HITCHIN, a market town in Hertfordshire, England, on the small river Hiz, 32 m. N. from London by the L.N.E.R. Pop. of urban district (1931) 14,382. It is the junction of the main line with the Cambridge branch, and with a branch to Bedford. The church of St. Mary is Perpendicular, with a fine porch and a painting of the Adoration of the Magi, attributed to Rubens. Hitchin priory is a mansion on the site of a Carmelite foundation of the early 14th century. A Gilbertine nunnery, founded later in the same century, stood adjacent to the church, and portions of the buildings appear in an existing block of almshouses. The grammar school (163 2) was reconstituted in for boys and girls. Hide curing, and the cultivation and distillation of lavender and peppermint are carried on.