HATFIELD, town in Hertfordshire, England, 171 m. N. of London by the L.N.E. railway. Pop. (1921) 5,695. The church of St. Etheldreda contains an Early English round arch with the dog-tooth moulding, but the rest is Decorated and Perpendicular. The Salisbury chapel, north of the chancel, built by Robert Cecil, first earl of Salisbury, is of classic and Gothic styles. In the vicinity is Hatfield House, close to the site of a palace of the bishops of Ely erected in the 12th century. From this palace comes the proper form of the name of the town, Bishop's Hatfield. In i S38 the manor was resigned to Henry VIII. by Bishop Thomas Goodrich of Ely, in exchange for certain lands in Cambridge, Essex and Norfolk; and after that monarch the palace was suc cessively the residence of Edward VI., Queen Elizabeth, during the reign of her sister Mary, and of James I., who exchanged it in i6o7 for Theobalds, near Cheshunt, an estate of Robert Cecil, earl of Salisbury, in whose family Hatfield House has since re mained. The west wing built in 16o8-11 was destroyed by fire in 1835 when the dowager marchioness of Salisbury, widow of the 1st marquess, was burnt. Hatfield House was built, and has been restored and maintained, in the richest style of its period. Some i 5th century buildings are now used as offices. The park is i o m. in circumference. Beyond the river Lea is an example of a monks' walled vineyard. Pop. of rural district (1931)