Hertford

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This article is about Hertford in England. There are also Hertford, North Carolina and several other places named Hartford

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Hertford (pronounced "Hartford" or "Harford") is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is in the East Hertfordshire district of that county. It has a population today of about 24,000.

The name is Anglo Saxon and means the ford frequented by harts or stags.

The rivers Rib, Beane and Mimram join the River Lea at Hertford to flow south toward the Thames.

Hertford is principally a commuter town for London, with rail links from Hertford North to London King's Cross and Moorgate stations and from Hertford East to London Liverpool Street. The latter is by far the older link but is now slower and less frequent. Employment in the town is centred on County Hall (Hertfordshire County Council), Wallfields (East Hertfordshire District Council) and McMullen's Brewery, one of a dwindling number of independent brewers in the UK.

The town retains very much a country-town feel, despite lying only 20 miles north of London. This is aided by a lack of large chain stores in the town, which is too small to support them, and by its proximity to larger towns such as Harlow and Stevenage where modern development has been focused.

The town has the remains of a castle, principally a motte, and the administrative buildings of the Town Council, whose lower parts are of considerable age. The two churches in the town, All Saints' and St Andrew's, are early 20th century and mid 19th century respectively. In the northern suburb of Bengeo lies St Leonard's, a two-celled Norman church of considerable architectural interest.

The town is beset by traffic despite the existence of the 1960s ringroad called Gascoyne Way. The town centre is still a labyrinth of medieval streets with many timber-framed buildings hidden under later frontages, particularly in St Andrew's Street.

The shared valley of the Lea and the Beane is called Hartham Common and this provides a large attractive park to one side of the town centre running towards Ware and lying below the ridge upon which Bengeo is situated.

Hertford contains the oldest purpose-built Quaker Meeting House in the world, in use since 1670. The English parliament temporarily moved to Hertford during the Great Plague. Conspiracy theories link Hertford to the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail.

The band Deep Purple formed in Hertford.

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