The 195 mile trail covers a large part of this beautiful, populous
and rich county, incidentally one of the smallest counties in
England, only 634 square miles. It is a county of rich contrasts.
In the north-east there are wide open panoramas over low hills and
farm lands as seen in the area around Barkway. Standing on
Therfield Heath you can look down on to the flat plains of
Cambridgeshire. Then in the south west there are the steep wooded
escarpments of the Chilterns. The route visits ancient market
towns, the Cathedral City of St Albans and countless picture
postcard villages nestling in an intimate landscape of farmland and
woods. In 1801 Hertfordshire had a population of about 100,000; now
it is well over one million. It has never been a heavily
industrialised area but it has seen its own industrial changes from
malting and brewing, plaiting of straw for hats, paper making,
industries associated with wool such as fulling (cleaning the woven
cloth) and silk mills. Today technical industries and service
industries dominate the industrial scene. A good introduction to
the county, and how it developed from pre-history can be found in
"The Hertfordshire Landscape" by Munby (1977) and "Hertfordshire, a
Landscape History" by Rowe and Williamson (2013). People have
settled the area since prehistoric times. Along the very ancient
Icknield Way there is evidence of many waves of people. On
Therfield Heath (see Leg 1) there is a long barrow of the Neolithic
Age (2500 BC) and round barrows of the Bronze Age (1000 BC). There
is evidence of the Beaker People in Hertfordshire. The hill forts
of the Iron Age settlers gave way at the height of their power to
the might of the Roman invasion. Many Roman roads go through
Hertfordshire, e.g. Ermine Street and Watling Street, and our walk
crosses the remains of the Roman town of Verulamium (St Albans). In
the Dark Ages Hertfordshire was part of the shifting boundary
between the English settlers (Angles & Saxons) and the later
invaders, the Vikings. It was a long and turbulent time before the
country became united. A good novel, which covers this period, is
the "Conscience of the King" by Alfred Duggan. In the Medieval
period the great abbeys were founded and one can still be seen in
St Albans (see Legs 4 & 5). Many fine Medieval churches can be
seen on this walk and short detours will be worth your while to
seek out some of these (unfortunately due to the presence of
valuable historic items most country churches are now locked on
weekdays). During the 16th to 18th centuries many country estates
were established in Hertfordshire e.g. Hatfield House, Knebworth
House and Ashridge House. Some of the houses have not survived but
our walk will take you through parkland, which reminds the walker
of those estates. Walkers passing through Ayot St Lawrence will be
going through such parkland and Ashridge still has its great house.
It was first a monastery, then a great house, now a management
college. The growth of London and the coming of industry saw some
rapid development in the county in the 19th and 20th centuries. An
example of this development was the Ovaltine factory at Kings
Langley with the model farm to feed its need for eggs and milk. The
factory and farms are all now sadly gone (see Legs 7 & 8). No
major rivers flow through the county, however it is still famous
for the large number of chalk streams and their associated wildlife
(the River Lee or Lea, a tributary of the Thames has its source
just north of Luton, flows though the county and is navigable up to
Hertford). The Grand Union Canal passes through our county on its
way north west (see Leg 7). The railways opened up Hertfordshire
for industry and settlement and such towns as Hemel Hempstead and
Watford grew from several hundred people to 80,000 plus. Many of
the great road routes, which fan out from London (such as the A1,
A5, A6, A10 and M1) pass through our county. Finally we saw the
first garden cities (Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City) and the new
town of Stevenage. The great orbital road, the M25, cuts its way
through the county (see Legs 7 to 9) not forgetting the electricity
pylons, supplying our thirst for power. Many famous people are
associated with Hertfordshire. Samuel Pepys was a regular visitor
who once when staying in Baldock noticed that the landlady was very
pretty but "I durst not take notice of her, her husband being
there". Queen Elizabeth I, then a princess, was a virtual prisoner
at Hatfield House when the Roman Catholic Queen Mary was on the
throne. King James I had a palace at Royston (the start of our
walk) from where he hunted on the lands of north Hertfordshire. The
so called Rye House Plot to kill King Charles II was hatched on its
borders. Izaac Walton of "Compleat Angler" fame knew the River Lea
well. The earliest Christian martyr, St Alban, was executed in
Roman times at the site of the city bearing his name. Francis Bacon
lived at Gorhambury (an estate near St Albans through which our
walk passes). He is buried in the church of St Michael nearby.
George Bernard Shaw made his home in Ayot St Lawrence; his home is
now a National Trust property and is close to our route. George
Orwell, Barbara Cartland, Charles Lamb and W. E. Johns lived in the
county. In spite of the development, most of your walking will be
on rural pathways through fields, villages and woods where you can
enjoy the peace and forget the might and noise of industry that
remind you of the century we live in -- Good walking
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