Berkhamsted

Berkhamsted
Town
Berkhamsted. From top to bottom: Berkhamsted Old Town Hall, St Peter's Church, Berkhamsted Castle, Ashridge, Berkhamsted Totem Pole and Grand Union Canal, Berkhamsted High Street
The town's coat of arms, a castle surrounded by 13 solid gold circles or heraldic bezants.
Coat of arms
Berkhamsted is located in Hertfordshire
Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted
Location within Hertfordshire
Population18,500 (mid-2016 est.)[1]
OS grid referenceSP993077
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBERKHAMSTED
Postcode districtHP4
Dialling code01442
PoliceHertfordshire
FireHertfordshire
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire
51°46′N 0°34′W / 51.76°N 0.56°W / 51.76; -0.56

Berkhamsted (/ˈbɜːrkəmstɛd/ BUR-kəm-sted) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, 26 miles (42 km) north-west of London.[2][3] 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.[4] Berkhamsted, along with the adjoining village of Northchurch, is encircled by countryside, much of it in the Chiltern Hills which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).[5]

The High Street is on a pre-Roman route known by its Saxon name: Akeman Street.[6] 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 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.[7] In 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.[8][9]

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 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.[10]

The town's literary connections include the 17th-century hymnist and poet William Cowper, the 18th-century writer Maria Edgeworth and 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.[11] 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 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.

  1. ^ "Community Profiles – Summary Profile Selection: Berkhamsted Geo-type: Large Settlements A to B". The Hertfordshire Local Information System (HertsLIS). Community Information and Intelligence Unit, Hertfordshire County Council. Retrieved 26 November 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Berkhamsted Conservation Area Character Appraisal & Management Proposals (PDF) (Report). Dacorum Borough Council. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  3. ^ "The Changing Landscape of the Chilterns" (PDF). Chilterns Historic Landscape Characterisation Project. Chilterns Conservation Board and Buckinghamshire County Council. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  4. ^ Hastie 1999, p. 73.
  5. ^ "Berkhamsted Town Guide". Berhamsted Town Council. Archived from the original on 5 June 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  6. ^ Salzman, L.F. (1939). "Romano-British remains: Roads". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 1. London: Victoria County History. pp. 271–281. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Berkhamsted Castle". Chilterns Conservation Board. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  8. ^ Historic England. "173 High Street, Berkhamsted (1246942)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Restoration boost for oldest shop". BBC News. 26 February 2003. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. Best Places to Live in the UK, 2019". The Sunday Times Best Places to Live 2019. News Corp UK & Ireland Limited. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  11. ^ Hastie 1999, p. 60.