Berkhamsted
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Arms of Berkhamsted Town Council |
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The walls of Berkhamsted castle |
Berkhamsted is a historic town of some 19,000 people, situated in the west of
Hertfordshire, to the north-west of
London, between the towns of
Tring to the west and
Hemel Hempstead to the north east. It is in the administrative district (and
borough since 1984) of
Dacorum. The town thrives as a prosperous settlement for those working in London and the South East.
The name of the town has been spelt in a variety of ways over the years, and the present spelling was adopted in 1937. Earlier spellings included
Berkhampstead, and
Berkhamstead. The town is sometimes colloquially known to locals as
Berko.
The town is home to
Berkhamsted Collegiate School, founded in
1541 and attended by the celebrated author
Graham Greene, whose father was headmaster there.
It is also the home of the
British Film Institute's
National Film and Television Archive, the largest film archive of its kind in the world.
Berkhamsted was the terminating point of the
Norman invasion of
1066. The invading army encircled
London from the south east, then across to the west and north through
Wallingford, and finally stopping at Berkhamsted, at which point the conquest was effectively complete.
Edgar Atheling submitted to
William the Conqueror here and William was offered the crown of England, but declined saying he would rather receive the keys to London in Berkhamsted and would have the crown in London.
The town is home to what is believed to be the oldest extant
shop in
Great Britain, dated by
dendrochronology of structural timbers to between
1277 and
1297. Evidence has been found that it may have been a
jeweller or
goldsmith. The shop, at 173 High Street, is currently (2006) in use as an estate agent.
Berkhamsted Castle is a ruined
Norman castle, beside the
railway station. Now in the care of
English Heritage, this was once the home of
Edward, the Black Prince and his wife,
Joan of Kent.
Ashlyns School a large impressive building which was the former
foundling hospital opened in 1935. It contains stained glass windows, a staircase and many monuments from the original London hospital. The School Chapel housed an organ played on by Handel.
Famous people born in Berkhamsted include the English poet
William Cowper (
1731) and the influential soldier
Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien (
1858).
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Berkhamsted Town Council. The web site of Berkhamsted Town Council
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berkhamsted.info. A huge directory of information useful to the population of Berkhamsted.
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Berkhamsted Collegiate School Main Web Site. The web site of Berkhamsted Collegiate School
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Life and times of Great Berkhamsted Home page of Norman Cutting, Berkhamsted resident and political commentator
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St Peter's Church dating back to the 13th century
