Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire, or HERTS, an inland county of England, extending 35 miles in a north-easterly direction and 20 miles in mean breadth, is bounded N. by Cambridge, E. by Essex, S. by Middlesex, and W. by Buckingham. It contains 611 sq. m., of which more than one-half is under tillage, one-fourth pasture, and one-seventeenth in wood; is divided into 8 hundreds, 2 municipal boroughs—viz. Hertford and St Albans—138 parishes, and has 11 market-towns, the chief of which are Hertford (the county town), St Albans, Watford, Hitchin, Hemel Hempstead, and Bishop-Stortford. Pop. (1801) 97,577; (1841) 156,660; (1881) 203,140; (1891) 220,125. The surface is mostly level, except in the north, where a branch of the Chiltern Hills skirts the county, Kensworth Hill (904 feet) being the highest elevation. The principal rivers are the Lea, the Stort, and the Colne, all affluents of the Thames, and the artificial stream called the New River (q.v.): the Grand Junction Canal, too, passes through the south-western extremity of the county. Chalk, at a greater or less depth below the surface, forms the basis of the soil, which is various, but principally loam and clay, the former being met with in nearly all its gradations, more or less intermingled with flint or sand. The climate is mild and healthy. As a manufacturing county Herts does not stand high. Straw-plaiting is, however, largely carried on in the north and west portions, where the land is least adapted for agriculture; in the neighbourhood of Watford and Rickmansworth are several paper and silk factories, and at Great Berkhamstead are extensive chemical works. The agriculture of the county has improved very much of late years, the quantity of barley and wheat grown being very considerable; immense quantities of hay, too, are sold off the land, and sent to London. Ware is the chief seat of the malting trade in the kingdom; Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, and Bishop-Stortford are famous for their rose-gardens, and in some districts watercress is extensively cultivated for the London market. Herts is almost entirely in the diocese of St Albans and in the South-eastern Circuit, and since 1885 has returned one member to parliament for each of its four divisions—North or Hitchin, East or Hertford, Mid or St Albans, and West or Watford. Many historical events are connected with the county: it was the scene, at Verulam near the present town of St Albans (q.v.), of contests with the Romans, and of the martyrdom of St Alban; in it, too, were fought three of the most important battles in England's history—the first in 1455, when Henry VI. was wounded and taken prisoner at St Albans by the Yorkists; again at St Albans six years later, when victory decided for the opposite party; and lastly in 1471, at Barnet, when the decisive battle was fought, in which the Lancastrians were utterly routed by the Yorkists. Rye House was the residence of Rumbold, one of the persons engaged in the alleged plot against the life of Charles II. Kings Langley, Hunsdon House, and Hatfield were royal residences, and at Theobalds James I. ended his days. Amongst the worthies of Herts mention may be made of Nicholas Brakespeare, afterwards Pope Adrian IV.; Francis Bacon, afterwards created Lord Verulam; Richard Gough, the antiquary; the poet Cowper; Bulwer Lytton; Charles Lamb; and John Leech. Hertford gave a title to a branch of the family of Seymour (q.v.; and see EDWARD VI.). See Cussan's History of Herts (1880).