Distant Day Out - Hertford

There are some places which aren't really worth visiting, at least not for a full day out, yet which are so historically notable it's worth seeing them anyway. Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, is one of them - a pretty small town of only 30,000 people, yet boasts a former castle, was where the date of Easter was confirmed in a medieval synod, and was even once the home of Parliament. And okay, I also went because it's reasonably close to London, but bear with me.

I started my journey at Hertford East station. Moving on... 

Hartham Common 

I first headed off to Hartham Common, which is only a few minutes away from the station. You'll find loads of rivers here: the Mimram, Rib and Beane are probably only known to locals; both pale in size to the main player, the Lea. The Lea is midway through its course around Hertford, where it's the major river in the area, before later flowing into the Thames.

  

That said, there's also the Lee Navigation, a canalised variant of the Lea that flows from Hertford Basin down to the Thames, with parts dating back to the 1600s, merely reaching Hertford in 1767. This does mean you can walk along a lovely path next to the canal, not intruding into the common, which unexpectedly veers towards more pastoral views. I mean, you can look around and see fields stretching as far as the horizon, the faint throttling of cars in the distance. This is especially the case once you pass Hertford Lock, heading towards the nearby town of Ware.

   

That said, I didn't go much further than the two Leas meeting each other, before I turned back. There were no obvious bridges to cross into the common, that's why. There were some people swimming in the canal, I'm even convinced there was a sign saying naturists were welcome. I didn't join in, either way, and instead made my way to Hartham Common.

 

The common's nice, though dominated by all the rivers. Historically speaking, this made the common important to Hertford's development as a town; Hertford used to be full of mills, powered by river water, as I'll briefly mention later. Aside from various football pitches and tennis courts scattered around the common, you'll also find a small weir at the confluence of the Beane and Lea, which is pretty cool.

   

Town Centre

Hertford's town centre is very quaint. You'll mainly find local businesses in the area, and it reminded me of St Albans in many ways. It's got a particularly quiet vibe, the sort of place you'd pass through to do your shopping but otherwise not stick around in for too long.

The town centre is concentrated by Parliament Square, where you'll find a silvery statue of a hart perched on top of the war memorial. Harts are a bit of a symbol of Hertfordshire, and I'm not entirely sure why - I definitely didn't see any deer lurking around.

Preacher man 

Around the town centre, you'll find a statue of Samuel Stone, a preacher who grew up in Hertford. In 1633, when he was 30, he set sail towards America, establishing a colony in 1636. This colony later grew into the town now known as...Hartford, the capital city of the state of Connecticut. Yes, he loved his birthplace so much, he named his colony after it. Hartford also happens to be one of the oldest cities in the US, so fair play to him, I suppose. 

 

The local brewery

When I left the common, I ended up outside a McMullen's brewery. They're a local brewery, in fact they're so local they have lots of plaques dedicated to them across the town, so I thought they're worth a quick mention. They've been at their current site, next to a large Sainsbury's, since 2006, though they've had multiple other breweries located within Hertford before.

 

Interesting buildings 

There's also the Shire Hall. Built in 1771, this is where Hertfordshire County Council used to be based, but they moved away in 1939. Today, it's just a magistrates court, with a pretty cool clock on the outside.

 

I'd also like to mention the Corn Exchange, the local music venue, but only because they had the cheek to put a poster announcing an Oasis concert (with tribute written in smaller letters below). Just thought that was funny.

 

The Wallace connection

Hertford was also where Alfred Russel Wallace, who proposed a theory of natural selection around the same time that Charles Darwin did, used to go to school. He lived in Hertford in what's now aptly known as the Wallace House, which you can find not far from the high street. If you're particularly curious about Wallace, you could even go to the nearby Hertford Museum, which has a few exhibits about Hertford life. It's free to enter, and has two floors worth of material, so is worth checking out for a bit.

Alfred Henry Wallace's house

The Hertford Museum

However, the most interesting place to visit in Hertford is undoubtedly located right in the centre. In fact, that's why I ended up visiting in the first place, even once I realised how little of it actually remains. It's still worth discussing, though. 

Hertford Castle

Hertford Castle's situated on the banks of the Lea, with a small garden surrounding it. Nowadays, it's only got one wall left, and you can't even visit, unless you're exceptionally lucky. The castle dates right back to the Norman Conquest. Soon after the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Normans set to work on constructing a castle, building around a motte that dated back to the Anglo-Saxons. They also ended up setting up Hertford Priory around the same time. The castle was rebuilt by Henry II from 1170 to 1174, and remained a royal residence up until the 17th century. During that time, it was converted into a Tudor palace by Henry VIII, who also dissolved and demolished the priory there.

 

However, over time, parts of the castle were demolished, leaving us with just the gatehouse to this day. The castle grounds opened to the public in the early 20th century, and now it's just a bit of a rump, though still stunning. There's not much to see around here, aside from the gatehouse and some remaining bailey walls from the original Norman castle. I suppose there are some cool granite stones along the front, as well as a mosaic not far away from the gatehouse, but otherwise, that's basically it.

 

I would like to quickly mention that the castle is also the site of Hertford's most famous moment. During an outbreak of plague in 1563, Parliament decided to move to Hertford so as to not get infected, with all operations held within the castle. They did this four more times until 1593, and the town consequently named their town square "Parliament Square" in honour. 

 

Epilogue

From here, there was nowhere else to go - well, aside from the oldest Quaker meeting house in the world, dating back to 1670. I'd forgotten about it, though, so I didn't end up visiting.

Heading down to Hertford North, the other Hertford station, there isn't much to see as you leave the town centre - just a main road with cars passing through. There is one exception, though. This is Sele Mill, where paper was first made in England. Thrilling, I know, but curiously enough, this only happened in 1494, which is way later than I'd have assumed. Then again, the original paper mill is long gone, in fact they stopped making paper here around 1500. Now it's a block of flats.

 

Not long after, I ended up at Hertford North, waiting for a train down to Moorgate. There's nothing to see there, and I probably overpaid for an extremely underwhelming lunch. And that's where I'll leave things. 

Hertford is genuinely historically interesting, it's just that most of the history has since fallen to the wayside. It's a pretty commuter town to wander around for a bit, and you may find yourself amazed by just how much happened in such an unsuspecting corner of Hertfordshire. Probably for the faint of hert.