium's defences may have been, they were not enough to stop Boudica, who burned the city in 61 CE.Williamson 2000, p. 48. 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.Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 41.
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.Williamson 2000, p. 85. The main early Saxon tribes there seem to have been the Hicce, Brahhingas and Wæclingas.Williamson 2000, p. 64. Place names tend to derive from Celtic rather than Saxon, and there is a "singular lack of Early Saxon place names."Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 63. The Synod of Hertford, which was the first national Synod of the English Church, took place on 26 September 672–3.Robinson 1978, p. 7. 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.Page 1959, p. 16.
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.Shields 2010, p. 20. Offa defeated Beornred of Mercia at Pirton, near Hitchin and gave his name to the village of Offley ("Offa's Lea").Lydekker 1909, p. 78. 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.Keynes 1991, p. 133. One of Offa's last acts was to found St Albans Abbey.Shields 2010, p. 25.
Origins of the county
The word Hertfordshire (Saxon "Heorotfordscir" or "Heorotfordscír") is attested from 866.Shields 2010, p. 26. The first reference (as "Heoroford") in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is for 1011,Robinson 1978, p. 12. 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.Williamson 2000, p. 90. 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,Page 1959, p. 19. 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.Williamson 2000, p. 92. 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."The Later Anglo-Saxon Period" , Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 31 July 2009.
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 Cnut the Great (from 1016 to 1035) all had coins struck there.Robinson 1978, p. 11. 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.Kiln & Partridge 1994, appendices.
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.Stenton 1971, p. 380. 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.Shields 2010, p. 29.
High Middle Ages