an inland county of England, bounded on the N. by Cambridgeshire, N. W. by Bedfordshire, E. by Essex, S. by Middlesex, and S.W. by Buckinghamshire. It is divided into eight hundreds, and 134 parishes, and has an area of 611 square miles, or 391,141 statute acres.

The level surface of the county is broken by gentle undulations, which in some parts form a quick succession of hills and valleys. The summit of Kensworth Hill, on the borders of Beds, the highest hill in the county, is 909 feet above the level of the sea. The county is rich in natural advantages. In early times, we are told by Camden, its ledges of hills yielded shelter, its woods fuel and building material, and its rich valleys, grassy bottoms, and teeming rivers furnished food, thus meeting half way the wants of its uncivilized inhabitants. "Its sweet, clear, and very beautiful air," says a later writer, "led many of our kings to build palaces in the county for their own residence, as well as for the training of their children." The London physicians sent patients there to prolong life when their skill was ineffectual, and the noble and wealthy built mansions, so that the county became subdivided into a large number of small estates, and the competition for land was so keen that it was a common saying, "He who buys a house in Hertfordshire pays two years' purchase for the air." The aspect of the county is pleasant and picturesque. Fine oak and other trees are grown in the hedges for fuel, and being interwoven by "plashing" their branches and stems, that is, by cutting them obliquely, so that they grow into each other, they form high walls of living timber, shading narrow winding lanes. The arable and pasture lands of the farms are intermingled with the parks and ornamental woods of the country seats, which, "mantled deep in leaf," are scattered thickly through the county. These features, varied occasionally by rivers, import a peculiar beauty to the county, while in luxuriance it is not surpassed by any other county in England.

Geologically, the county forms part of the London chalk basin. The subsoil in almost every part is calcareous, and consists of two species, one of pure white chalk, the other of a softer kind, mixed with portions of whitish clay, and locally known as marne. The chalk substratum chiefly influences the nature of the soil in the northern district; clay prevails on the Essex and Middlesex borders, and in some parts it is highly tenacious and retentive of moisture. There are also some sandy loams mixed with gravel or clay. The vales traversed by rivers and streams exhibit in the bottoms a rich sandy loam; the sloping sides are covered by loams of inferior quality, and the flat surface of the high ground is generally formed of a loam of reddish hue tending towards common clay, with which it is often confounded. Arthur Young estimates that the county contains 46,720 acres of chalk, 90,240 of clay, 142,720 of loam, 5120 of rich loam, and 17,280 of rich gravel. From this it would appear that clay and loam are the prevailing soils.

The rivers of Hertfordshire are the Lea, which rises near Luton in Beds, enters the county at Hidehill, flows into the Thames a little below London, having received in its course the Rib, the Stort, the Quin, the Beane, the Maran, and the Kime; the Stort, which rises in Essex, and divides that county from Hertfordshire, until it falls into the Lea at Hoddesden; the Colne, which rises in Middlesex, passes through the western part of the county, and falls into the Thames at Brentford, receiving the Bulborne and the Ver or Meuse; the Gade, which rises on the borders of Bucks, and falls into the Colne near Rickmansworth; and the Ivel, a river composed of the inferior streams of the Oughton, Iiz, and Pirral, which passes into Beds, and reaches the German Ocean. The artificial stream, the New River, formed to supply the metropolis with fresh water, has its source in some springs near Ware, and running parallel to the Lea for many miles, obtains copious supplies from that stream. The Grand Junction Canal, extending from London to Birmingham, also traverses the county, passing by Watford and Berkhamsted. The Great Northern and Eastern Counties Railways furnish nearly all its towns with communication.

The main produce of Hertfordshire is corn; and the wheat grown at Wheathampstead, on the River Lea, is so fine that it has given a name to the district. The average produce for the whole county is—of wheat, 22 bushels per acre, oats 22 bushels, and barley 32 bushels, though on some highly cultivated farms the yield has been largely increased. Turnips were first introduced into this county in the time of Oliver Cromwell, who gave £100 to the farmer for his enterprise; a large quantity is still grown. Artificial grasses have been sown to a large extent. There is indeed little natural pasture land. There are some very rich pastures on the banks of the River Stort, extending from Hertford to Hockeril, on the borders of the River Lea, and also near Rickmansworth, where they are watered by the River Colne. The whole of the meadow land might be greatly improved by irrigation, but the streams of water are so valuable for driving mills employed in grinding malt and flour for London, that little is applied to improve agriculture. In the S.W. part of the county large quantities of cherries and apples are grown; the former is the least valuable crop, as the fruit will not bear carriage so well as apples, and it is also inferior in quality to Kent produce, with which it has to compete in the London market. Each cherry-tree is usually allowed nine square perches of land; and the orchards, whether of cherries or apples, are generally four or five acres in extent. On the best soils nearest to London culinary vegetables are forced by the aid of rich manure, and more than one crop is sometimes obtained in the same year. The vicinity of London, in truth, stimulates production by creating a demand for it. The chalk found below the surface, abundantly laid on, greatly improves the heavy lands, while fertility is imparted by the rich manure brought from London in the barges which have conveyed the produce of the county thither. Soot, peat ashes, burnt bones, hair, and woollen rags are used for manure amongst more ordinary substances, while the sheepfold and farm-yard dung is employed as universally as in other parts of the kingdom. The common system of cultivation is the five course—viz., turnips or fallow, barley, clover, wheat, oats. Naked fallows are very much adopted. Not only are the farms in this county small, but the ownership of the land is also much divided. There are fewer large proprietors than in other counties. The average extent of the farms is about 200 acres; and as this is a corn-growing county the quantity of stock kept upon them is small. Generally speaking there are about 100 ewes and six or eight cows on each farm. The calves are fattened, and the dairy produce sold as butter; the lambs are either fattened or sold as stores. The straw is sold, and sot purchased in its place. Six horses work the farm, and plough three in a line. Not much attention is paid to the breeds of animals, though amongst cows the Suffolk race is preferred, and amongst sheep the Southdown and Wiltshire kinds, and a cross between the Cotswolds and Leicester. The horses generally employed in agriculture are Suffolk ponies, and large tracts of land are cultivated with clover and tares for their sustenance, as well as that of sheep and cows. An interesting laboratory of agricultural chemistry has been established near St Albans by a private individual, in which experiments on the nature and adaptation of manures are made on an extensive scale.

The principal trade of the county is in corn and malt, of which large supplies are sent to the metropolis, the transit being facilitated by the water communication which it possesses. Silk and cotton were at one time largely manufactured in the county, but of late years straw-plait has been the chief industrial pursuit. Lace-making and silk-throwing have all but ceased to exist.

Nothing certain is known respecting the tribes who inhabited the district before the Roman invasion. It is supposed, however, that it belonged to the Cassi or Catuclianai, and that Cassivellaunus was their chief when the Romans destroyed Verulam, its principal city. It is thought that Hertfordshire was the scene of the struggle carried on by Caratacus; and it is certain that Verulam was captured, and its inhabitants massacred after the revolt of Queen Boadicea. When the Saxons subjugated the island, Hertfordshire was divided, and formed parts of the kingdoms of Essex and Mercia. In the year 896 the Danes ascended the River Lea as far as Hertford; but Alfred the Great, who then reigned, adroitly diverted the waters of the river, and compelled the freebooters to abandon their vessels, and seek safety by retreating across the island to the Severn. After the battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror attempted to pass through the county, but Fretheric, abbot of St Albans, who was of the Saxon royal blood, at the head of a confederacy of chiefs, stopped the Normans at Berkhamsted by throwing trees across the roads; and having threatened to raise Edward Atheling to the throne, William the Conqueror was induced to swear that he would govern according to the ancient laws of the realm—an oath which he did not scruple to break on becoming more powerful than those who imposed it. During the civil war of King John, the revolted barons, under the French duchess, captured Hertford, the capital of the county. In the year 1453, during the wars of the Roses, Henry the Sixth was taken prisoner by the Yorkists, in a battle fought near St Albans; and in 1461 he was rescued in a second battle fought there, in which the Lancastrians were victorious. Hertfordshire was in later times the scene of an exploit which gave indications of the spirit and resolution of Oliver Cromwell. The High Sheriff of the county was proceeding to St Albans for the purpose of proclaiming, by order of King Charles the First, that all the parliamentary commanders were rebels and traitors; when Cromwell did not hesitate to arrest this high official, though at the time he was himself only a simple captain of his own troop of horse.

"There is scarce one county in England," says Camden, "can show more footsteps of antiquity." The Romans had several stations in Hertfordshire, amongst which were Verulamium or Verulam, and Durocovicus; and traces still remain of the great Roman roads, the Watling Street, the Icknield Way, and the Ermin Street, which traversed the county. St Albans Abbey is a noble pile, 600 feet long, and 200 broad, founded in 303, in honour of the first Christian martyr of Britain; it was much injured in Cromwell's days, and every style of Gothic architecture has been incorporated in the edifice. One side of the gateway is now a house of correction; the other is a petty jail. The famous cross at Waltham, erected to mark the spot where rested the body of Eleanor, Queen of Edward I., on its way to Westminster for interment, is now beautifully restored. The other antiquities of the county are the massive ruins of Berkhamstead Castle, and those of Bishop's Stortford, Anstey, and Hertford; Royston church and cave; the churches of Kingslangley, Baldock, and Hitchin; the remains of Gorhambury Abbey, Wymondsbury Priory, and some minor ruins.

The annual value of real property assessed in the property-tax 1850-1 was £870,179. Pop. (1831) 142,844; (1841), 156,666; (1851), 167,298. In 1851 there were in the county 347 places of worship, with 95,585 sittings. Of these places of worship 162 belonged to the Church of England, 66 to Methodists of different kinds, 47 to Independents, 44 to Baptists, 7 to Quakers, and 4 to Roman Catholics. There were 236 Sunday schools, with 20,584 scholars; and 554 day-schools, with 23,373 scholars. Of the latter, 244, with 17,507 scholars, were public, and 310, with 5866 scholars, were private day-schools. The county returns three members to parliament, and Hertford two. St Albans returned two members to parliament till disfranchised in 1852, for corruption and bribery.