150-528: Berkhamsted ( / ˈ b ɜːr k əm s t ɛ d / BUR -kəm-sted ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire , England, in the Bulbourne valley , 26 miles (42 km) 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 of Hemel Hempstead . Berkhamsted, along with the adjoining village of Northchurch ,
300-525: A Site of Special Scientific Interest . Agriculture is more dominant to the south of the town; close to the Buckinghamshire border there are two former large country estates, Ashlyns and Rossway . The ancient woodland at Dickshills is also located here. The layout of Berkhamsted's centre is typical of a medieval market settlement: the linear High Street (aligned on the Akeman Street) forms the spine of
450-873: A grocer 's apprentice, played a zealous and prominent part in the English Civil War , both in England and in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland . He participated as a lieutenant colonel in Pride's Purge of the Long Parliament (December 1648), arguably the only military coup d'état in English history, and commanded the Parliamentary Guard at the trial of King Charles I at Westminster Hall in 1649. During Cromwell's Protectorate, he appropriated Berkhamsted Place. Shortly after
600-544: A skinner and a baker/butcher. In the 14th century, Berkhamsted (recorded as "Berchamstede") was considered to be one of the "best" market towns in the country. In a survey of 1357, Richard Clay was found to own a butcher's shop twelve feet (four metres) wide, William Herewood had two shops, and there were four other shops eight feet (two metres) in length. In 1440, there is a reference to lime kilns. The town benefited when Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall , founded Ashridge Priory in 1283, two miles (three kilometres) away and within
750-596: A zeppelin over Great Britain during WW1 happened in Cuffley. From the 1920s until the late 1980s , the town of Borehamwood was home to one of the major British film studio complexes, including the MGM-British Studios . Many well-known films were made here including the first three Star Wars movies ( IV , V , & VI ). The studios generally used the name of Elstree . American director Stanley Kubrick not only used to shoot in those studios but also lived in
900-530: 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
1050-791: A disturbance or fire. Birches are early tree species to become established in primary successions , and can become a threat to heathland if the seedlings and saplings are not suppressed by grazing or periodic burning. Birches are generally lowland species, but some species, such as Betula nana , have a montane distribution. In the British Isles , there is some difference between the environments of Betula pendula and Betula pubescens , and some hybridization, though both are "opportunists in steady-state woodland systems". Mycorrhizal fungi , including sheathing (ecto)mycorrhizas, are found in some cases to be beneficial to tree growth. A large number of lepidopteran insects feed on birch foliage. Because of
1200-536: A fair proportion of handsome residences". The town's population increased as "hundreds of men arrived to build the railway line and needed lodging"; by 1851, the population was 3,395, From 1850 large estates around Berkhamsted were sold, allowing for housing expansion. In 1851 the Pilkington Manor estate, east of Castle Street, was sold, and the land developed both as an industrial area and for artisans' dwellings. In 1868 streets of middle-class villas began to appear on
1350-577: A grass- sedge fen. In the 6th Millennium BC the dense deciduous forest became well established. By the Mid to late 3rd millennium BC during the Neolithic period (the New Stone Age) human activity can be seen in wood clearances; the woodland being then dominated by lime trees , with alder trees growing on the flood plain . The River Bulbourne , a chalk stream , runs through the valley for 7 miles (11 km) in
1500-400: A half-anther. Anther cells open longitudinally. The pistillate segments are erect or pendulous, and solitary, terminal on the two-leaved lateral spur-like branchlets of the year. The pistillate scales are oblong-ovate, three-lobed, pale yellow-green often tinged with red, becoming brown at maturity. These scales bear two or three fertile flowers, each flower consisting of a naked ovary. The ovary
1650-425: 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 Bishop's Stortford , along with Ware and the county town of Hertford are major settlements in this regard. The physical geography of eastern Hertfordshire
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#17328444242541800-518: A major iron production centre, now considered to be one of the most important late Iron Age and Roman industrial areas in England. Iron production led to the settlement of a Roman town at Cow Roast , about two miles (three kilometres) northwest of Berkhamsted. Four Roman first century AD iron smelting bloomeries at Dellfield (one mile (two kilometres) northwest of the town centre) provide evidence of industrial activity in Berkhamsted. Production ceased at
1950-668: 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 period, and there are ruins from the Roman settlement of Verulamium 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
2100-529: A parliamentary report of 1777 refers to a parish workhouse for up to 34 inmates in Northchurch. A small "wretched, straw-thatched" house was used to house poor families in Berkhamsted, on the corner of what is now Park View Road, until it was demolished in the 1820s. In 1831 a bequest of £1,000 by the Revd George Nugent led to a new parish workhouse being set up on the site of a workhouse which had operated in
2250-646: A row of tenements on the High Street (at the Kitsbury Road junction) known as Ragged Row. The "Berkhampstead Poor Law Union" was formed in June 1835 covering ten parishes centred on the town. The Union took over the existing Berkhamsted parish workhouse, and by August 1835 it had become the sole workhouse for the union. The workhouse had no schoolroom, so in 1849 the Poor Law Board recommended that pauper children be sent to
2400-454: A significant social and financial impact on the town. Men and women from the town joined her service, such as Robert Incent who became her secretary and whose memorial brass can still be seen in St Peter's Church in Berkhamsted. Mother to both Edward IV and Richard III , grandmother to Edward V , and mother in law to Henry VII , she was the last person to live in the castle. In 1833, the castle
2550-566: A slightly weeping habit. Other species with ornamental white bark include Betula ermanii , Betula papyrifera , Betula pendula and Betula raddeana . In the European Union, a prescription gel containing birch bark extract (commercial name Episalvan , betulae cortex dry extract (5–10 : 1); extraction solvent: n -heptane 95% (w/w)) was approved in 2016 for the topical treatment of minor skin wounds in adults. Although its mechanism of action in helping to heal injured skin
2700-524: A southeast direction, starting at Dudswell and the adjoining village of Northchurch and running through Berkhamsted, Bourne End and Boxmoor , where it merges with the River Gade at Two Waters in Apsley , near Hemel Hempstead. Rich in eels and other fish, it was fast-moving and full, and prone to frequent localised flooding. The river created a marsh environment (at times referred to as an 'unhealthy swamp') in
2850-567: A state school, whose history began as the Foundling Hospital established in London by Thomas Coram in 1742; and Ashridge Executive Education , a business school offering degree level courses, which occupies the Grade I listed neo-Gothic Ashridge House . The earliest recorded spelling of the town's name is the 10th century Anglo-Saxon Beorhðanstædæ . The first part may have originated from either
3000-408: A vineyard. The total population was calculated to be either 37 or 88 households; the families included 14 villagers, 15 smallholders, 6 slaves, a priest, a dyke builder (possibly working on the earthworks of the castle) and 52 burgesses . Some historians have argued that the number of 52 burgesses in Berkhamsted was a clerical error, as it is a large number for a small town. Berkhamsted was described in
3150-465: Is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties . It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Watford , and the county town is Hertford . The county has an area of 634 square miles (1,640 km ) and had a population of 1,198,800 at
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#17328444242543300-453: Is a small samara , although the wings may be obscure in some species. They differ from the alders ( Alnus , another genus in the family) in that the female catkins are not woody and disintegrate at maturity, falling apart to release the seeds, unlike the woody, cone-like female alder catkins. The bark of all birches is characteristically marked with long, horizontal lenticels , and often separates into thin, papery plates, especially upon
3450-502: Is also the UK base of multi-nationals Hilton Worldwide , TotalEnergies , TK Maxx , Costco , JJ Kavanagh and Sons , Vinci and Beko . The 2006 World Golf Championship and the 2013 Bilderberg Conference , took place at The Grove hotel . Warner Bros. owns and runs its main UK base since the 2000s, Warner Studios, in Leavesden, Watford. Rickmansworth hosts Skanska . Most of the county
3600-666: Is compressed, two-celled, and crowned with two slender styles; the ovule is solitary. Each scale bears a single small, winged nut that is oval, with two persistent stigmas at the apex. Betula species are organised into five subgenera. Note: many American texts have B. pendula and B. pubescens confused, though they are distinct species with different chromosome numbers. The common name birch comes from Old English birce , bierce , from Proto-Germanic * berk-jōn (cf. German Birke , West Frisian bjirk ), an adjectival formation from * berkōn (cf. Dutch berk , Low German Bark , Danish birk , Norwegian bjørk ), itself from
3750-596: Is divided between the National Trust and Berkhamsted Golf Club. Beyond the common is the 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) historic wooded parkland of Ashridge ; once part of Berkhamsted Castle 's hunting park, it is now managed by the National Trust. Ashridge is part of the Chilterns Beechwood Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a nationally important nature conservation area, and is also designated as
3900-466: Is elongated and follows the valley's topography. The southwest side of the valley is more developed, with side streets running up the steep hillside; on the northeast side, the ground gently slopes down to the castle, railway, canal and small river, was less available for development. Today, Berkhamsted is an affluent, "pleasant town tucked in a wooded fold in the Chiltern Hills "; with a large section of
4050-552: Is encircled by countryside, much of it in the Chiltern Hills which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The High Street is on a pre-Roman route known by its Saxon name: Akeman Street . The earliest written reference to Berkhamsted was in 970. The settlement was recorded as a burbium ( ancient borough ) in the Domesday Book in 1086. The most notable event in the town's history occurred in December 1066. After William
4200-400: Is fair. The flowers are monoecious , and open with or before the leaves. Once fully grown, these leaves are usually 3–6 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 8 – 1 ⁄ 4 in) long on three-flowered clusters in the axils of the scales of drooping or erect catkins or aments. Staminate catkins are pendulous, clustered, or solitary in the axils of the last leaves of the branch of the year or near
4350-600: Is highly adaptive and able to sustain harsh conditions with casual indifference. Proof of this adaptability is seen in its easy and eager ability to repopulate areas damaged by forest fires or clearings. Birches are also associated with Tír na nÓg , the land of the dead and the Sidhe , in Gaelic folklore, and as such frequently appear in Scottish, Irish, and English folksongs and ballads in association with death, or fairies, or returning from
4500-639: Is less elevated than the far west, but with lower rising hills and prominent rivers such as the Stort . This river rises in Essex 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,
4650-840: Is named after the birch. The generic name Betula is from Latin , which is a diminutive borrowed from Gaulish betua (cf. Old Irish bethe , Welsh bedw ). Within Betulaceae, birches are most closely related to alder. The oldest known birch fossils are those of Betula leopoldae from the Klondike Mountain Formation in Washington State, US, which date to the early Eocene ( Ypresian ) around 49 million years ago. Birches often form even-aged stands on light, well-drained, particularly acidic soils . They are regarded as pioneer species , rapidly colonizing open ground especially in secondary successional sequences following
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4800-493: Is not clear. Rare Anglo-Saxon pottery dating from the 7th century onwards has been found between Chesham Road and St John's Well Lane, with water mills near Mill Street in use from the late 9th century, show that an Anglo-Saxon settlement existed in the centre of modern-day Berkhamsted. The nearest known structural evidence of the Anglo-Saxon period are in the south and west walls of St Mary's Northchurch, one mile (two kilometres) to
4950-526: Is not fully understood, birch bark extract appears to stimulate the growth of keratinocytes which then fill the wound. Preliminary research indicates that the phytochemicals , betulin and possibly other triterpenes , are active in Episalvan gel and wound healing properties of birch bark. Over centuries, birch bark was used in traditional medicine practices by North American indigenous people for treating superficial wounds by applying bark directly to
5100-560: Is served by BBC London & ITV London , however Stevenage and North Hertfordshire is served by BBC East & ITV Anglia . Some northwestern parts of the county around Tring can also receive BBC South and ITV Meridian . Local radio for the county is provided by BBC Three Counties Radio , BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (covering Royston ), Heart Hertfordshire , Greatest Hits Radio Bucks, Beds and Herts (formerly Mix 96), Mix 92.6 (formerly Radio Verulam St. Albans) and Community Radio Dacorum (Hemel Hempstead). Local newspapers in
5250-628: Is supplied to London from Ware , using the New River built by Hugh Myddleton and opened in 1613. Local rivers, although small, supported developing industries such as paper production at Nash Mills . Hertfordshire affords habitat for a variety of flora and fauna. A bird once common in the shire is the hooded crow , the old name of which is the eponymous name of the regional newspaper, the Royston Crow published in Royston . A product, now largely defunct,
5400-468: Is the bedrock of much of the county provides an aquifer 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
5550-490: The 2021 census . After Watford (131,325), the largest settlements are Hemel Hempstead (95,985), Stevenage (94,470) and the city of St Albans (75,540). For local government purposes Hertfordshire is a non-metropolitan county with ten districts beneath Hertfordshire County Council . Elevations are higher in the north and west, reaching more than 800 feet (240 m) in the Chilterns near Tring . The county centres on
5700-467: The Chiltern Hills into Buckinghamshire lies the nearby hamlet of Ashley Green and the fellow market towns of Chesham (4.7 miles (8 km) distant) and Amersham . Further southwest is the village of Great Missenden and to the west is the small market town of Wendover . Along the A4251 and valley northwestwards is the adjoining village of Northchurch , and the hamlets of Dudswell and Cow Roast ,
5850-625: The Chiltern Hills surrounding Tring , Berkhamsted and the Ashridge estate. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 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 , Rickmansworth , St. Albans , Harpenden , Redbourn , Radlett , Borehamwood , Potters Bar , Stevenage, Hatfield , Welwyn and Welwyn Garden City, Hitchin , Letchworth and Baldock. These are all small to medium-sized locations, featuring
6000-462: The Chiltern Hills , part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England, believed to have formed between 84 and 100 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period when the area was a chalk -depositing marine environment. The town is located in a narrow northwest to southeast valley falling from 590 feet (180 m) above sea level to 344 feet (105 m). The valley is at
6150-601: The Chilterns , clayland buffer zone countryside of Braughing and the Hadhams across to ancient hornbeam coppices west of the upper Lea valley. The county has sweeping panoramas of chalklands near Royston , Baldock , Hexton and Tring . Large parts of the county are used for agriculture. Some quarrying of sand and gravel occurs around St Albans. In the past, clay has supplied local brick-making and still does in Bovingdon , just south-west of Hemel Hempstead. The chalk that
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6300-580: The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 which eliminated exclaves ; amended when, in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963 , East Barnet Urban District and Barnet Urban District were abolished, their area was transferred to form part of the present-day London Borough of Barnet and the Potters Bar Urban District of Middlesex was transferred to Hertfordshire. The highest point in
6450-575: The ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships twice. First in 2015 , and most recently in 2023 , where Britain topped the medal table with 5 golds. Birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula ( / ˈ b ɛ tj ʊ l ə / ), in the family Betulaceae , which also includes alders , hazels , and hornbeams . It is closely related to the beech - oak family Fagaceae . The genus Betula contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on
6600-733: The IUCN 2011 Red List of Threatened Species. They are typically short-lived pioneer species and are widespread in the Northern Hemisphere , particularly in northern areas of temperate climates and in boreal climates . Birch wood is used for a wide range of purposes. Birch species are generally small to medium-sized trees or shrubs , mostly of northern temperate and boreal climates. The simple leaves are alternate, singly or doubly serrate, feather-veined, petiolate and stipulate. They often appear in pairs, but these pairs are really borne on spur-like, two-leaved, lateral branchlets . The fruit
6750-552: The National Trust in 1895) and the Commons Preservation Society . Lord Justice Romilly determined that pulling down a fence was no more violent an act than erecting one. The case, he said, rested on the legality of Brownlow's action in building the fence and the legal right of people to use the land. He ruled in favour of Smith. This decision, along with the Metropolitan Commons Act 1866 , helped to ensure
6900-596: The Old English words beorg , meaning "hill", or berc or beorc , meaning " birch "; or from the older Old Celtic word Bearroc , meaning "hilly place". The latter part, "hamsted", derives from the Old English word for homestead. So the town's name could be either mean "homestead amongst the hills" or the "homestead among the birches". Through history spellings of the town's name have changed. Local historian Rev John Wolstenholme Cobb identified over 50 different versions of
7050-501: The Proto-Indo-European root * bʰerHǵ- ~ bʰrHǵ -, which also gave Lithuanian béržas , Latvian Bērzs , Russian берёза (berëza) , Ukrainian береза ( beréza) , Albanian bredh 'fir', Ossetian bærz(æ) , Sanskrit bhurja , Polish brzoza , Latin fraxinus 'ash (tree)'. This root is presumably derived from * bʰreh₁ǵ- 'to shine, whiten', in reference to the birch's white bark. The Proto-Germanic rune berkanan
7200-563: The Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II , the unrepentant Axtell was hanged, drawn and quartered as a regicide . After the Restoration, the town lost its charter granted by James I and its borough status. The surveyor of Hertfordshire recommended that a new tenant and army officers were needed at Berkhamsted Place "to govern the people much seduced of late by new doctrine preacht unto them by Axtell and his colleagues." The population of
7350-591: The Western Front . Their training included trench digging: 8 miles (13 km) of trenches were dug across the Common (of which 1,640 feet (500 m) remain). The Inns of Court War Memorial on the Common has the motto Salus Populi Suprema Lex —the welfare of the people is the highest law—and states that the ashes of Colonel Errington were buried nearby. In 1909 Sunnyside and later in 1935 Northchurch were added to Berkhamsted Urban District. Shortly after 1918 much of
7500-411: The paper birch . Distinctive colors give the common names gray , white , black , silver and yellow birch to different species. The buds, forming early and full-grown by midsummer, are all lateral, without a terminal bud forming; the branch is prolonged by the upper lateral bud. The wood of all the species is close-grained with a satiny texture and capable of taking a fine polish; its fuel value
7650-472: The 13th and 14th centuries, the town was a wool trading town, with a thriving local market. The oldest-known extant jettied timber-framed building in Great Britain, built between 1277 and 1297, survives as a shop on the town's high street. After the castle was abandoned in 1495, the town went into decline, losing its borough status in the second half of the 17th century. Colonel Daniel Axtell , captain of
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#17328444242547800-618: The 20th century, many of the old industrial firms in Berkhamsted closed, while the numbers of commuters increased. After the Second World War, in July 1946, the nearby town of Hemel Hempstead was designated a New Town under the New Towns Act ("New Towns" were satellite urban developments around London to relieve London's population growth and housing shortages caused by the Blitz ). In February 1947
7950-516: The 20th-century novelist Graham Greene . Arts institutions in the town include The Rex (a well regarded independent cinema) and the British Film Institute 's BFI National Archive at King's Hill, which is one of the largest film and television archives in the world. Schools in the town include Berkhamsted School , a co-educational boarding independent school (founded in 1541 by John Incent , Dean of St Paul's Cathedral ); Ashlyns School
8100-577: 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 . It was first farmed during the Neolithic period and permanent habitation appeared at
8250-727: The Berkhamsted area of the Bulbourne Valley has been settled for over 5,000 years. The discovery of a large number of worked flint chips provides Neolithic evidence of on-site flint knapping in the centre of Berkhamsted. Several settlements dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age (about 4500–100 BC) have been discovered south of Berkhamsted. Three sections of a late Bronze Age to Iron Age (1200–100 BC) bank and ditch, sixteen feet (five metres) wide by seven to thirteen feet (two to four metres) high and known as Grim's Ditch , are found on
8400-567: The Chapel of St James was a small church near St John's Well (a 'holy well' that was the town's principal source of drinking water in the Middle Ages ). The parish of this church (and later that of St Peter's) was an enclave of about 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) surrounded by Berkhamsted St Mary's parish. By the 14th century the adjoining village of "Berkhamsted St Mary" or "Berkhamsted Minor" name had become "North Church", later "Northchurch", to distinguish
8550-652: The Chief Justiciar of England (effectively the king's principal minister) held the Honour and Manor of Berkhamsted from 1199 to 1212. During his time in the castle he was responsible for the foundation of the new parish church of St Peter (the size of which reflects the growing prosperity of the town); two hospitals, St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist (one of which was a leper hospital), which survived until 1516; and for
8700-434: The Confessor , William I and Henry I, and freed the town's merchants from all tolls and dues. The charter also stated that no market could be set up within 7 miles (11 km) of the town. The town became a trading centre on an important trade route in the 12th and 13th centuries, and received more royal charters. In 1216, Henry III relieved the men and merchants of the town from all tolls and taxes everywhere in England, and
8850-432: The Conqueror defeated King Harold 's Anglo-Saxon army at the Battle of Hastings , the Anglo-Saxon leadership surrendered to the Norman encampment at Berkhamsted. The event was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . From 1066 to 1495, Berkhamsted Castle was a favoured residence of royalty and notable historical figures, including King Henry II , Edward, the Black Prince , Thomas Becket and Geoffrey Chaucer . In
9000-493: The Domesday Book as a burbium ( ancient borough ) in the Tring Hundred .() Marjorie Chibnall argued that Robert, Count of Mortain intended Berkhamsted to be both a commercial and a defensive centre; while John Hatcher and Edward Miller believed that the 52 burgesses were involved in trade, but it is unknown if the burgesses existed before the conquest. Berkhamsted Castle is a (now ruined) motte-and-bailey Norman castle. Radiocarbon dating of organic remains from within
9150-431: The Earl of Cornwall, lived in the town; this was unusual for a small town in a time of heightened persecution of Jews . A 1290 taxation list mentions a brewer, a lead burner, a carpenter, leather workers, a fuller , a turner , a butcher, a fishmonger, a barber, an archer, a tailor, a cloth-napper, a miller , a cook, a seller of salt and a huntsman. At this time, larger houses of merchants and castle officials appeared on
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#17328444242549300-419: The Earls Brownlow, a branch of the Egerton family. In 1866, Lord Brownlow of Ashridge House (encouraged by his mother, Lady Marian Alford ) in an action similar to many other large estate holders tried to enclose Berkhamsted Common with 5-foot (1.5 m) steel fences (built by Woods of Berkhamsted) in order to claim the land as part of his family's estate. In response to the enclosure action and in defence
9450-411: The English Plantagenet possessions in France, Normandy , Aquitaine and Anjou . The growing wool trade brought prosperity to Berkhamsted from the 12th century until the early Tudor period . Four wealthy Berkhamsted wool merchants were amongst a group in Bruges to whom Edward III wrote in 1332, and Berkhamsted merchants sold cloth to the royal court. In 1217, Henry III recognised by royal charter
9600-407: The English throne and surrendering French-held castles including Berkhamsted. Walerand went on to hold several other posts including the senior position of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports . In 1227, Henry III's younger brother, Richard of Cornwall , was given the manor and castle, beginning the long association of the castle with the Earls and later the Dukes of Cornwall . Richard redeveloped
9750-436: The Government purchased 5,910 acres (2,392 ha) of land and began construction. As a result Hemel Hempstead's population increased from 20,000 to over 90,000 today, making it the largest town in Hertfordshire. In 1974, the old hundred of Dacorum became the modern district of Dacorum formed under the Local Government Act 1972 , based in Hemel Hempstead. Berkhamsted is situated 26 miles (42 km) northwest of London within
9900-436: The Parliamentary Guard at the trial and execution of King Charles I in 1649, was among those born in Berkhamsted . Modern Berkhamsted began to expand after the canal and the railway were built in the 19th century. In the 21st century, Berkhamsted has evolved into an affluent commuter town . The town's literary connections include the 17th-century hymnist and poet William Cowper , the 18th-century writer Maria Edgeworth and
10050-418: The Roses, St. Albans was the scene of two major battles between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists. In Tudor times, Hatfield House 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 to London. As London grew, Hertfordshire became conveniently close to the English capital; much of
10200-407: The Swedish city of Umeå . In 1888, the Umeå city fire spread all over the city and nearly burnt it down to the ground, but some birches, supposedly, halted the spread of the fire. To protect the city against future fires, wide avenues were created, and these were lined with silver birch trees all over the city. Umeå later adopted the unofficial name of "City of the Birches ( Björkarnas stad )". Also,
10350-573: 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 and Stevenage . Hemel Hempstead has large premises of Dixons Carphone . The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the trade association for UK pharmacies, is based in St Albans . Kings Langley has the plant-office of Pure , making DAB digital radios . Watford hosts national companies such as J D Wetherspoon , Camelot Group , Bathstore , and Caversham Finance (BrightHouse). It
10500-415: The Unready . A century later, William of Normandy received the surrender of some senior English Lords and Clergy at Berkhamsted , before entering London unopposed and being crowned at Westminster . Hertfordshire was used for some of the new Norman castles at Bishop's Stortford , and at King's Langley , a staging post between London and the royal residence of Berkhamsted . The Domesday Book recorded
10650-425: The Western European battlefield. The longbow was a superior weapon to the cumbersome and slower crossbow. The Berkhamsted bowmen successfully took part in this significant battle in medieval Western European history. The Black Prince was supported at the Battle of Crecy by local bowmen Everard Halsey, John Wood, Stephen of Champneys, Robert Whittingham, Edward le Bourne, Richard of Gaddesden and Henry of Berkhamsted (who
10800-572: The area near the Market House was used for butchery. In the 17th and 18th centuries Hemel Hempstead, with its thriving market, eclipsed Berkhamsted as the major town in the area. Georgian Berkhamsted barely extended beyond the medieval triangle and the High Street. With the coming of the Industrial Age , Berkhamsted was well placed at a gateway through the Chilterns, between the markets of London and
10950-517: The area until his death. Big Brother UK and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? have been filmed there. EastEnders is filmed at Elstree. Hertfordshire has seen development at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden ; the Harry Potter series was filmed here and the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye . On 17 October 2000, the Hatfield rail crash killed four people with over 70 injured. The crash exposed
11100-504: The area was owned by the nobility and aristocracy , this patronage helped to boost the local economy. However, the greatest boost to Hertfordshire came during the Industrial Revolution , after which the population rose dramatically. In 1903, Letchworth became the world's first garden city and Stevenage became the first town to redevelop under the New Towns Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6 . c. 68). The first shooting-down of
11250-692: The beginning of the Bronze Age . This was followed by tribes settling in the area during the Iron Age . Following the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43 , the Catuvellauni tribe accepted peace and adapted to the Roman life; resulting in the development of several new towns, including Verulamium (St Albans) where in c. 293 the first recorded British martyrdom is traditionally believed to have taken place. Saint Alban ,
11400-425: The birch ( Sanskrit : भुर्ज, bhurja ) holds great historical significance in the culture of North India , where the thin bark coming off in winter was extensively used as writing paper. Birch paper (Sanskrit: भुर्ज पत्र, bhurja patra ) is exceptionally durable and was the material used for many ancient Indian texts. The Roman period Vindolanda tablets also use birch as a material on which to write and birch bark
11550-527: The castle as a palatial residence and the centre for the administration of the Earldom of Cornwall . Richard's coat of arms as Earl of Cornwall, along with bezants , is included in Berkhamsted's coat of arms. Richard's wife, Sanchia of Provence , died in the castle in 1260. Richard was succeeded by his son, Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall , who founded Ashridge Priory , a college of the monastic order of Bonhommes , in 1283. In 1300, after Edmund died, Edward I took
11700-666: The castle in his role as Clerk of the Works at Berkhamsted. It is unknown how much time he spent at Berkhamsted, but he knew John of Gaddesden , who lived in nearby Little Gaddesden and was the model for the Doctor of Phisick in The Canterbury Tales . Henry V and Henry VI owned the castle, the latter making use of it until he was overthrown in 1461. In 1469, Edward IV gave the castle to his mother, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York . The arrival of Neville and her household at Berkhamsted had
11850-503: The castle was the German Walerand Teutonicus . After reducing the castle of Hertford, Louis marched on St Nicholas's day (6 December) to the castle of Berkhamsted and surrounded it with his engines of war. Whilst the English barons, after pitching their tents, were employed in setting them in order, the knights and soldiers of the garrison made a sally, seized the baggage and conveyances of the barons and gained possession of
12000-524: The castle's park. At the foundation of the abbey, the Earl donated a phial claimed to contain Christ's blood. Pilgrims from all over Europe passed through the town to see the holy relic. The abbey grew quite wealthy as a result. Edward I held parliament at the abbey in 1290 and spent Christmas there. Berkhamsted burgesses sent two members to parliament in 1320, 1338 and 1341, but the town was not represented again. In
12150-401: The castle, a claim that led Henry to accuse him of corruption and may have contributed to his downfall. Henry II extensively used the castle, making it one of his favourite residences. Both King Richard I and King John gave the castle to their queens, Berengaria of Navarre and Isabella of Angoulême , respectively. In King John's reign, Geoffrey Fitz Peter (c. 1162–1213), Earl of Essex and
12300-511: The castle; he subsequently granted it to his second queen, Margaret of France . In 1309, Edward I's and Margaret's son, Edward II , granted Berkhamsted to his favourite, Piers Gaveston . In 1317, the castle was given to Edward II's queen, Isabella of France . Edward III further developed the castle and gave it (as part of the Duchy of Cornwall) to his son, Edward, the Black Prince , who expanded
12450-596: The centre of the valley. The river powered the watermills (recorded in 1086) and fed the three moats of the large Norman Motte and Bailey castle, that stands close to the centre of the town where a small dry combe joins the Bulbourne valley. The countryside surrounding the town includes parts of the Green Belt and the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The Urban Nature Conservation Study (UNCS) recognises
12600-560: The closeness to nature of the Russians. It's associated with marriage and love. There are numerous folkloric Russian songs in which the birch tree occurs. The Ornäs birch is the national tree of Sweden. The Czech word for the month of March, Březen, is derived from the Czech word bříza meaning birch, as birch trees flower in March under local conditions. The silver birch tree is of special importance to
12750-438: The construction of drum shells, owing to its strength and colour which takes stain in an appealing way, and which can also amber over very well, while also giving the drums an appealing tone which changes depending on the type of birch used. Birches have spiritual importance in several religions, both modern and historical. In Celtic cultures, the birch symbolises growth, renewal, stability, initiation, and adaptability because it
12900-476: The construction of the Grand Junction Canal in 1798. The canal intersects the river at numerous points, taking most of its water supply and helping to drain the valley. The locality became further urbanised when the London to Birmingham railway was built in 1836–37. The townscape was shaped by the Bulbourne valley, which rises 300 feet (91 metres) on either side at its narrowest point; the residential area
13050-480: The county are: Waltham Cross , Broxbourne , is the location of the Lee Valley White Water Centre , a purpose-built venue opened in 2010 for the 2012 Summer Olympics . The site consists of two white water courses; one 300m Grade IV "Olympic" run; and one 160m Grade III "legacy" run. During the games the center was the venue for the canoe and kayak slalom events . Lee Valley has since hosted
13200-407: The county as having nine hundreds . Tring and Danais became one— Dacorum —from Danis Corum or Danish rule harking back to a Viking not Saxon past. The other seven were Braughing , 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 Magna Carta . And in the later Wars of
13350-510: The county is at 244 m (801 ft) ( AOD ) on the Ridgeway long distance national path, on the border of Hastoe near Tring with Drayton Beauchamp , Buckinghamshire. At the 2011 census, among the county's ten districts, East Hertfordshire had the lowest population density (290 people per km ) and Watford the highest (4210 per km ). Compared with neighbouring Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire lacks large towns or cities on
13500-483: The edge of Hemel Hempstead. Hertfordshire is located in the south-eastern part of England and is the county immediately north of London. It is officially part of the East of England region, a mainly statistical unit . To the east is Essex , to the west is Buckinghamshire and to the north are Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire . A significant minority of the population across all districts commute to Central London . The county's boundaries were roughly fixed by
13650-479: The end of the Roman period. Other evidence of Roman-British occupation and activity in the Berkhamsted area, includes a pottery kiln on Bridgewater Road. The town's high street still follows the line of the Roman-engineered Akeman Street , which had been a pre-existing route from St Albans ( Verulamium ) to Cirencester ( Corinium ). During Roman occupation the countryside close to Verulamium
13800-522: The ends of the short lateral branchlets of the year. They form in early autumn and remain rigid during the winter. The scales of the mature staminate catkins are broadly ovate, rounded, yellow or orange colour below the middle and dark chestnut brown at apex. Each scale bears two bractlets and three sterile flowers, each flower consisting of a sessile, membranous, usually two-lobed, calyx. Each calyx bears four short filaments with one-celled anthers or strictly, two filaments divided into two branches, each bearing
13950-408: The extensive estate belonging to Berkhamsted Hall, at the east end of the High Street, was sold; many acres west of Swing Gate Lane were developed with council housing. More council housing was built at Gossoms End. Development on the north side of the valley was limited until the sale of the Ashridge estate in the 1930s, after which housing appeared at each end of Bridgewater Road. In the second half of
14100-600: The grave. The leaves of the silver birch tree are used in the festival of St George, held in Novosej and other villages in Albania. The birch is New Hampshire 's state tree and the national tree of Finland and Russia. The yellow birch is the official tree of the province of Quebec (Canada). The birch is a very important element in Russian culture and represents the grace, strength, tenderness and natural beauty of Russian women as well as
14250-429: The hardness of birch, it is easier to shape it with power tools; it is quite difficult to work it with hand tools. The inner bark is considered edible as an emergency food, even when raw. It can be dried and ground into flour, as was done by Native Americans and early settlers. It can also be cut into strips and cooked like noodles. The sap can be drunk or used to make syrup and birch beer . Tea can be made from
14400-566: The headwaters and upper valleys of the rivers Lea and the Colne ; both flow south and each is accompanied by a canal. Hertfordshire's undeveloped land is mainly agricultural and much of the county is covered by the Metropolitan green belt . Since 1903, Letchworth has served as the prototype garden city while Stevenage became the first town to expand under post-war Britain 's New Towns Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6 . c. 68). Services have become
14550-530: The hill south of the High Street. Lower Kings Road was built by public subscription in 1885 to join Kings Road and the High Street to the station. In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles recorded the population at 4,485. Industries in the 19th century included: Utilities in the 19th century included: In 1725 "An Account of Several Workhouses" records a parish workhouse in Berkhamsted, and
14700-501: The historic right of the public to use the ancient common land, Augustus Smith MP and George Shaw-Lefevre organised local people and 120 hired men from London's East End to dismantle the fences on the night of 6 March, in what became known nationally as the Battle of Berkhamsted Common. Lord Brownlow brought a legal case against Smith for trespass and criminal damage, Smith was aided in his defence by Sir Robert Hunter (later co-founder of
14850-499: The hunting grounds. The castle was used to hold royal prisoners, including John II of France . In 1361, Edward the Black Prince and Joan, the Maid of Kent , spent their honeymoon in Berkhamsted. Under Edward the Black Prince, Berkhamsted become a centre of English longbow archery. A decisive factor in the English victory at the Battle of Crécy (1346) was the introduction of this new weapon onto
15000-409: The ice hockey team of Umeå is called Björklöven , translated to English "The Birch Leaves". "Swinging" birch trees was a common game for American children in the nineteenth century. American poet Lucy Larcom 's "Swinging on a Birch Tree" celebrates the game. The poem inspired Robert Frost , who pays homage to the act of climbing birch trees in his more famous poem, "Birches". Frost once told "it
15150-414: The industrial Midlands . The town became a link in the growing network of roads, canals and railways. These developments led Berkhamsted's population to expand once again. In 1801, the population of St Peter's parish had been 1,690 and by 1831, this had risen to 2,369 (484 houses). An 1835 description of the town found that "the houses are mostly of brick, and irregularly built, but are interspersed with
15300-643: The largest landholder in the country. Robert built a wooden fortification that later became a royal retreat for the monarchs of the Norman and Plantagenet dynasties. According to the Domesday Book , the lord of Berkhamsted before the Norman conquest was Edmer Ator (also referred to as Eadmer Atule), thegn of Edward the Confessor and King Harold. The Domesday survey records that there was enough land for 26 plough teams, but only 15 working teams. There were two flour mills (Upper and Lower Mill), woodland for 1,000 pigs, and
15450-598: The largest sector of the county's economy. The county's landmarks span many centuries, ranging from the Six Hills in Stevenage built by local inhabitants during the Roman period, to Leavesden Film Studios . 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 . In 913, Hertfordshire
15600-539: The latter were forewarned of this, and drove them back to the castle. When the following day dawned Louis ordered the petrarie (stone-throwing machines) and other engines of war to be erected around the city, which being done, they kept up a destructive shower of stones: but Waleran, a German, well tried in warfare, made a brave resistance against them and caused great slaughter amongst the excommunicated French. —The contemporary chronicler, Roger of Wendover , based at St Albans abbey , 12 miles from Berkhamsted, describing
15750-533: The layout of the town. Following the signing of Magna Carta (1215), King John's reneging on the royal charter, the castle was besieged during the ensuing civil war, known as the First Barons' War , between John and barons supported by Prince Louis (the future Louis VIII of France ), the French laid siege to Berkhamsted Castle (only a quarter of a mile from the town centre) in late December 1216. The queen's constable of
15900-401: The local National School . However in 1858 the school complained about the state of the children attending from the workhouse. A fever ward was erected in 1855, and a full-time nurse was engaged in 1868. The workhouse system officially came to an end in 1930, and control over the workhouse was given to local council. Nugent House, the Berkhamsted workhouse, finally closed in 1935 and its function
16050-458: The local population, both within the castle itself and also, for example, in the large deer park and in the vineyard , which were maintained alongside the castle. After Robert, Count of Mortain, the castle passed to his heir William, who rebelled against Henry I and lost the castle to the king. In 1155 Henry in turn gave it to his favourite Thomas Becket , who held it till 1165. Becket was later alleged to have spent over £300 on improvements to
16200-441: The making of malt was then the principal trade of the town. In 1618, James I reaffirmed Berkhamsted's borough status with a charter. Following surveys in 1607 and 1612 the Duchy of Cornwall enclosed 300 acres (121 ha) from the Common (now known as Coldharbour farm) despite local opposition led by Rev Thomas Newman. In 1639 the Duchy tried to enclose a further 400 acres (162 ha) of the Berkhamsted and Northchurch Commons, but
16350-520: The mid-14th century, the Black Prince took advantage of the Black Death to extend the castle's park by 65 acres (26 ha), eventually producing a park covering 991 acres (401 ha). In the 15th century, the town was reaffirmed as a borough by a royal charter granted by Edward IV (1442–1483), which decreed that no other market town was to be set up within 11 miles (18 km). In the 16th century,
16500-670: The midst of the Norse invasions, Hertfordshire was on the front lines of much of the fighting. King Edward the Elder , in his reconquest of Norse-held lands in what was to become England , established a " burh " or fort in Hertford, which was to curb Norse activities in the area. His father, King Alfred the Great , established the River Lea as a boundary between his kingdom and that of the Norse lord Guthrum , with
16650-589: The motte indicates that it was probably built post-1066 (a dyke builder is recorded in the town at the time of the Domesday Book). The castle was a high-status residence and an administrative centre for large estates (including the Earldom of Cornwall). Through the High and Late Middle Ages the close proximity of the royal castle and court helped fuel Berkhamsted's growth, prosperity and sense of importance. It created jobs for
16800-432: The nominal rent of one red rose each year. Stone from the castle was used to build Berkhamsted Place , a local school, and other buildings in the late 16th century. Brewing and maltings was noted as one of the town's principal industries in the reign of Elizabeth. Around 1583, a new market house was erected west of St Peter's Church at the end of Middle Row (alternatively named Le Shopperowe or Graball Row). The market house
16950-628: The north and eastern parts of the county being within the Danelaw . 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 kings Swein Forkbeard and Cnut the Great harried the country as part of their attempts to undermine and overthrow English king Athelred
17100-485: The north and west of the county, forming the Chiltern Hills and the younger Palaeocene , Reading Beds and Eocene , London Clay which occupy the remaining southern part. The eastern half of the county was covered by glaciers during the Ice Age and has a superficial layer of glacial boulder clays . Much of the west – and much more in the east – have richly diverse countryside. These range from beech woods of
17250-692: The north-east of the town are the villages and hamlets of Potten End , Frithsden and Great Gaddesden . The nearest large settlements to the north of Berkhamsted are the Bedfordshire towns of Dunstable (11.1 miles (18 km) distant) and Luton (13.8 miles (22 km). Like most of the United Kingdom, Berkhamsted has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ). Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( / ˈ h ɑːr t f ər d ʃ ɪər / HART -fərd-sheer or /- ʃ ər / -shər ; often abbreviated Herts )
17400-488: The north-west of modern Berkhamsted. The church may have been an important minster , attached to a high status Anglo-Saxon estate, which became part of the medieval manor of Berkhamsted after the Norman conquest . The parish of Berkhamsted St Mary's (in Northchurch) once stretched five miles (8.0 km) from the hamlet of Dudswell , through Northchurch and Berkhamsted to the former hamlet of Bourne End. Within Berkhamsted,
17550-508: The protection of Berkhamsted Common and other open spaces nationally threatened with enclosure. In 1926 the common was acquired by the National Trust. During the First World War , under the guidance of Lt Col Francis Errington, the Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps trained men from the legal profession as officers. Over the course of the war, 12,000 men travelled from Berkhamsted to fight on
17700-411: The public. The town continued to develop separately on the old Akeman Street 0.4 miles (0.6 km) to the south of the castle and to the west of St Peter's Church; with a triangle formed by Mill Street, Castle Street and Back Lane pointing towards the castle. In 1156, Henry II officially recognised Berkhamsted as a town in a royal charter , which confirmed the laws and customs enjoyed under Edward
17850-625: The purple star-shaped flower with yellow stamens, the Pasqueflower is among endemic county flowers . The rocks of Hertfordshire belong to the great shallow syncline known as the London Basin . The beds dip in a south-easterly direction towards the syncline's lowest point roughly under the River Thames . The most important formations are the Cretaceous Chalk , exposed as the high ground in
18000-451: The red inner bark of black birches. White-barked birches in particular are cultivated as ornamental trees, largely for their appearance in winter. The Himalayan birch, Betula utilis , especially the variety or subspecies jacquemontii , is among the most widely planted for this purpose. It has been cultivated since the 1870s, and many cultivars are available, including 'Doorenbos', 'Grayswood Ghost' and 'Silver Shadow'; 'Knightshayes' has
18150-518: The same town, Airbus (Defence & Space Division) produces satellites. Hatfield was where de Havilland developed the first commercial jet liner, the Comet . Now the site is a business park and new campus for the University of Hertfordshire . This major employment site notably hosts EE , Computacenter and Ocado groceries and other goods e-commerce. Welwyn Garden City hosts Tesco 's UK base, hosts
18300-464: The scale of Luton or Milton Keynes , whose populations exceed 200,000, but its overall population (1.2 million in 2021) is greater than those of the two aforementioned counties. The River Lea near Harpenden runs through Wheathampstead , Welwyn Garden City, Hertford, Ware, and Broxbourne before reaching Cheshunt and ultimately the River Thames. The far west of the county is the most hilly, with
18450-452: The settlement protected as a conservation area. Traveling on the high street away from the town, along the Bulbourne valley south-eastwards towards London, the A4251 road passes through the village of Bourne End and the large new town of Hemel Hempstead (8 miles (13 km) distant). To the south south-east is the large village of Bovingdon . Taking the A416 road south from Berkhamsted, along
18600-575: The shortcomings of Railtrack , and resulted in speed restrictions and major track replacement. On 10 May 2002, seven people died in the fourth of the Potters Bar rail accidents ; the train was travelling 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, there were explosions at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal at Buncefield on
18750-496: The siege During the siege, Prince Louis introduced a new destructive siege engine to England at Berkhamsted, the counterweight trebuchet (or mangonel ) . After a siege of twenty days the young new King ( Henry III ) ordered his constable to surrender the castle to Louis on 20 December. Following the siege at Berkhamsted Louis suffered several defeats. 11 September 1217 Louis signed the Treaty of Lambeth , relinquishing his claim to
18900-475: The skin. Splints made with birch bark were used as casts for broken limbs in the 16th century . Wood pulp made from birch gives relatively long and slender fibres for a hardwood . The thin walls cause the fibre to collapse upon drying, giving a paper with low bulk and low opacity. The birch fibres are, however, easily fibrillated and give about 75% of the tensile strength of softwood. The low opacity makes it suitable for making glassine . In India ,
19050-462: The south side of the Bulbourne Valley. Another Iron Age dyke with the same name is on Berkhamsted Common, on the north side of the valley. In the late Iron Age, before the Roman occupation, the valley would have been within Catuvellauni territory. The Bulbourne Valley was rich in timber and iron ore. In the late Iron Age, a four-square-mile (ten-square-kilometre) area around Northchurch became
19200-467: The south side of the high street (including 173 High Street , the oldest known extant jettied building in England). In 1307 Berkhamsted was a large town by English medieval standards with an estimated population of 2,000 to 2,500. In 1355, there were five butchers, two bakers, nine brewers, two cobblers , a pelter , a tanner , five cloth dyers, six wheelwrights , three smiths , six grain merchants,
19350-507: The southernmost limit of the Pleistocene glaciation ice erosion throughout the Chiltern scarp, giving it a smooth rounded appearance, with alluvial soils in the valley bottom and chalk, clay and flint on the valley sides. In the early Mesolithic period (Middle Stone Age, mid to late 8th millennium BC), the local upland was mostly pine woodland and the low area of central Berkhamsted probably
19500-421: The standard of William de Mandeville with which they returned to the castle, regretting that they could do no further injury to them. On the same day, whilst the barons were sitting at table, the knights and soldiers of the garrison again made a sally, and, in order to put the barons in confusion, they carried before them the standard which they had taken a short time before, and thought to come on them unawares, but
19650-537: The surrender of Edgar the Ætheling (heir to the English throne), Archbishop Ealdred , Earl Edwin , Earl Morcar and the leaders of London. It is not known why the town was chosen as the meeting place, except that it was in a defensive location north-west of London. William was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066. After his coronation, William granted the "Honour of Berkhamsted" to his half-brother, Robert, Count of Mortain , who after William became
19800-447: The town (roughly aligned east–west), from which extend medieval burgage plots (to the north and south). The surviving burgage plot layout is the result of a comprehensive plan carried out at the beginning of the 13th century, most probably instigated by Geoffrey fitz Peter. The town centre slowly developed over the years and contains a wide variety of properties that date from the 13th century onwards. The modern town began to develop after
19950-459: The town and inside the ruins of the historic castle is unknown. The Battle of Berkhamsted Common played an important part in the preservation of common land nationally. After 1604 the former Ashridge Priory became the home of the Edgerton family. In 1808–1814 Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater , demolished the old priory, and built a stately home, Ashridge House . In 1848 the estate passed to
20100-420: The town fell into decline after abandonment of the castle following the death of Cicely Neville, Duchess of York , in 1495, and the rise of the nearby town of Hemel Hempstead (which was granted a Charter of Incorporation by Henry VIII on 29 December 1539). The population of the town in 1563 has been estimated at only 545. In 1580, the castle ruins and the park were leased by Elizabeth I to Sir Edward Carey, for
20250-478: The town in 1640 and in the 1690s was estimated at 1075 and 767, respectively. The town was a centre of religious nonconformity from the 17th century: over a quarter of the town were Dissenters in the second half of the century, and in 1700, there were 400 Baptists recorded as living in Berkhamsted. Three more shops are mentioned in the row next to the church, and the Parliamentary Survey of 1653 suggests that
20400-463: The town's hinterland as a biodiversity resource. The hills gently rise to an undulating and open plateau, which has a mix of arable farmland, common land and mixed oak , ash and beech woodland. On the northeast side of town are the Berkhamsted and Northchurch commons , the largest in the Chilterns at 1,055 acres (427 ha), and forming a large arc running from Northchurch, through Frithsden and down to Potten End . Ownership of Berkhamsted Common
20550-447: The town's name since the writing of the Domesday Book (such as: "Berkstead", "Berkampsted", "Berkhampstead", "Muche Barkhamstede", "Berkhamsted Magna", "Great Berkhamsteed" and "Berkhamstead".) The present spelling was officially adopted in 1937 when the local council formally changed its name from Great Berkhampstead to Berkhamsted. The town's local nickname is "Berko". Neolithic , Bronze Age , Iron Age and Roman artefacts show that
20700-446: The town's oldest institution, Berkhamsted's pre-existing market. Trades within medieval Berkhamsted were extensive: early in the 13th century the town had a merchant, two painters, a goldsmith, a forester, two farriers , two tailors, a brewer of mead , a blacksmith, carpenters, wood turners , tool makers, a manufacturer of roofing tiles and wine producers. In the mid–13th century, a banker, the wealthy Abraham of Berkhamsted, financier to
20850-576: The village from the town of Berkhamsted. The Anglo-Saxons surrendered the crown of England to William the Conqueror at Berkhamsted in early December 1066. After William defeated and killed Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in October, he failed in an attempt to capture London from the south. William led his army around London , crossing the River Thames at Wallingford , "laying waste" while travelling through southeast England. At Berkhamsted, he received
21000-481: The village of Wigginton and the small market town of Tring (6.7 miles (11 km) distant) and the county town of Buckinghamshire Aylesbury at (13.9 miles (22 km) distant). Following the Chiltern Hills northwards, to the north-northwest is the village of Aldbury ; situated to the north of Berkhamsted are the villages of Ringshall and Little Gaddesden (5.4 miles (9 km) distant); finally located to
21150-548: Was watercress , based in Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted supported by reliable, clean chalk rivers. 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 and Finmeccanica ) MBDA , develops missiles . In
21300-471: Was destroyed in a fire in 1854. In 1612, Berkhamsted Place was bought by Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales for £4,000. Henry died later that year, and bequeathed the house to his brother Charles (later King Charles I ), who leased the property to his tutor, Thomas Murray, and his wife, Mary Murray, who had been his nurse and Lady of the Privy Chamber to the prince's mother. John Norden wrote in 1616 that
21450-631: Was invaded and colonised by the Anglo-Saxons . By the 6th century, the majority of the modern county was part of the East Saxon 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 . The region finally became an English shire in the 10th century, on the merger of the West Saxon and Mercian kingdoms. In
21600-403: Was prevented from doing so by William Edlyn of Norcott. The castle's park, which had reached 1,252 acres (507 ha) by 1627, was broken up over the next two decades, shrinking to only 376 acres (152 ha), to the benefit of local farmers. In 1643, Berkhamsted was visited by a violent pestilential fever. Born in Berkhamsted, Colonel Daniel Axtell (1622 – 19 October 1660), a Baptist and
21750-457: Was relocated to Hemel Hemspstead. In 1841, the Countess of Bridgewater built a soup kitchen for the local poor within the ruins of Berkhamsted Castle. The soup kitchen was used by an estimated 15 per cent of the population of Berkhamsted (about 500 people) during the winter months, until at least 1897. The building still stands connected to the cottage in the castle grounds; why it was placed outside
21900-516: Was rewarded with 2 d a day and appointed porter of Berkhamsted Castle after he saved the prince's baggage at the Battle of Poitiers ). Richard II inherited Berkhamsted Castle in 1377 and gave it to his favourites, Robert de Vere and John Holland . In 1400, Henry IV lived in the castle after he deposed Richard, and he used the castle to imprison others attempting to obtain the throne. During this time, Geoffrey Chaucer – later famous for writing The Canterbury Tales – oversaw renovation work on
22050-515: Was subdivided into a series of farming estates. The Berkhamsted area appears to have been divided into two or three farming estates, each including one or more masonry villa buildings, with tiled roofs and underfloor heating. The earliest written reference to Berkhamsted is in the will of Ælfgifu (died AD 970), queen consort of King Eadwig of England (r. 955–959), who bequeathed large estates in five counties, including Berkhamsted. The location and extent of early Saxon settlement of Berkhamsted
22200-526: Was the area assigned to a fortress constructed at Hertford under the rule of Edward the Elder . Hertford is derived from the Anglo-Saxon heort ford, meaning deer crossing (of a watercourse). The name Hertfordshire is first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 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
22350-585: Was the first building to receive statutory protection in the United Kingdom . In 1834, construction of the railway embankment demolished the castle's gatehouse and adjacent earthworks. Today the castle ruins are managed by a charitable trust, the Berkhamsted Castle Trust , in partnership with English Heritage , on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall (which still officially owns the site), and are freely open to
22500-444: Was used widely in ancient Russia as notepaper ( beresta ) and for decorative purposes and even making footwear ( lapti ) and baskets. Birch wood is sometimes used as a tonewood for semiacoustic and acoustic guitar bodies, and occasionally for solid-body guitar bodies. It is also a common material used in mallets for keyboard percussion . Drum manufacturers, such as Gretsch and Yamaha , have been known to use birch wood in
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