Defending Hertfordshire

The Military Landscape from Prehistory to the Present
Hertfordshire occupies a dominant position on the northern approaches to London and was traversed by three major Roman roads. It was the location of an oppidum (large fortified settlement) of the Catuvellauni tribe and the important Roman town of Verulamium, now St Albans, which were superseded by the Norman castles of Hertford, Berkhamsted and Waytemore (Bishops Stortford). During the Middle Ages, the county was heavily involved in the Anarchy, the Barons Wars and the Peasants Revolt, and three significant battles of the Wars of the Roses. In the Victorian period, the threat of French invasion precipitated the establishment of the Hertfordshire Rifle Volunteers, a formal incarnation of a county militia with roots in the English Civil War. In both world wars, Hertfordshire was heavily involved in training and munitions production; the de Havilland Mosquito was developed in Hatfield, heavy