The Foundation of Hertford 912-913AD

The Founding and Early History of a Region of England

Aug 20, 2009

A description of the early years of Hertford and Hertfordshire, and the wars between Saxons and Danes that led to Hertford's foundation.

The origins of the town of Hertford and Hertfordshire lie in the early years of the tenth century, when England did not as yet exist as a unified country and the land was divided between Anglo-Saxons and Danes. The area had been occupied for centuries and as early as the sixth century the East Saxons were settled around Hertford. By the year 673 the area was sufficiently important for five Bishops representing East Anglia, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex to meet there to agree on a national faith. The name Hertford or heort ford is of Anglo-Saxon origin and refers to a ford frequented by harts or stags. The town of Hertford itself was founded for purely military reasons in the early tenth century by the West Saxon King Edward the Elder, and the early history of the town and shire casts light on a turbulent period in English history.

The Conflict between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings

The background to Hertford’s creation lies in the conflict between the Anglo-Saxons and the invading Danes or ‘Vikings’, who by the late ninth century had defeated and conquered the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia and much of Mercia. The Treaty of Wedmore in 878 between the West Saxon king Alfred the Great and the Danish leader Guthrum ensured that Anglo-Saxon England would not be destroyed, but large parts of England came under permanent Danish rule including the land in Hertfordshire east of the River Lea. Later, in the year 886, the area south of the Lea was established as the boundary between Wessex, ruled by the Anglo-Saxons and that which was under Danish control and known as the ‘Danelaw’.

The Anglo-Saxons went on the offensive under the rule of Alfred’s successor Edward the Elder, and from his accession in 899 Edward’s armies began to slowly reconquer the eastern part of England under the Danelaw. Working in concert with his sister Aethelflaed, ‘the Lady of the Mercians’, and her husband Aethelred of Mercia, Edward scored a great victory over the Danes at the Battle of Tettenhall in 909, killing ‘many thousands of men’ according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and forcing them back north of the Humber. This allowed Edward to advance north into Essex and Hertfordshire to recover those lands under the Danelaw.

Edward followed his father’s policy of constructing fortresses or burhs and the Chronicle entry for the year 912 records that ‘about Martinmass (11 November) King Edward ordered the northern burh at Hertford to be built, between the Maran, the Beane, and the Lea’. The building of the forts on the Lea was not only intended as part of the struggle against the Danes, but also to consolidate West Saxon control of the South-East Midlands. Hertford was located on the frontier between the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, which may have been a deliberate attempt by Edward to disrupt traditional patterns of loyalty and allegiance.

The Construction of a Burh at Hertford

The construction of a burh at Hertford in 912 served to block any potential Danish invasions south from Bedford or Cambridge, and to control traffic moving along the roads north and south of London. In the summer of the following year Edward had a second fort built at Hertford on the south side of the Lea to guard against westward Danish advances from Colchester. The building of double forts was a feature of the period and also occurred at Buckingham and Nottingham. These forts at Hertford and elsewhere made London safe from Danish attacks and convinced many of the people living in nearby Essex to throw off Danish rule and submit to King Edward.

Therefore in its early days Hertford was very much a frontier town, and the siting and planning of it was probably laid down by King Edward personally. The burh would have been constructed in the standard Anglo-Saxon pattern, a defended urban area characterized by a planned layout featuring a rectangular grid of streets. It would have been surrounded by a defensive earthen rampart, with the buildings inside including churches, dwellings and outbuildings made of timber. Hertford still retains many of the features of the original Anglo-Saxon settlement, particularly the grid pattern of the streets and the property boundaries of the town merchants, known at the time as burgesses.

Attacks by the Danes on the Fledgling Town

Despite Edward’s precautions the fledgling town was by no means secure from Danish attacks, and frequently suffered from Danes sailing their boats up the River Lea to burn and pillage outlying settlements. The recent find of a Danish sword hilt in the Lea at Edmonton close to Hertford is testament to these dangerous times. There is distinct possibility that the Vikings employed central European mercenaries in their armies, and that the sword found in the Lea was owned by one of these mercenaries.

Hertford’s original purpose was therefore military and expansionist, as the twin forts either side of the River Lea served to guard against Viking invasions and strengthen West Saxon control of the area. Over the years they developed into a market town and centre of administration, and the design and layout of the ancient Saxon burhs can still be traced today. Thus Hertford is a classic example of an early English town and the story of its foundation helps to illuminate the politics and conflicts of Anglo-Saxon England.

The copyright of the article The Foundation of Hertford 912-913AD in Early Middle Ages is owned by David Pilling. Permission to republish The Foundation of Hertford 912-913AD in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.