While the town of Hatfield in Hertfordshire, has much the look of a modern town, its most famous landmark dates back to some of town’s more interesting times. That landmark is Hatfield House, a Jacobean style house built for the First Earl of Salisbury, Robert Cecil in 1611, and home to the Cecil family ever since. Set in Hatfield’s Great Park, Hatfield House was built on the same site as an earlier Royal Palace (1497) which was a favourite haunt of Queen Elizabeth I. These days Hatfield House is a popular tourist attraction, many drawn by its associations with one of England’s best loved Queens, visitors can view a number of items owned by the queen including a pair of silk stockings, possibly the first to be seen in England at that time. Also popular are the gardens at Hatfield House, covering some 42 acres, the gardens were designed by John Tradescent the Elder during the early 17th century. Hatfield Map.
2009/12/07
2009/12/01
Hemel Hempstead
A bustling town within the English county of Hertfordshire, Hemel Hempstead was possibly settled as long ago as the Roman times, with remains of a Roman villa being found in nearby Boxmoor. The first records mentioning the town date from the 8th century and its name drived from the Anglo-Saxon Hean-Hempsted (or High Hempstead), in the Domesday Book it was named as Hamelamesede. The Norman conquest saw its land owned by Robert, Count of Mortain, it was later controlled by Thomas Becket, Hemel Hempstead was later granted a Royal Charter by Henry 8th. The town has mostly grown however since WW2 as it was developed as a ‘new town’, it now has a population of around 81,000. With good road access Hemel Hempstead is a busy commuter town with easy access to St Albans, Luton and London, with property prices very reasonable it makes sense for many to live here and commute. There was a huge explosion and fire in Hemel Hempstead in December 2005, when the Buncefield Oil Storage Depot exploded.