Hertfordshire County
(Historic)
Map Reference: (51.904573, -0.057923)
Hertfordshire in an inland county of southern England. Despite its proximity to the metropolis, much of the county has remained rural and unspoilt. The north-west of Hertfordshire rises into the edge of the Chilterns, with its typical small villages and beechwoods. South-east of the Chilterns, along the River Gade lie Hemel Hempstead, market town turned post-war new town; Kings Langley; Abbots Langley, birthplace of Nicholas Breakspear, later Pope Adrian IV. To the east, the ancient town of St Albans stands on a hill overseen by St Albans Abbey. St Albans has the important Roman remains of the city of Verulamium. The south-western part of the county lies in the valley of the River Colne. There are several towns including Radlett, Bushey and Borehamwood, Watford and Rickmansworth. Chipping Barnet, New Barnet, East Barnet and Totteridge lie in an area of Hertfordshire surrounded on three sides by Middlesex. The River Lea dominates the east of the county, flowing through the affluent commuter town of Harpenden; Wheathampstead, a town with a history more ancient even than St Albans; and on to Welwyn Garden City, founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the 1920s. Nearby Stevenage was the first of the post-war new towns. The Lea then flows to the county town of Hertford, with its mediƦval street layout. The Lea then flows through Ware and on to the towns of the Lea Valley: Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt and Waltham Cross. In the far north of the county, the rivers flow north to join the River Great Ouse and the county begins to feels like a part of East Anglia.
