989,938,732 visitors served.

Hertfordshire

County of southeast England, to the north of London.

Area

1,630 sq km/629 sq mi

Towns and cities

Hertford (administrative headquarters), Bishop's Stortford, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Letchworth (the first garden city in 1903; followed by Welwyn in 1919), Stevenage (the first new town, designated in 1946), St Albans, Watford, Hitchin

Physical

rivers Lea, Stort, Colne; part of the Chiltern Hills

Features

Hatfield House; Knebworth House (Tudor house with 19th-century fascia, home of Lord Lytton); Brocket Hall (1760, on 13th-century site, home of Palmerston and Melbourne); home of George Bernard Shaw at Ayot St Lawrence; Berkhamsted Castle (Norman); Rothamsted agricultural experimental station

Agriculture

barley for brewing industry, dairy farming, market gardening, horticulture

Industries

aircraft, computer electronics, electrical goods, engineering, paper and printing, plastics, pharmaceuticals, tanning, sand and gravel worked in the south

Population

(2001) 1,034,000

Famous people

Henry Bessemer (engineer), Graham Greene (author), Cecil Rhodes (founded Rhodesia)

Topography Hertfordshire is bounded to the north by Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, and Luton; to the east by Essex; to the south by Greater London; and to the west by Buckinghamshire. The landscape is hilly, with parks and woodlands. The rocks, principally chalk, date mainly from the Upper Cretaceous period. The Grand Union Canal passes through part of the county.

History In 896 a battle took place in Hertfordshire between Alfred and the Danes. During the Wars of the Roses the battles of St Albans and Barnet were fought here. Elizabeth I was at Hatfield palace when she heard of her accession.

Barkway Hatfield (Hertfordshire) Hertford Home Counties

King's Langley Moore, Henry (Spencer) Salisbury, Edward James