Hertfordshire

HERTFORDSHIRE (abbr. Herts.; pron. haht'ford-shir), a county of England, bounded N. by Cambridgeshire, N.W. by Bed fordshire, E. by Essex, S. by Middlesex, and S.W. by Bucking hamshire. The area is 634.6 sq.m., and is generally undulating. The north-west of the county consists of a line of chalk hills, an extension of the Chilterns, which sink gradually towards the north-east. Within the county they seldom exceed a height of 600 feet. The hills drop steeply to the north-west, and west of Tring in the south and Ashwell in the north the chalk is covered by gault clay. The chalk dips gently south-eastward until, south of St. Albans and Hertford, it disappears beneath the Eocene Reading beds, which consist of yellow clays and sands, and Lon don clay. A great part of the area is covered with glacial gravels, clays and loams. The river Lea, rising near Luton, flows south east to Hatfield, east by north to Ware, and then south to the Thames, forming part of the eastern boundary of the county. It receives a number of tributaries on the north side, one of which, the Stort, forms the boundary with Essex. In the south west the river Colne flows past Watford on its way to join the Thames at Staines.

Finds of artefacts point to the human occupation of the open chalk uplands, with their abundance of flints from very early times. This occupation was continued through the Bronze age, as is evidenced by finds of celts, palstaves and socketed axes. Along the chalk hills from Tring to Royston ran the ancient track of the Icknield way. About the beginning of the Christian era Verulamium was the centre of one group of British tribes, and here coins were minted, numbers of which have been found in Hertfordshire. After the Roman Conquest it became an im portant Roman station on the Watling street from London to the north-west. The east of the county was likewise crossed from near Waltham Cross to Royston by Ermine street. From Verulamium, in the direction of Tring, ran Akeman street, while Stane street, coming from Colchester, entered the county at Bishop's Stortford, and crossed it in the direction of Baldock. The East Saxons in the 6th century settled about Hertford, which in 673 was sufficiently important to be the meeting place of a synod, while in 675 the Witenagemot assembled at a place identi fied with Hatfield. In 793 Offa of Mercia founded a Benedictine abbey at St. Albans. In the 9th century the district was frequently visited by the Danes ; and after the peace of Wedmore the country east of the Lea was included in the Dane-law.

After the battle of Hastings William advanced on Hertford shire and ravaged as far as Berkhampstead, where the Conquest received its formal ratification. In the confiscation of estates which followed, the church was generously endowed, the abbey of St. Albans alone holding 172 hides, while Count Eustace of Boulogne, the chief lay tenant, held a vast fief in the north-east of the county.

As a shire Hertfordshire is of purely military origin, being the district assigned to the fortress which Edward the Elder erected at Hertford. It is first mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle in I OI I . At the time of the Domesday survey the boundaries were approxi• mately those of the present day, but part of Meppershall, in Bed fordshire, formed a detached portion of the shire and is still assessed for land and income tax in Hertfordshire. Of the nine Domesday hundreds, those of Danais and Tring were consoli dated about 1200 under the name of Dacorum ; the modern hun dred of Cashio, from being held by the abbots of St. Albans, was known as Albaneston, while the remaining six hundreds cor respond with those of the present day.

Hertfordshire was originally divided between the dioceses of London and Lincoln. In 1291 that part included in the Lincoln diocese formed part of the archdeaconry of Huntingdon and comprised the deaneries of Berkhampstead, Hitchin, Hertford and Baldock, and the archdeaconry and deanery of St. Albans; while that part within the London diocese formed the deanery of Braughing within the archdeaconry of Middlesex. After the Conquest a large number of religious houses were founded; the Benedictines established priories for monks and nuns, the Austin canons established a house at Royston in 118o and the Gilbertines one at Hitchin two centuries later. The Hospitallers and Templars were both established in the county during the 1 zth century and the mendicant orders also had friaries here.

Scene of Civil Wars.

During the war between John and his barons, the king's army ravaged Hertfordshire, and in 1216 Hertford castle was captured and Berkhampstead castle be sieged by Louis of France, who had come over by invitation of the barons. At the time of the rising of 1381 the abbot's tenants broke into the abbey of St. Albans and forced the abbot to grant them a charter. The county was the scene of much fighting during the Wars of the Roses. On the outbreak of the Civil War of the 17th century, Hertfordshire joined with Bedfordshire and Essex in petitioning for peace, and St. Albans was at times the headquarters of the Parliamentarians. In 1535 the jurisdic tion of St. Albans had been transferred to the London diocese, the division being otherwise unchanged. In 1846 the whole county was placed within the diocese of Rochester and archdeaconry of St. Albans, and in the next year the deaneries of Welwyn, Ben nington, Buntingford, Bishop Stortf ord and Ware were created, and that of Braughing abolished. In 1864 the archdeaconries of Rochester and St. Albans were united under the name of the archdeaconry of Rochester and St. Albans. In 1878 the county, except for a few small parts in the dioceses of London, Oxford and Ely, was placed in the newly created diocese of St. Albans, and formed the archdeaconry of St. Albans, the deaneries being un changed.

Hertfordshire was closely associated with Essex from the time of its first settlement, and the counties paid a joint fee-farm and were united under one sheriff until 1565, the shire court being held at Hertford. The hundred of St. Albans was at an early date constituted a separate liberty, with independent courts and cor oners under the control of the abbot. In 1290 Hertfordshire re turned two members to parliament, and in 1298 the borough of Hertford was represented. St. Albans, Bishop Stortford and Berk hampstead acquired representation in the 14th century, but from to 1553 no returns were made for the boroughs. St. Albans regained representation in 1553 and Hertford in 1623. Under the Reform Act of 1832 the county returned three members. St. Albans was disfranchised on account of bribery in 1852. Hert ford lost one member in 1868, and the other by the act of 1885.

Waltham Cross marks the spot where rested the body of Eleanor, queen of Edward I., on its way to Westminster for interment. Among the churches may be mentioned those of Abbots Langley and Hemel Hempstead, both of Late Norman architecture; Baldock, a mixed Gothic building supposed to have been erected by the Knights Templars in the reign of Stephen; Royston, formerly connected with the priory of canons regular; Hitchin of the 15th century; Hatfield, dating from the 13th cen tury but in the main later; Berkhampstead, chiefly in the Per pendicular style, with a tower of the 16th century. Sandridge church shows Norman work with the use of Roman bricks; Wheathampstead church, mainly Decorated, has pre-Norman re mains. The remains of secular buildings of importance are those of Berkhampstead castle, Knebworth, the seat of the Lyttons, originally a Norman fortress, rebuilt in the time of Elizabeth in the Tudor style and restored in the 19th century and Rye House, associated with the plot to assassinate Charles II. Hatfield House is the seat of the marquis of Salisbury; Cashiobury House, of the earls of Essex; Gorhambury House was the home of the Bacons, and Panshanger House of the Cowpers.

Hertfordshire has always been an agricultural county, with few manufactures, and at the time of the Domesday survey its wealth was derived almost entirely from its rural manors, with their water meadows, woodlands, fisheries paying rent in eels, and water-mills, the shire on its eastern side being noticeably free from waste land. In Norman times the woollen trade was con siderable, and the great corn market at Royston has been famous since the reign of Elizabeth. At the time of the Civil War the malting industry was largely carried on, and saltpetre was pro duced in the county. In the 17th century Hertfordshire was famous for its horses, and the i 8th century saw the introduction of several minor industries, such as straw-plaiting, paper-making and silk weaving.

In 1926 the acreage under crops and grass was 313,033, and 185,982 ac. of this was arable land. Wheat, oats and barley are, in the order named, the chief grain crops. The other plants with large acreages are root crops, potatoes and beans. The acreage of rotation grasses and clover for hay was 28,983. In the south west large quantities of cherries, apples and strawberries are grown for the London market ; and on the best soils near London vegetables are forced by the aid of manure, and more than one crop is sometimes obtained in a year. A considerable industry lies in the growth of watercresses in the pure water of the upper parts of the rivers and the smaller streams. There are several rose gardens and nurseries. There are some very rich pastures on the banks of the Stort, and also near Rickmansworth on the Colne. Some two-thirds of the area occupied by green crops is under turnips, swedes and mangolds, many cows being kept for the supply of milk and butter to London. Of cows the most common breed is the Suffolk variety; of sheep, Southdowns, Wiltshires and a cross between Cotteswolds and Leicesters. The manufactur ing industries are slight ; though the great brewing establishments at Watford may be mentioned, and straw-plaiting, paper-making, tanning and brick-making are carried on in various towns. The chalk is sometimes burned for lime and the marl used for cement.

Transport Facilities.

Owing to its proximity to the metrop olis, Hertfordshire is particularly well served by railways. On the eastern border there is the L.N.E. (Cambridge line) with branches to Hertford and to Buntingford, while another L.N.E. line passes through the centre by Hatfield, Stevenage and Hitchin, with branches from Hatfield to Hertford, to St. Albans and to Luton and Dunstable, and from Hitchin to Baldock, Royston and so to Cambridge. One line of the L.M.S. passes through St. Albans and Harpenden, with a branch to Hemel Hempstead ; another traverses the south-west by Watford, Berkhampstead and Tring, with branches to Rickmansworth and to St. Albans. The Metro politan and Great Central joint line serves Rickmansworth, and suburban lines of the L.N.E. the Barnet district. The existence of these communications has caused many villages to become large residential centres. Water communications are supplied from Hertford, Ware and Bishop Stortford, southward to the Thames by the Lea and Stort Navigation; and the Grand Junction canal from London to the north-west traverses the south-western corner of the county by Rickmansworth and Berkhampstead. Three great highways from London to the north traverse the county. The Holyhead road passes Chipping Barnet, South Mimms and St. Albans, quitting the county near Dunstable. The Great North road branches from the Holyhead road at Barnet, and passes Potter's Bar, Hatfield, Stevenage and Baldock, with a branch from Welwyn to Hitchin and beyond. Another road follows the Lea valley to Ware, whence it runs to Royston, coincident with the Roman Ermine street and known as the Old North road.

The area of the administrative county is 404,523 ac., with a population of 401,159. The municipal boroughs are Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, St. Albans (a city) and Watford. The county is in the home circuit and assizes are held at Hertford. It has two courts of quarter sessions. All the civil parishes within m. of, or in which no portion is more than 15 m. from Charing Cross, London, are included in the Metropolitan police district. It is divided into five parliamentary divisions—Hemel Hemp stead, Hertford, Hitchin, St. Albans, Watford—each returning one member.

See Sir H. Chauncy, Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire (Lon don, 1700; 2nd ed., Bishop Stortford, 1826) ; N. Salmon, History of Hertfordshire (1728) ; R. Clutterbuck, History and Antiquities of the County of Hertford (1815-2 7) ; J. E. Cussans, History of Hertford shire (187o-81) ; Victoria County History, Hertfordshire (1902, etc.) ; see also "Visitation of Hertfordshire, 1572-1634," in Harleian Society's Publ., vol. xvii.; rst Interim Report, Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments: Hertfordshire (1910), and Royal Commission on His torical Monuments: Inventory of Hertfordshire (1910).