Editing Berkhamsted (section)

===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>