Editing Berkhamsted (section)

==History==
===Origin of the town's name===
[[File:Tring Barkhamsted map 1659.jpg|thumb|[[Joan Blaeu]] map of Hertfordshire from 1659 showing ''Barkhamsted''{{sic}}, one of the many archaic spellings of the town's name]]
The earliest recorded spelling of the town's name is the 10th century [[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] ''Beorhðanstædæ''. The first part may have originated from either the [[Old English]] words ''beorg'', meaning "hill", or ''berc'' or ''beorc'', meaning "[[birch]]"; or from the older [[Old Celtic]] word ''Bearroc'', meaning "hilly place". The latter part, "hamsted", derives from the Old English word for homestead. So the town's name could be either mean "homestead amongst the hills" or the "homestead among the birches".<ref name="David Mills">{{cite book|last=Mills | first=David |title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-019960908-6|page=53}}</ref><ref name="Caroline Taggart">{{cite book|author=Caroline Taggart|title=The Book of English Place Names: How Our Towns and Villages Got Their Names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xNNERjxFr4C&pg=PA153|year=2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978009194043-0|page=153}}</ref>

Through history spellings of the town's name have changed. Local historian Rev John Wolstenholme Cobb identified over 50 different versions of the town's name since the writing of the [[Domesday Book]] (such as: "Berkstead", "Berkampsted", "Berkhampstead", "Muche Barkhamstede", "Berkhamsted Magna", "Great Berkhamsteed" and "Berkhamstead".)<ref name=page1908>{{harvnb|Page|1908|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/victoriahis02page#page/162/mode/1up 162–179]}}</ref>{{sfn|Cobb|1883|loc=[https://archive.org/stream/twolecturesonhis00cobbrich#page/104 Appendix I]}}  The present spelling was officially adopted in 1937 when the local council formally changed its name from Great Berkhampstead to Berkhamsted.<ref name=change>{{cite book |last1=Registrar General |title=Quarterly Return: Births, Deaths and Marriages registered in the quarter ended 31st December 1937 |year=1934 |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2iQYAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Great+Berkhampstead%22+change+of+name&pg=RA15-PA17 |access-date=13 September 2021 |quote=Great Berkhampstead Urban District renamed to Berkhamsted Urban District, 19 July 1937.}}</ref> The town's local nickname is "Berko".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/threecounties/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8598000/8598429.stm |title=Joseph Millson talks about loving life in Berko|last= Herman |
first=Judi |date=1 April 2010 |publisher=BBC |access-date=13 November 2014}}</ref>

===Prehistory and Roman period===

[[File:WAW-C4A5F5.jpg|thumb|An Early Middle Bronze Age (c. 1500 to 1300 BC) copper chisel found in Berkhamsted<ref>{{cite web |url=https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/124479|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208174831/https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/124479|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 December 2017|title=Finds record for: WAW-C4A5F5 |last=Bolton | first=A. | access-date=23 October 2015 |publisher=The Portable Antiquities Scheme }}</ref>]] [[Neolithic]], [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]], [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] and Roman artefacts show that the Berkhamsted area of the [[River Bulbourne|Bulbourne Valley]] has been settled for over 5,000 years.{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p=7}}{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|pp=2–5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berkhamstedtowncouncil.gov.uk/uploads/e-history-etc-040204.pdf|title=Berkhamsted Official Guide 2004|access-date=3 October 2014}}</ref> The discovery of a large number of worked flint chips provides Neolithic evidence of on-site flint knapping in the centre of Berkhamsted.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://reports.cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/content/uploads/2015/03/660376-Berkhamsted-Police-Station-Eval-Report-15039.pdf |title=Berkhamsted Police Station Berkhamsted Hertfordshire Archaeological Evaluation |publisher=Cotswold Archaeology |date=January 2015 |access-date=4 April 2015}}</ref> Several settlements dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age (about 4500–100&nbsp;BC) have been discovered south of Berkhamsted. Three sections of a late [[Bronze Age]] to [[Iron Age]] (1200–100&nbsp;BC) bank and ditch, {{convert|5|m|ft|spell=on|0|order=flip}} wide by {{convert|2|to|4|m|ft|spell=on|0|order=flip}} high and known as [[Grim's Ditch (Chilterns)|Grim's Ditch]], are found on the south side of the Bulbourne Valley.<ref name = "DPE">{{cite book|last=Dyer |first=James |year=2001 |title=Discovering Prehistoric England |publisher=Shire | place=Princes Risborough, UK |pages=19–20 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-074780507-6}}</ref><ref name="343-351"/> Another Iron Age dyke with the same name is on Berkhamsted Common, on the north side of the valley.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=3}}<ref name="npsGossoms">{{cite web|url=http://www.lidlberkhamsted.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Desktop-Archaelogical-Survey.pdf|title=Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Land at Gossoms End, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire|work=Report 2013–1334|publisher=nps archaeology|access-date=10 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915230706/http://www.lidlberkhamsted.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Desktop-Archaelogical-Survey.pdf|archive-date=15 September 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In the late Iron Age, before the Roman occupation, the valley would have been within [[Catuvellauni]] territory.<ref name="DPE" /> The Bulbourne Valley was rich in timber and iron ore. In the late Iron Age, a {{convert|4|sqmi|0|spell=on|adj=on}} area around [[Northchurch]] became a major iron production centre, now considered to be one of the most important late Iron Age and Roman industrial areas in England.<ref name="Area 117" />{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=3}} Iron production led to the settlement of a Roman town at [[Cow Roast]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dacorumheritage.org.uk/article/cow-roast-pottery-2/|title=Cow Roast Pottery|publisher=Dacorum Heritage Trust|access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref> about {{convert|2|miles|km|0|spell=on}} northwest of Berkhamsted. Four Roman first century AD iron smelting [[Ferrous metallurgy#Iron smelting and the Iron Age|bloomeries]] at Dellfield ({{convert|1|miles|km|0|spell=on}} northwest of the town centre) provide evidence of industrial activity in Berkhamsted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hist-met.org/nsc.pdf|title=The National Slag Collection: A simple catalogue|access-date=23 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://services.english-heritage.org.uk/ResearchReportsPdfs/3971.pdf|title=Ancient Monuments Laboratory Report 3971|work=A survey of the iron working industry in England 700BC to 1600AD|access-date=24 December 2014|last=McDonnell| first=J. G. | date=June 1982 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224113003/http://services.english-heritage.org.uk/ResearchReportsPdfs/3971.pdf|archive-date=24 December 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Production ceased at the end of the Roman period. Other evidence of [[Roman Britain|Roman-British]] occupation and activity in the Berkhamsted area, includes a pottery kiln on Bridgewater Road.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=4}}<ref name="npsGossoms"/><ref>{{cite report | last1=Griffiths | first1=Claire | last2=Hunn | first2=Jonathan | url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-751-1/dissemination/pdf/archaeol2-9497_2.pdf | date=August 2004 | title=Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment : Castle Wharf, Bridge Street Berkhamsted Hertfordshire| publisher=Archaeological Services & Consultancy Ltd}}</ref>  The town's high street still follows the line of the Roman-engineered [[Akeman Street]], which had been a pre-existing route from [[St Albans]] (''Verulamium'') to [[Cirencester]] (''Corinium'').

During Roman occupation the countryside close to [[Verulamium]] was subdivided into a series of farming estates.{{sfn|Hastie|1996|p=14}} The Berkhamsted area appears to have been divided into two or three farming estates, each including one or more masonry [[villa]] buildings, with tiled roofs and underfloor heating.
*The remains of a villa were found close to the river in 1973 in the adjacent village of Northchurch. The oldest building, made of timber, was built in AD&nbsp;60, rebuilt using stone in the early 2nd century, and enlarged to a ten-room building around AD&nbsp;150. The house may have been empty for a period, reoccupied in the 4th century, and abandoned in the late 4th or early 5th century.<ref name="StMary">{{cite web|url=http://www.stmarysnorthchurch.org.uk/ourhistory.htm|title=St Mary's church&nbsp;– Our History|access-date=31 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312223738/http://www.stmarysnorthchurch.org.uk/ourhistory.htm|archive-date=12 March 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dacorumheritage.org.uk/article/northchurch-roman-villa/|title=Northchurch Roman Villa|publisher=Dacorum Heritage Trust|access-date=20 September 2014}}</ref>
*A Roman-British villa, dyke, and temple were found {{convert|1.25|miles|km|1}} NNW of the castle, near Frithesden, at the edge of the Berkhamsted Golf Course. Excavations in 1954 revealed masonry foundations and [[tessera]]e floors. Together, the villa, dyke and temple form a unique complex, suggesting occupation in the late Iron Age and Roman period.<ref name="List Entry Summary">{{NHLE|num=1020914|desc=Berkhamsted Common Romano-British villa, dyke and temple |access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref>
*Two flint and tile walls from a Roman building were found north of Berkhamsted Castle in 1970. The construction of the castle's earthworks in the [[Middle Ages]] may have damaged this building.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=4}}<ref name="List entry">{{NHLE|num=1005253|desc=Site of Roman building, N of Berkhamsted Castle |access-date=20 September 2014}}</ref>

===Anglo-Saxon settlement===

The earliest written reference to Berkhamsted is in the will of [[Ælfgifu, wife of Eadwig|Ælfgifu]] (died AD&nbsp;970), queen consort of King [[Eadwig]] of England (r. 955–959), who bequeathed large estates in five counties, including Berkhamsted.<ref name="343-351">{{ cite web |last=Semmelmann | first=Karin |title=343–351 High Street, Berkhamsted Herts. Desk-Based Archaeological Assessment |publisher=Heritage Network |date=July 2004 | url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-442-1/dissemination/pdf/heritage1-11393.pdf |access-date=17 September 2014 }}</ref>{{refn|Æthelgifu's will is one of only seventeen existing wills in [[Old English]], and it is the most extensive of them. It gives much more detail on slave and land ownership in this period than any other document, and shows that a woman could have considerable wealth. The will is written on [[vellum]] in a [[Carolingian minuscule|minuscule hand]], and the original still exists; an American consortium bought it in 1969, and it is now in [[New Jersey]].<ref name=Whitelock1968p14>{{harvnb|Whitelock|1968|p=14}}.</ref>|group = "Notes"}} The location and extent of early Saxon settlement of Berkhamsted is not clear. Rare Anglo-Saxon pottery dating from the 7th century onwards has been found between Chesham Road and St John's Well Lane, with water mills near Mill Street in use from the late 9th century, show that an Anglo-Saxon settlement existed in the centre of modern-day Berkhamsted.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|pp=5-6}} The nearest known structural evidence of the Anglo-Saxon period are in the south and west walls of St Mary's Northchurch, {{convert|1|mile|spell=on|0}} to the north-west of modern Berkhamsted. The church may have been an important [[minster (church)|minster]], attached to a high status Anglo-Saxon estate, which became part of the medieval manor of Berkhamsted after the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman conquest]].<ref name="343-351"/><ref name="Williamson 2010 152">{{Harvnb|Williamson|2010|p=152}}.</ref>

The parish of Berkhamsted St Mary's (in Northchurch) once stretched {{convert|5|mi|km|spell=in}} from the hamlet of [[Dudswell, Hertfordshire|Dudswell]], through Northchurch and Berkhamsted to the former hamlet of Bourne End. Within Berkhamsted, the Chapel of St James was a small church near St John's Well (a 'holy well' that was the town's principal source of drinking water in the [[Middle Ages]]).{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p = 16}} The parish of this church (and later that of St Peter's) was an enclave of about {{convert|4,000|acre}} surrounded by Berkhamsted St Mary's parish.{{refn|This left an exclave of the St Mary's parish, which later became the village of Bourne End, southeast of Berkhamsted.|group = "Notes"}}{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=5}}<ref name="page1908" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/council-democracy/berkhamsted-delivery-office-high-sreet-berkhamste.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|title=4/01211/12/MFA&nbsp;– Redevelopment And Alterations To Provide Mixed Retail Development With Associated Car Parking, Servicing, Landscaping And Other Associated Works|access-date=29 November 2014}}</ref> By the 14th century the adjoining village of "Berkhamsted St Mary" or "Berkhamsted Minor" name had become "North Church", later "Northchurch", to distinguish the village from the town of Berkhamsted.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=5}}<ref name="page1908" /><ref name="StMary" /><ref name="Williamson 2010 152" />{{sfn|Page|1908|pp = [https://archive.org/stream/victoriahis02page#page/245/mode/1up 245-250]}}

===1066 and the Domesday survey===
{{main|Norman conquest of England}}
The Anglo-Saxons surrendered the crown of England to [[William the Conqueror]] at Berkhamsted in early December 1066.{{sfn|Remfry|1998|p=9}}<ref name="castle1066">{{cite episode|title=1. Instruments of Invasion|series=Castles: Britain's Fortified History|credits=Presenter: [[Sam Willis]], Director: Ben Southwell|network=BBC|airdate=4 December 2014|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04t6n19/castles-britains-fortified-history-1-instruments-of-invasion|station=BBC 4|minutes=5.05 – 6.20}}</ref> After William defeated and killed [[Harold Godwinson|Harold II]] at the [[Battle of Hastings]] in October, he failed in an attempt to capture London from the south. William led his army around [[London]], crossing the [[River Thames]] at [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]], "laying waste" while travelling through southeast England. At Berkhamsted, he received the surrender of [[Edgar the Ætheling]] (heir to the English throne), [[Ealdred (archbishop of York)|Archbishop Ealdred]], [[Edwin, Earl of Mercia|Earl Edwin]], [[Earl Morcar]] and the leaders of London.<ref name = "castle1066"/><ref name=mills1996 >{{cite journal |last=Mills |first=Peter  |year=1996 |title=The Battle of London 1066 |journal=London Archaeologist |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=59–62 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-457-1/dissemination/pdf/vol08/vol08_03/08_03_059_062.pdf }}</ref> It is not known why the town was chosen as the meeting place, except that it was in a defensive location north-west of London.{{refn|Historians in the past, have believed the town was of [[Mercia]]n importance or in the existence of a pre–Norman conquest fortification (there is reference to land called "Oldeburgh"). The Anglo-Saxon word ''[[burgh]]'' hints at a pre-conquest fortification. The notable early 20th century historian [[G. M. Trevelyan]], and earlier historians [[Samuel Lewis (publisher)|Samuel Lewis]] and [[Sir Henry Chauncy]], believed that the town was once an important Mercian settlement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageant-month/essentially-historical-play-berkhamsted/|title='Essentially an historical play': Berkhamsted pageant play, 1922|access-date=13 November 2014|last=Carter|first=Laura|publisher=Redress of the Past|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128050918/http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageant-month/essentially-historical-play-berkhamsted/|archive-date=28 November 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Two medieval ditches have been excavated in recent years, both of which were discovered on Bridgewater Road, north of the river, that may have been part of a ditch that surrounded the early medieval town.<ref name="343-351" />|group = "Notes"}} William was crowned in [[Westminster Abbey]] on Christmas Day, 1066.<ref name=mills1996 /> After his coronation, William granted the "Honour of Berkhamsted" to his half-brother, [[Robert, Count of Mortain]],{{sfn|Page|1908|p=[https://archive.org/stream/victoriahis02page#page/165/mode/1up 165]}} who after William became the largest landholder in the country. Robert built a wooden fortification that later became a royal retreat for the monarchs of the [[Normans|Norman]] and [[Plantagenet]] dynasties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/berkhamsted-castle/history/|title=History of Berkhamsted Castle|publisher=english-heritage.org.uk |access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1010756|desc=Berkhamsted motte and bailey castle|access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref>

According to the [[Domesday Book]], the lord of Berkhamsted before the Norman conquest was Edmer Ator (also referred to as Eadmer Atule), [[thegn]] of [[Edward the Confessor]] and King Harold.{{refn|Edmer Ator was evidently a senior landholding noble who had held 36 places over 7 counties prior to the Norman conquest, as recorded in the Domesday Book.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://domesdaymap.co.uk/name/161450/edmer-ator/|title=Name: Edmer Ator|publisher=Open Domesday|access-date=7 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009013428/http://domesdaymap.co.uk/name/161450/edmer-ator/|archive-date=9 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>|group = "Notes"}} The Domesday survey records that there was enough land for 26 plough teams, but only 15 working teams. There were two flour mills (Upper and Lower Mill), woodland for 1,000 pigs, and a vineyard.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|pp=6, 12}} The total population was calculated to be either 37 or 88 households; the families included 14 villagers, 15 smallholders, 6 slaves, a priest, a dyke builder (possibly working on the earthworks of the castle) and 52 [[Burgess (title)|burgesses]].<ref name=opend/> Some historians have argued that the number of 52 burgesses in Berkhamsted was a clerical error, as it is a large number for a small town.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Berkhampstead|volume=3|page=782}}</ref>{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|pp=226–227}} Berkhamsted was described in the Domesday Book as a ''burbium'' ([[ancient borough]]) in the [[Tring]] [[Hundred (county subdivision)|Hundred]].<ref name=opend>{{cite web|url=http://opendomesday.org/place/SP9907/berkhamsted/|title=Place: Berkhamsted| publisher=Open Domesday |access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="web.dacorum.gov.uk">{{cite web|url=http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/berkhamsted-conservationareaconsultationreport.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|title=Berkhamsted Conservation Area Character Appraisal & Management Proposals|access-date=23 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063326/http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/berkhamsted-conservationareaconsultationreport.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{refn|Later in the [[Middle Ages]] the Tring Hundred merged with the Danais Hundred, "which overlapped it", to form the Dacorum Hundred. Danais referred to [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danish]] settlers in the area. A monk writing about this area described it as "the Hundred of the Danes", using the word ''Daneis''. The word was later incorrectly transcribed as "Danicorum" and subsequently shortened to "Dacorum".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dacorumheritage.org.uk/about-us/about-dacorum/|title=About Dacorum|publisher= Dacorum Heritage Trust|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref>|group = "Notes"}} [[Marjorie Chibnall]] argued that Robert, Count of Mortain intended Berkhamsted to be both a commercial and a defensive centre;<ref name="Chibnall1991">{{cite book|author=Marjorie Chibnall|title=Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tu4Eu5ozEVIC&pg=PA134|year=1991|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|isbn=978-0-85115-286-8|pages=134–}}</ref> while [[John Hatcher (Cambridge)|John Hatcher]] and [[Edward Miller (historian)|Edward Miller]] believed that the 52 burgesses were involved in trade, but it is unknown if the burgesses existed before the conquest.<ref name="HakMill">{{cite book | last1=Hatcher  |first1=John |last2=Miller |first2=Edward |year=2014 |title=Medieval England: Towns, Commerce and Crafts, 1086–1348 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGHXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |publisher=Routledge |page=27 |isbn=978-131787287-0 }}</ref>

===Royal medieval castle (11th to 15th centuries)===
{{main|Berkhamsted Castle}}
[[File:Berkhamsted Castle Jan 2007.jpg|thumb|left|View across the Inner moat towards the bailey walls of Berkhamsted Castle]][[File:Berkhamsted Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1721598.jpg|thumb|left|A view of the castle motte, moat, middle bank and outer earthworks]]Berkhamsted Castle is a (now ruined) [[motte-and-bailey castle|motte-and-bailey]] [[Norman architecture|Norman]] castle.<ref name="List entry Number: 1010756">{{NHLE|num=1010756 |desc=Berkhamsted motte and bailey castle |access-date=20 September 2014}}</ref> [[Radiocarbon dating]] of organic remains from within the motte indicates that it was probably built post-1066 (a dyke builder is recorded in the town at the time of the Domesday Book).<ref>{{cite journal|title= Normal for Normans? Exploring the large round mounds of England|journal=Current Archaeology|author= Jim Leary, Elaine Jamieson and Phil Stastney|issue=337|publication-date= April 2018|year=2018|url=https://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/normal-normans-exploring-large-round-mounds-england.htm|url-access=limited|access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://roundmoundsproject.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/radiocarbon-dates-from-10-castle-mounds-results-of-year-1/ |title=The Round Mounds Project | publisher=University of Reading | work=Radiocarbon dates from 10 castle mounds – results of year 1 | date=7 October 2016 |  access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref> The castle was a high-status residence and an administrative centre for large estates (including the Earldom of Cornwall).<ref name="Williamson 2010 219" /> Through the High and Late [[Middle Ages]] the close proximity of the royal castle and [[Royal court|court]] helped fuel Berkhamsted's growth, prosperity and sense of importance.{{sfn|Hastie|1996|p=202}} It created jobs for the local population, both within the castle itself and also, for example, in the large [[Medieval deer park|deer park]]{{sfn|Rowe|2007|p=132}}{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=6}}<ref name="Liddiard2005p111">{{Harvnb|Liddiard|2005|pp=111–112}}.</ref> and in the [[vineyard]], which were maintained alongside the castle.<ref name="Williamson 2010 219">{{Harvnb|Williamson|2010|p=219}}.</ref>

After Robert, Count of Mortain, the castle passed to his heir William, who rebelled against [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] and lost the castle to the king. In 1155 Henry in turn gave it to his favourite [[Thomas Becket]], who held it till 1165. Becket was later alleged to have spent over £300 on improvements to the castle, a claim that led Henry to accuse him of corruption and may have contributed to his downfall.<ref name="Spigelman2004">{{ cite book | last=Spigelman |first=James J. |year=2004 |title=Becket & Henry: The Becket Lectures |publisher=St Thomas More Society |place=Sydney, Australia | isbn=978-064643477-3 |page=146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FHwzF_hmUYC&pg=PA146 }}</ref> Henry II extensively used the castle, making it one of his favourite residences. Both [[Richard I of England|King Richard I]] and [[John of England|King John]] gave the castle to their queens, [[Berengaria of Navarre]] and [[Isabella of Angoulême]], respectively. In King John's reign, [[Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex|Geoffrey Fitz Peter]] (c. 1162–1213),{{refn|The patronymic is sometimes rendered "Fitz Piers", since he was the son of Piers de Lutegareshale, forester of Ludgershal.|group = "Notes"}} Earl of Essex and the Chief [[Justiciar]] of England (effectively the king's principal minister) held the Honour and Manor of Berkhamsted from 1199 to 1212. During his time in the castle he was responsible for the foundation of the new [[Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted|parish church of St Peter]] (the size of which reflects the growing prosperity of the town); two hospitals, St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist (one of which was a leper hospital), which survived until 1516; and for the layout of the town.<ref name="Mackenzie1896p128">{{Harvnb|Mackenzie|1896|p=128}}</ref>{{sfn|Cobb|1883|pp = 14, 72}}{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p = 17}}

Following the signing of [[Magna Carta]] (1215), King John's reneging on the royal charter, the castle was besieged during the ensuing civil war, known as the [[First Barons' War]], between John and barons supported by Prince Louis (the future [[Louis VIII of France]]), the French laid siege to Berkhamsted Castle (only a quarter of a mile from the town centre) in late December 1216. The queen's constable of the castle was the German [[Walerand Teutonicus]].

<blockquote>
After reducing the castle of Hertford, Louis marched on St Nicholas's day (6 December) to the castle of Berkhamsted and surrounded it with his engines of war. Whilst the English barons, after pitching their tents, were employed in setting them in order, the knights and soldiers of the garrison made a sally, seized the baggage and conveyances of the barons and gained possession of the standard of William de Mandeville with which they returned to the castle, regretting that they could do no further injury to them. On the same day, whilst the barons were sitting at table, the knights and soldiers of the garrison again made a sally, and, in order to put the barons in confusion, they carried before them the standard which they had taken a short time before, and thought to come on them unawares, but the latter were forewarned of this, and drove them back to the castle. When the following day dawned Louis ordered the petrarie (stone-throwing machines) and other engines of war to be erected around the city, which being done, they kept up a destructive shower of stones: but Waleran, a German, well tried in warfare, made a brave resistance against them and caused great slaughter amongst the excommunicated French.</p>—The contemporary chronicler, [[Roger of Wendover]], based at [[St Albans Cathedral|St Albans abbey]], 12 miles from Berkhamsted, describing the siege<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.berkhamstedcastle.org.uk/biographies/waleran-teutonicus/ | title=Biography: Waleran Teutonicus | work=Berkhamsted Castle Trust Berkhamsted Castle Trust | access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref></p></blockquote>

During the siege, Prince Louis introduced a new destructive siege engine to England at Berkhamsted, the counterweight ''[[trebuchet]]'' (or ''[[mangonel]])''. After a siege of twenty days the young new King ([[Henry III of England|Henry III]]) ordered his constable to surrender the castle to Louis on 20 December. Following the siege at Berkhamsted Louis suffered several defeats. 11 September 1217 Louis signed the [[Treaty of Lambeth]], relinquishing his claim to the English throne and surrendering French-held castles including Berkhamsted. Walerand went on to hold several other posts including the senior position of  [[Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://magnacarta800th.com/history-of-the-magna-carta/battles/post-magna-carta/1216-berkhamsted-siege/|title=History of the Magna Carta 1216 Berkhamsted (siege)|date=23 May 2014 |publisher=2014 Magna Carta 2015 Committee / HCL Technologies|access-date=8 October 2014}}</ref>{{sfn|Remfry|1998}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.berkhamstedcastle.org.uk/histories/berkhamsted-castle-siege/ | title=1216: Berkhamsted Castle Siege | work=Berkhamsted Castle Trust | access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref>

In 1227, [[Henry III of England|Henry III's]] younger brother, [[Richard of Cornwall]], was given the manor and castle, beginning the long association of the castle with the [[Earl of Cornwall|Earls]] and later the [[Duke of Cornwall|Dukes of Cornwall]].<ref name=Brown1989p52>{{Harvnb|Brown|1989|p=52}}.</ref><ref name=Pettifer1995p105>{{Harvnb|Pettifer|1995|p=105}}</ref>{{refn|One of the wealthiest men in Europe, [[Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall]], was elected King of Germany, or [[Holy Roman Emperor]], in 1256.|group = "Notes"}} Richard redeveloped the castle as a palatial residence and the centre for the administration of the [[Earldom of Cornwall]]. Richard's coat of arms as Earl of Cornwall, along with [[bezant]]s, is included in Berkhamsted's coat of arms. Richard's wife, [[Sanchia of Provence]], died in the castle in 1260. Richard was succeeded by his son, [[Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall]], who founded [[Ashridge Priory]], a [[College (canon law)|college]] of the monastic order of [[Bonhommes]], in 1283. In 1300, after Edmund died, [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] took the castle; he subsequently granted it to his second queen, [[Margaret of France (died 1318)|Margaret of France]]. In 1309, Edward I's and Margaret's son, [[Edward II]], granted Berkhamsted to his favourite, [[Piers Gaveston]]. In 1317, the castle was given to Edward II's queen, [[Isabella of France]].{{sfn|Remfry|1998}}
[[File:Castle Berkhamsted cz.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Picture of Berkhamsted from the Norman Castle's Motte| The castle's bailey viewed from the Norman motte (Enlarged: A train can be seen passing close to the castle, with the town to the south beyond.)]]
[[Edward III]] further developed the castle and gave it (as part of the Duchy of Cornwall) to his son, [[Edward, the Black Prince]], who expanded the hunting grounds. The castle was used to hold royal prisoners, including [[John II of France]]. In 1361, Edward the Black Prince and [[Joan of Kent|Joan, the Maid of Kent]], spent their honeymoon in Berkhamsted. Under Edward the Black Prince, Berkhamsted become a centre of [[English longbow]] archery.<ref name="CBCT">{{cite web | url=https://www.berkhamstedcastle.org.uk/histories/1346-the-battle-of-crecy/ | title=1346: The Battle of Crécy How Berkhamsted's Bowmen decided the Hundred Years' War | work=Berkhamsted Castle Trust 2021 | access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref> A decisive factor in the English victory at the [[Battle of Crécy]] (1346) was the introduction of this new weapon onto the Western European battlefield. The longbow was a superior weapon to the cumbersome and slower crossbow. The Berkhamsted bowmen successfully took part in this significant battle in medieval Western European history.<ref name="CBCT"/> The Black Prince was supported at the Battle of Crecy by local bowmen Everard Halsey, John Wood, Stephen of Champneys, Robert Whittingham, Edward le Bourne, Richard of Gaddesden and Henry of Berkhamsted (who was rewarded with 2[[penny|d]] a day and appointed porter of Berkhamsted Castle after he saved the prince's baggage at the [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Battle of Poitiers]]). [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] inherited Berkhamsted Castle in 1377 and gave it to his favourites, [[Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland|Robert de Vere]] and [[John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter|John Holland]].

In 1400, [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] lived in the castle after he deposed Richard, and he used the castle to imprison others attempting to obtain the throne. During this time, [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] – later famous for writing ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'' – oversaw renovation work on the castle in his role as Clerk of the Works at Berkhamsted. It is unknown how much time he spent at Berkhamsted, but he knew [[John of Gaddesden]], who lived in nearby [[Little Gaddesden]] and was the model for the Doctor of Phisick in ''The Canterbury Tales''. [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] and [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] owned the castle, the latter making use of it until he was overthrown in 1461. In 1469, [[Edward IV]] gave the castle to his mother, [[Cecily Neville, Duchess of York]]. The arrival of Neville and her household at Berkhamsted had a significant social and financial impact on the town. Men and women from the town joined her service, such as Robert Incent who became her secretary and whose memorial brass can still be seen in St Peter's Church in Berkhamsted. Mother to both Edward IV and [[Richard III]], grandmother to [[Edward V]], and mother in law to [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]], she was the last person to live in the castle.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Berkhamsted Castle {{!}} Cecily, Duchess of York|url=https://www.berkhamstedcastle.org.uk/biographies/cecily-duchess-of-york/|access-date=19 September 2021|website=www.berkhamstedcastle.org.uk}}</ref>{{sfn|Remfry|1998}}

====Recent history of the castle====
In 1833, the castle was the first building to receive statutory protection in the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]. In 1834, construction of the railway embankment demolished the castle's gatehouse and adjacent earthworks.<ref>{{cite book |last=Richards |first=Jeffrey |chapter=The role of the railways |editor-last=Wheeler |editor-first=Michael |title=Ruskin and Environment: The Storm-cloud of the Nineteenth Century |publisher=Manchester University Press |place=Manchester | isbn=978-071904377-2 |page=125 |year=1995 }}</ref> Today the castle ruins are managed by a charitable trust, the ''Berkhamsted Castle Trust'', in partnership with [[English Heritage]], on behalf of the [[Duchy of Cornwall]] (which still officially owns the site), and are freely open to the public.{{sfn|Remfry|1998}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://duchyofcornwall.org/ancient-monuments.html|title=Ancient Monuments|publisher=Duchy of Cornwall |access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref>

===Medieval market town (12th to 15th centuries)===
The town continued to develop separately on the old Akeman Street  {{convert|0.4|miles|km|1}} to the south of the castle and to the west of St Peter's Church; with a triangle formed by Mill Street, Castle Street and Back Lane pointing towards the castle.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=10}}<ref>{{cite report| last=Maher | first=Shane | url=http://www.pre-construct.com/Publications/report-downloads/HHST12-exc-summary.pdf | title=300 High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire| publisher=Construct Archaeology Ltd | date=January 2014}}</ref> In 1156, [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] officially recognised Berkhamsted as a town in a [[royal charter]], which confirmed the laws and customs enjoyed under [[Edward the Confessor]], William I and Henry I, and freed the town's merchants from all tolls and dues. The charter also stated that no market could be set up within {{convert|7|miles|km|0}} of the town.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=6}}[[File:Tomb of Henry of Berkhamsted. St. Peter's, Berkhamsted- geograph.org.uk - 780334.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Henry of Berkhamsted (who served under Edward the Black Prince at the battles of [[Battle of Crécy|Crécy]] and [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Poitiers]]) and his Lady]]
The town became a trading centre on an important trade route in the 12th and 13th centuries, and received more royal charters. In 1216, [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] relieved the men and merchants of the town from all tolls and taxes everywhere in England, and the English [[Plantagenet]] possessions in France, [[Normandy]], [[Aquitaine#English Aquitaine|Aquitaine]] and [[County of Anjou|Anjou]].{{sfn|Birtchnell|1988}} The growing [[wool trade]] brought prosperity to Berkhamsted from the 12th century until the early [[Tudor period]].{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|pp=240–241}}{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=9}} Four wealthy Berkhamsted wool merchants were amongst a group in [[Bruges]] to whom Edward III wrote in 1332,{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=9}}<ref name="HakMill" /> and Berkhamsted merchants sold cloth to the royal court.<ref name="HakMill" />

In 1217, Henry III recognised by royal charter the town's oldest institution, Berkhamsted's pre-existing market.{{sfn|Birtchnell|1988}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/list-index-soc/markets-fairs-gazetteer-to-1516/hertfordshire|title=Hertfordshire|publisher=British History Online|work=Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales To 1516 Hertfordshire|access-date=5 February 2015}}</ref>{{refn|The market had been in existence since at least 1086. It was originally held on a Sunday, but by this charter it was changed to Monday, as the rector of the new St Peter's Church objected to the noise. The market is now held on a Saturday.|group = "Notes"}} Trades within medieval Berkhamsted were extensive: early in the 13th century the town had a merchant, two painters, a goldsmith, a forester, two [[farrier]]s, two tailors, a brewer of [[mead]], a blacksmith, carpenters, [[wood turner]]s, tool makers, a manufacturer of roofing tiles and wine producers.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|p=240}}<ref name=page1908 /> In the mid–13th century, a banker, the wealthy Abraham of Berkhamsted, financier to the Earl of Cornwall, lived in the town; this was unusual for a small town in a [[History of the Jews in England#Persecution and expulsion|time of heightened persecution of Jews]].{{sfn|Hillaby|Hillaby|2013|pp=50-52}}

A 1290 taxation list mentions a brewer, a lead burner, a carpenter, leather workers, a [[Fulling|fuller]], a [[Woodturning|turner]], a butcher, a fishmonger, a barber, an archer, a tailor, a cloth-napper, a [[miller]], a cook, a seller of salt and a huntsman.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|p=240}} At this time, larger houses of merchants and castle officials appeared on the south side of the high street (including [[173, High Street, Berkhamsted|173&nbsp;High Street]], the oldest known extant [[jettied]] building in England). In 1307 Berkhamsted was a [[List of towns and cities in England by historical population#Late Medieval Period|large town by English medieval standards]] with an estimated population of 2,000 to 2,500.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|p=56}} In 1355, there were five butchers, two bakers, nine brewers, two [[Cordwainer|cobblers]], a [[Fur clothing|pelter]], a [[Tanner (occupation)|tanner]], five cloth dyers, six [[wheelwright]]s, three [[Metalsmith|smith]]s, six grain merchants, a [[Skinner (profession)|skinner]] and a baker/butcher.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|p=240}} In the 14th century, Berkhamsted (recorded as "Berchamstede") was considered to be one of the "best" market towns in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/berkhamsted-conservationareaconsultationreport.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|title=Berkhamsted Conservation Area Character Appraisal & Management Proposals|access-date=24 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063326/http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/berkhamsted-conservationareaconsultationreport.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a survey of 1357, Richard Clay was found to own a butcher's shop {{convert|12|ft|m|0|spell=on}} wide, William Herewood had two shops, and there were four other shops {{convert|8|ft|m|0|spell=on}} in length. In 1440, there is a reference to lime kilns.<ref name=page1908 />

The town benefited when [[Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall]], founded [[Ashridge Priory]] in 1283, {{convert|2|miles|km|0|spell=on}} away and within the castle's park. At the foundation of the abbey, the Earl donated a phial claimed to contain Christ's blood. [[Pilgrim]]s from all over Europe passed through the town to see the holy relic. The abbey grew quite wealthy as a result. [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] held parliament at the abbey in 1290 and spent Christmas there.{{sfn|Page|1905|pp=[https://archive.org/details/victoriahistory01pageuoft/page/n453 386-387]}} Berkhamsted burgesses sent two members to [[Parliament of England|parliament]] in 1320, 1338 and 1341, but the town was not represented again.<ref name="EB1911"/> In the mid-14th century, the [[Edward, the Black Prince|Black Prince]] took advantage of the [[Black Death]] to extend the castle's park by {{convert|65|acre|ha|0}}, eventually producing a park covering {{convert|991|acre}}.<ref name=Rowe2007p>{{Harvnb|Rowe|2007|pp=131–144}}</ref> In the 15th century, the town was reaffirmed as a borough by a royal charter granted by Edward IV (1442–1483), which decreed that no other market town was to be set up within {{convert|11|miles|km|0}}.

===Castle abandoned, the town in decline (16th to late 18th centuries)===
{{main|Berkhamsted Place}}
[[File:Berkhamsted Place 1832.jpg|thumb|Berkhamsted Place 1832]]
In the 16th century, the town fell into decline after abandonment of the castle following the death of [[Cicely Neville, Duchess of York]], in 1495, and the rise of the nearby town of [[Hemel Hempstead]] (which was granted a Charter of Incorporation by [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] on 29 December 1539). The population of the town in 1563 has been estimated at only 545.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|loc=Table 5.3}} In 1580, the castle ruins and the park were leased by Elizabeth I to Sir Edward Carey, for the nominal rent of one red [[rose]] each year.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=12}}{{sfn|Mackenzie|1896|p=130}} Stone from the castle was used to build [[Berkhamsted Place]], a local school, and other buildings in the late 16th century.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|pp=10, 13}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Hands |first=Joan | date=10 November 2010 |publisher=Dacorum Heritage Trust |url=http://www.dacorumheritage.org.uk/article/the-extraordinary-market-that-put-hemel-hempstead-on-the-map/|title=The "extraordinary" market that put Hemel Hempstead on the map|access-date=1 October 2014}}</ref> Brewing and maltings was noted as one of the town's principal industries in the reign of Elizabeth.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=26}} Around 1583, a new market house was erected west of St Peter's Church at the end of Middle Row (alternatively named Le Shopperowe or Graball Row). The market house was destroyed in a fire in 1854.

In 1612, Berkhamsted Place was bought by [[Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales]] for £4,000. Henry died later that year, and bequeathed the house to his brother Charles (later [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/ark:/99166/w6pz5hv0|title=Cunningham, David, −1659| publisher=Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) | access-date=20 October 2014}}</ref> who leased the property to his tutor, Thomas Murray, and his wife, Mary Murray, who had been his nurse and Lady of the [[Privy Chamber]] to the prince's mother. [[John Norden]] wrote in 1616 that the making of malt was then the principal trade of the town.<ref name=page1908/> In 1618, [[James I of England|James I]] reaffirmed Berkhamsted's borough status with a charter. Following surveys in 1607 and 1612 the Duchy of Cornwall enclosed {{convert|300|acres|0|abbr=on}} from the Common (now known as Coldharbour farm) despite local opposition led by Rev Thomas Newman. In 1639 the Duchy tried to enclose a further {{convert|400|acres|0|abbr=on}} of the Berkhamsted and Northchurch Commons, but was prevented from doing so by William Edlyn of Norcott. The castle's park, which had reached {{convert|1252|acres}} by 1627, was broken up over the next two decades, shrinking to only {{convert|376|acre}}, to the benefit of local farmers.{{sfn|Cobb|1883|pp=46–47}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=px6zviStQlwC&q=+%22berkhamsted%22&pg=PA25|title=Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town|publisher=Wesleyan University Press, 1 May 2011|author=Sumner Chilton Powell|date=1 May 2011|page=22|isbn=9780819572684}}</ref> In 1643, Berkhamsted was visited by a violent pestilential fever.<ref name=page1908/>

Born in Berkhamsted, Colonel [[Daniel Axtell]] (1622&nbsp;– 19 October 1660), a Baptist and a [[grocer]]'s apprentice, played a zealous and prominent part in the [[English Civil War]], both in England and in the [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland]]. He participated as a lieutenant colonel in [[Pride's Purge]] of the [[Long Parliament]] (December 1648), arguably the only military ''coup d'état'' in English history, and commanded the Parliamentary Guard at the trial of King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] at [[Westminster Hall]] in 1649. During Cromwell's Protectorate, he appropriated Berkhamsted Place. Shortly after the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] of the monarchy under [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], the unrepentant Axtell was [[hanged, drawn and quartered]] as a [[regicide]].<ref name="oxforddnb.com">{{ Cite ODNB | last=Thomson | first=Alan | title=Axtell, Daniel (bap. 1622, d. 1660) | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/928 | year=2004 }}</ref> After the Restoration, the town lost its charter granted by James I and its borough status. The surveyor of Hertfordshire recommended that a new tenant and army officers were needed at Berkhamsted Place "to govern the people much seduced of late by new doctrine preacht unto them by Axtell and his colleagues."{{sfn|Reece|2013|p=122}} The population of the town in 1640 and in the 1690s was estimated at 1075 and 767, respectively.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|loc=Table 5.3}} The town was a centre of religious nonconformity from the 17th century: over a quarter of the town were [[English Dissenters|Dissenters]] in the second half of the century,{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p=102}} and in 1700, there were 400 Baptists recorded as living in Berkhamsted.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Reid Doster |first=G. |year=1977 |title=Discipline and ordination at Berkhamsted General Baptist Church, 1712–1718 |journal=Baptist Quarterly |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=128–138 |url=http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bq/27-3_128.pdf |doi=10.1080/0005576X.1977.11751481 }}</ref> Three more shops are mentioned in the row next to the church, and the Parliamentary Survey of 1653 suggests that the area near the Market House was used for butchery.<ref>{{cite report | url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-751-1/dissemination/pdf/archaeol2-23704_1.pdf | title=Historic Building Assessment: site adjacent to 3 & 4 Church Gates, Church Lane, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire | publisher=Archaeological Services & Consultancy Ltd | date=November 2004 | page=12}}</ref>

===Development of the modern town (19th and 20th centuries)===

====19th century urban growth====

In the 17th and 18th centuries Hemel Hempstead, with its thriving market, eclipsed Berkhamsted as the major town in the area.{{sfn|Hastie|1996|p=202}} [[Georgian era|Georgian]] Berkhamsted barely extended beyond the medieval triangle and the High Street. With the coming of the [[Industrial Age]], Berkhamsted was well placed at a gateway through the Chilterns, between the markets of London and the industrial [[The Midlands|Midlands]]. The town became a link in the growing network of roads, canals and railways. These developments led Berkhamsted's population to expand once again. In 1801, the population of St Peter's parish had been 1,690 and by 1831, this had risen to 2,369 (484&nbsp;houses). An 1835 description of the town found that "the houses are mostly of brick, and irregularly built, but are interspersed with a fair proportion of handsome residences".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQ1CAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA282|title=The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge|volume=4: Bassantin&nbsp;— Bloemaart|author=Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge|publisher=Knight|date= 1835|access-date=10 December 2014}}</ref> The town's population increased as "hundreds of men arrived to build the railway line and needed lodging";{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=23}} by 1851, the population was 3,395,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldtowns.co.uk/Hertfordshire/berkhamsted.htm|title=Market Towns Of Hertfordshire (from SDUK Penny Cyclopedia)|access-date=24 September 2014}}</ref> From 1850 large estates around Berkhamsted were sold, allowing for housing expansion. In 1851 the Pilkington Manor estate, east of Castle Street, was sold, and the land developed both as an industrial area and for artisans' dwellings. In 1868 streets of middle-class villas began to appear on the hill south of the High Street.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=23}}{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p=68}} Lower Kings Road was built by public subscription in 1885 to join Kings Road and the High Street to the station.{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p=60}} In 1887, John Bartholomew's ''Gazetteer of the British Isles'' recorded the population at 4,485.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/31|title=Berkhamsted Hertfordshire|publisher=University of Portsmouth|work=A Vision of Britain through Time|access-date=17 March 2015}}</ref>{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=23}}

====19th century industry and utilities====

[[File:Berkhamsted - Cooper House on Ravens Lane (geograph 3148021).jpg|thumb|Former buildings of Cooper & Nephews on Ravens Lane, Berkhamsted]]
Industries in the 19th century included:
*''Timber:'' In the mid-18th century, Berkhamsted had been noted for turned wood products. Based on the extensive woodland resources of the area (principally [[alder]] and [[beech]]), the milling and turning of wood was the town's most prominent industry in the 19th century. The Crimean War contracts for supplying the army with lance poles and tent pegs led to major expansion.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=24}} The largest manufacturer was East & Sons.
*''Brush making:'' An offshoot of the timber industry. The largest employers were Goss Brushworks at the west end of the High Street (closed 1930s) and T.H. Nash in George Street (closed 1920s).{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=24}}
*''The Canal trade'' provided a considerable economic stimulus to the town, enabling the development of industries which involved bulk transport of materials. These included timber and malt.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=24}}
*''Boat building:'' Berkhamsted also became a centre for the construction of the barges needed for the canal trades.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|pp=22,25}} A yard for building canal barges and other boats, between Castle Street and Raven's Lane wharves, was one of three important boatyards in Hertfordshire. It was owned by John Hatton until 1880 and then by William Costin until 1910, when it was taken over by Key's, the timber merchants which in 1969 was bought by another timber merchant J. Alsford before being redeveloped into flats in 1994. At this site, next to the canal, is the [[#Sites of interest|Berkhamsted Canadian totem pole]]. 
*''Watercress:'' The construction of the canal had helped to drain the marshy areas along the valley of the River Bulbourne. In 1883, the ''Berkhamsted Times'' congratulated Mr Bedford on having converted the remaining "dirty ditches and offensive marshes" into [[watercress]] beds.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=25}}
*''Chemical:'' Cooper's [[sheep dip]] works. [[William Cooper (chemical manufacturer)|William Cooper]] was a [[veterinary physician|vet]] who arrived in Berkhamsted in the early 1840s and experimented in treatments for [[Psoroptes|scab]] in sheep. He formulated an innovative arsenic and sulphur sheep-dip.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=24}} The Cooper family firm was later inherited by his nephew, [[Sir Richard Cooper, 1st Baronet]].
*''[[Nurserymen]]:'' Henry Lane's nurseryman business, founded in 1777, became one of the largest employers in the town in the 19th century. Extensive nurseries are shown on the 1878 Ordnance Survey 25&nbsp;inch plan, at the western end of the town.
*''Iron working:'' Wood's Ironworks was set up in 1826 by James Wood.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=25}}

Utilities in the 19th century included:
*''Gasworks:'' The Great Berkhamsted Gas, Light & Coke Co., at the junction of Water Lane and the Wilderness, was set up to provide street lighting in 1849. In 1906, the Berkhamsted Gas Works moved to Billet Lane; it closed in 1959.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=26}}
*''Water and sewage:'' The Great Berkhamsted Waterworks Company was set up in 1864 on the High Street (on the present site of W.H. Smith and Boots). Mains drainage was first supplied in 1898–99, when effective sewerage was installed.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=26}}

====Provision for the destitute====

[[File:Berkhamsted Castle - Ruins of the external walls, keeper's house, castle motte in background.jpg|thumb|left|The 19th century soup kitchen built inside Berkhamsted Castle (part now used as the castle visitor centre) at the entrance next to the cottage within the castle's bailey.]]In 1725 "An Account of Several Workhouses" records a parish [[workhouse]] in Berkhamsted, and a parliamentary report of 1777 refers to a parish workhouse for up to 34 inmates in Northchurch. A small "wretched, straw-thatched" house was used to house poor families in Berkhamsted, on the corner of what is now Park View Road, until it was demolished in the 1820s. In 1831 a bequest of £1,000 by the Revd George Nugent led to a new parish workhouse being set up on the site of a workhouse which had operated in a row of tenements on the High Street (at the Kitsbury Road junction) known as Ragged Row.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=27}} The "Berkhampstead [[Poor Law Amendment Act 1834|Poor Law]] Union" was formed in June 1835 covering ten parishes centred on the town. The Union took over the existing Berkhamsted parish workhouse, and by August 1835 it had become the sole workhouse for the union. The workhouse had no schoolroom, so in 1849 the [[Poor Law Board]] recommended that pauper children be sent to the local [[National school (England and Wales)|National School]]. However in 1858 the school complained about the state of the children attending from the workhouse. A fever ward was erected in 1855, and a full-time nurse was engaged in 1868. The workhouse system officially came to an end in 1930, and control over the workhouse was given to local council. Nugent House, the Berkhamsted workhouse, finally closed in 1935 and its function was relocated to Hemel Hemspstead.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=27}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Berkhampstead/ |title=The Workhouse - Berkhampstead/Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire |access-date=26 July 2015}}</ref> In 1841, the Countess of Bridgewater built a [[soup kitchen#Emergence of the modern soup kitchen|soup kitchen]] for the local poor within the ruins of Berkhamsted Castle. The soup kitchen was used by an estimated 15 per cent of the population of Berkhamsted (about 500 people) during the winter months, until at least 1897. The building still stands connected to the cottage in the castle grounds; why it was placed outside the town and inside the ruins of the historic castle is unknown.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://dougsarchaeology.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/space-the-final-archaeological-frontier/ | title=Berkhamsted Castle and the Countess of Bridgewater's soup house: magic kingdoms and heterotopias in Hertfordshire| author= Carstairs Phillip|date= 11 April 2016| access-date =29 August 2016}}</ref> [[File:Queen Beech-geograph-2900758.jpg|thumb|The Queen Beech or Harry Potter tree (now fallen) This [[pollarded]] tree in [[Frithsden Beeches]] on Berkhamsted Common was at least 350 years old. In 1866, it was at the centre of the battle of Berkhamsted Common. It was noted by the naturalist [[Richard Mabey]] in his book "Beechcombings" and  "played" the [[Whomping Willow]] in the ''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]'' film ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)|The Prisoner of Azkaban]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/nature/2015/11/queen-beech-ruled-land-even-when-she-fell | title=The queen beech ruled the land, even when she fell | magazine=[[New Statesman]] | date=7 November 2015 | access-date=7 November 2015 | author=Mabey, Richard}}</ref>]]

====Land dispute: ''The Battle of Berkhamsted Common''====

The ''Battle of Berkhamsted Common'' played an important part in the preservation of common land nationally.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-estate/documents/map-of-bobc-walk.pdf | title=The Battle of Berkhamsted 150th Anniversary Walk | publisher=[[National Trust]] | access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref> After 1604 the former Ashridge Priory became the home of the Edgerton family. In 1808–1814 [[Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater]], demolished the old priory, and built a stately home, [[Ashridge|Ashridge House]]. In 1848 the estate passed to the Earls Brownlow, a branch of the Egerton family.{{sfn|Sanecki|1996|p=none}}

In 1866, Lord Brownlow of Ashridge House (encouraged by his mother, [[Marian Alford|Lady Marian Alford]]) in an action similar to many other large estate holders tried to [[enclosure|enclose]] Berkhamsted [[Common land|Common]] with {{convert|5|ft|m|1|adj=on}} steel fences (built by Woods of Berkhamsted) in order to claim the land as part of his family's estate. In response to the enclosure action and in defence the historic right of the public to use the ancient common land, [[Augustus Smith (politician)|Augustus Smith]] MP and [[George Shaw-Lefevre]] organised local people and 120 hired men from London's East End to dismantle the fences on the night of 6 March, in what became known nationally as the Battle of Berkhamsted Common.{{sfn|Birtchnell|1988}}<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.hertfordshirelife.co.uk/home/herts_history_the_battle_of_berkhamsted_1_4455536 | title=Herts History: The Battle of Berkhamsted | publisher=Hertfordshire Life | date=14 March 2016 | access-date=27 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashridge-estate/whats-on/the-battle-of-berkhamsted-common | title=The Battle of Berkhamsted Common | publisher=National Trust | access-date=19 November 2017}}</ref><ref name='NatTrust'>{{cite web|title=Marian Alford|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/belton-house/features/lady-marian-alford-1817-1888|publisher=[[National Trust]]|access-date=15 January 2020}}</ref>

Lord Brownlow brought a legal case against Smith for trespass and criminal damage, Smith was aided in his defence by [[Robert Hunter (National Trust)|Sir Robert Hunter]] (later co-founder of the [[National Trust]] in 1895) and the [[Commons Preservation Society]]. [[John Romilly, 1st Baron Romilly|Lord Justice Romilly]] determined that pulling down a fence was no more violent an act than erecting one. The case, he said, rested on the legality of Brownlow's action in building the fence and the legal right of people to use the land. He ruled in favour of Smith. This decision, along with the [[Metropolitan Commons Act 1866]], helped to ensure the protection of Berkhamsted Common and other open spaces nationally threatened with enclosure. In 1926 the common was acquired by the National Trust.<ref name="commons">{{cite news|title=Mr. Shaw-Lefevre on the Preservation of Commons|newspaper=The Times|date=11 December 1886|page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ashbrook|first=Kate|url=http://commons.ncl.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kate-Ashbrook.pdf|title=Modern commons: a protected open space?|access-date=24 October 2014|archive-date=10 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410010041/http://contestedcommons.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kate-Ashbrook.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/more-news/exhibition-and-commemorative-walk-marks-anniversary-of-battle-to-save-berkhamsted-common-1-7006636 | title=Exhibition and commemorative walk marks anniversary of battle to save Berkhamsted Common | publisher=Johnston Publishing Ltd. | work=Hemel Gazette | date=12 October 2015 | access-date=14 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313202936/http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/more-news/exhibition-and-commemorative-walk-marks-anniversary-of-battle-to-save-berkhamsted-common-1-7006636 | archive-date=13 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

====First World War====

During the [[First World War]], under the guidance of Lt Col Francis Errington, the [[Inns of Court Regiment|Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps]] trained men from the legal profession as officers. Over the course of the war, 12,000 men travelled from Berkhamsted to fight on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. Their training included trench digging: {{convert|8|miles|km|0}} of trenches were dug across the Common (of which {{convert|500|m|ft|0|order=flip}} remain). The [[Inns of Court War Memorial]] on the Common has the motto ''Salus Populi Suprema Lex''—the welfare of the people is the highest law—and states that the ashes of Colonel&nbsp;Errington were buried nearby.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0230qnv|title=Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire: Where the Law was Trained for War|date=30 July 2014 |access-date=11 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chilternsaonb.org/uploads/files/AboutTheChilterns/HistoricEnvironment/Chilternsaetna_summer_2014_WWI_Edition.pdf|title=WWI commemorative edition|access-date=29 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205011144/http://www.chilternsaonb.org/uploads/files/AboutTheChilterns/HistoricEnvironment/Chilternsaetna_summer_2014_WWI_Edition.pdf|archive-date=5 December 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/solicitors-in-world-war-one/in-search-of-the-inns-of-court-trenches/5041942.fullarticle|title = In search of the Inns of Court trenches|date = 2 July 2014|access-date = 1 March 2015|website = The Law Society Gazette|publisher = Law Society|last = Cross|first = Michael|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112134/http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/solicitors-in-world-war-one/in-search-of-the-inns-of-court-trenches/5041942.fullarticle|archive-date = 2 April 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref>

====20th century urban developments====

In 1909 Sunnyside and later in 1935 Northchurch were added to Berkhamsted Urban District. Shortly after 1918 much of the extensive estate belonging to Berkhamsted Hall, at the east end of the High Street, was sold; many acres west of Swing Gate Lane were developed with council housing. More council housing was built at Gossoms End. Development on the north side of the valley was limited until the sale of the Ashridge estate in the 1930s, after which housing appeared at each end of Bridgewater Road.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=32}} In the second half of the 20th century, many of the old industrial firms in Berkhamsted closed, while the numbers of commuters increased.<ref>{{cite book|author=Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society|title=Berkhamsted Through Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1yIAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT18|date=2013-03-15|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-2686-4|pages=18–}}</ref>

After the Second World War, in July 1946, the nearby town of Hemel Hempstead was designated a [[New town|New Town]] under the [[New Towns Act 1946|New Towns Act]] ("New Towns" were satellite urban developments around London to relieve London's population growth and housing shortages caused by the [[The Blitz|Blitz]]). In February 1947 the Government purchased {{convert|5910|acres|0|abbr=on}} of land and began construction. As a result Hemel Hempstead's population increased from 20,000 to over 90,000 today, making it the largest town in Hertfordshire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dacorumheritage.org.uk/article/war-and-boom-prompted-an-exodus-from-city-to-town/ |title=War and boom prompted an exodus from city to town |publisher=The Dacorum Heritage Trust Ltd |date=20 April 2011 |access-date=25 July 2015}}</ref> In 1974, the old hundred of Dacorum became the modern district of Dacorum formed under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], based in Hemel Hempstead.