Editing Berkhamsted (section)

==Sites of interest==
[[File:173HighStreet Berko.jpg|thumb|left|173 High Street, one of several buildings in the town that have medieval origins, it is the oldest jettied timber building in the United Kingdom]]The majority of Berkhamsted's eighty-five listed or scheduled historical sites are on in the high street and the medieval core of the town (a significant number of them contain timber frames). Four are scheduled, one is Grade I, seven are Grade II*, the remaining 75 are Grade II.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://list.historicengland.org.uk/results.aspx?index=26 |title=List entry – The List – Historic England |publisher=Historic England 2015 | work=Search Results = berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, Dacorum |access-date=10 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/areabasedpolicies_f05_conservationareaberkhamsted.pdf?sfvrsn=0 |title=CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER APPRAISALS AND POLICY STATEMENTS |publisher=Dacorum Borough Council |date=May 2004 |access-date=3 August 2015}}</ref> In addition to the sites noted in the article above (such as the castle and schools) the following structures and locations are of interest:

* [[173, High Street, Berkhamsted|173&nbsp;High Street]] is a Victorian façade hiding what is considered to be the oldest extant [[jettied]] timber-framed building in Great Britain, dated by [[dendrochronology]] of structural timbers to between 1277 and 1297.<ref name="EH173"/><ref name="BBC173"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |title=Victorian facade hides the oldest shop in England |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/feb/27/shopping.maevkennedy |work=The Guardian |date=27 February 2003 |access-date=19 September 2014}}</ref> The building was originally thought to have been a [[jeweller]]'s or [[goldsmith]]'s shop with a workshop behind. It is now believed to have been a jettied service wing to a larger aisled hall house, which has since disappeared.<ref name="343-351"/> It represents an early example of transition in carpentry technology, from the use of passing braces to crown posts. The 13th-century origin of the structure was discovered by chance in 2000 by builders who had begun work on what appeared to be a Victorian property. The shop was, from 1869, Figg's the Chemists; post-restoration (with expertise and a £250,000&nbsp;grant from English Heritage), the shop is currently used as an estate agency. Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said "This is an amazing discovery. It gives an extraordinary insight into how Berkhamsted High Street would have looked in medieval times."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov-news.org/gov/uk/news/oldest_shop_in_england_uncovered_at_berkhamsted/77991.html|title=Oldest Shop In England Uncovered At Berkhamsted|access-date=19 September 2014|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140920011151/http://www.gov-news.org/gov/uk/news/oldest_shop_in_england_uncovered_at_berkhamsted/77991.html|archive-date=20 September 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* 125&nbsp;High Street, a house and shop opposite St Peter's Church, is a timber-framed building with a wing that is one bay of a 14th-century open hall. The layout suggests that it once had a second bay of similar size&nbsp;– a length of {{convert|8|m|ft|0|order=flip}} in all. This was an unusually large house; its size and central position suggests a manor house or other high status house, possibly supporting the castle. The building underwent extensive alterations in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|pp=10-11}}
* The Swan, 139&nbsp;High Street, contains the remains of a medieval open hall. Parts of the roof date from the 14th century, and the street range was extended and a chimney stack added c. 1500. It sits on the ancient junction with the old Roman road of Akeman Street (High Street) and the main route between Berkhamsted and Windsor Castle (Chesham Road).<ref name="343-351" />
* Castle Street began life as the medieval lane from the town's high street to the drawbridge of the royal castle. At the other end of the lane was the parish church of St Peters. In the 16th century, next to the church, Berkhamsted school was founded, while in the 17th century there were seven public houses among the street's trade outlets.{{sfn|Hastie|1996|p=206}}
* To the northwest of Berkhamsted stand the ruins of Marlin's Chapel, a 13th-century chapel next to a medieval fortified farm. The walls and moat surrounding the modern farm still remain and are reputed to be haunted.{{sfn|Birtchnell|1988}}
[[File:Berkhamsted, Dean Incent's House - geograph.org.uk - 590548CROPPED.jpg|180px|thumb|Dean Incent's House, residence of John Incent (1480–1545), Dean of St Paul's Cathedral and founder of Berkhamsted School in 1541.]]
* 129 High Street is the Grade II* listed house known as [[Dean Incent's House]]. ([[John Incent]], Dean of St Paul's, founded Berkhamsted School.) A 15th century half-timbered house, the interior has original exposed timber framing and several Tudor wall paintings. The building incorporates part of an even older structure and was used as public meeting place before the Court House was built. The house is not normally open to the public.<ref name ="DacLNF"/><ref>{{NHLE|num=1356570|desc= 129 High Street, Berkhamsted |access-date=2 August 2011}}</ref>
* The Court House, next to the church, dates from the 16th century, and is believed to lie on the site of the medieval court where the Portmote{{refn|Also referred to as portmanmoot or portmoot. The name had Anglo-Saxon origins; the court had aspects both of court and of council meeting.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Goddard |first1=Richard |last2=Phipps |first2=Teresa |title=Town Courts and Urban Society in Late Medieval England, 1250-1500 |date=2019 |publisher=The Boydell Press |location=Woodbrige |isbn=978-1783274253 |pages=156—175}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/tungxdbt/docs/a_dictionary_of_medieval_terms_and_phrases__d.s.br|title=A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases|year=2004|access-date=27 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Alsford |first=Stephen |url=http://users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/glossary.html|title=Medieval English Towns&nbsp;— Glossary|access-date=27 December 2014}}</ref>|group = "Notes"}} or Borough Court was held.<ref name="343-351" />
* Sayer's Almshouses, were the legacy of John Sayer, chief cook to Charles II, at 235–241&nbsp;High Street, comprise a single-storey row of [[almshouses]] built in 1684.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=15}}
* The Bourne School, at 222&nbsp;High Street, was the legacy by Thomas Bourne (1656–1729) (Master of the Company of Framework Knitters) to build a [[charity school]] in Berkhamsted for 20&nbsp;boys and 10&nbsp;girls. The front was rebuilt in 1854 in Jacobean-style red brick; it is not clear if any part of the building predates 1854. In 1875, the pupils were transferred to the [[National school (England and Wales)|National School]] and the funds used for scholarships.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=20}}
* The site now occupied by the Pennyfarthing Hotel dates from the 16th century, having been a monastic building used as accommodation for religious guests passing through Berkhamsted or going to the monastery at Ashridge.
* [[Berkhamsted Town Hall]], a Victorian gothic market house and town hall, designed by architect [[Edward Buckton Lamb]] (built in 1859, extended in 1890 and restored in 1983–1999), was built by public subscription from Berkhamstedians.{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p=66}} It comprised a market hall (now the Copper House restaurant), a large assembly hall and rooms for the [[Mechanics' Institute]]. When Berkhamsted became part of the new [[Dacorum Borough Council]] (based in Hemel Hempstead) there were plans to demolish the building; these plans were stopped in the 1970s and 1980s by a ten-year citizens' campaign, which eventually ended at the High Court.{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p=66}}
[[File:Berko00505.jpg|thumb|180px|left|The totem pole at Berkhamsted]]
* The Berkhamsted [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Canadian]] [[totem pole]] sits adjacent to the canal, close to Castle Street Bridge. In the early 1960s, Roger Alsford, a great-grandson of the founder of the timber company, James Alsford (1841–1912), went to work at the [[Tahsis, British Columbia|Tahsis]] lumber mill on [[Vancouver Island]]. During a strike, he was rescued from starvation by a local [[Kwakwaka'wakw|Kwakiutl]] community. Alsford's brother, William John Alsford, visited the island, and in gratitude for the local people's hospitality, commissioned a totem pole from the Canadian [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] artist [[Henry Hunt (artist)|Henry Hunt]].<ref name=Tearle1998p21>{{harvnb|Tearle|1998|p=21}}.</ref> The [[Thuja plicata|western red cedar]] pole, {{convert|30|ft|0}} high and {{convert|3|ft|0}} in diameter, was carved by Hunt at [[Thunderbird Park (Victoria, British Columbia)|Thunderbird Park]], a centre for First Nation monuments. The completed pole was shipped to Britain and erected at Alsford's Wharf in 1968. Alsford's warehouses were replaced in 1994 by a private housing development which limit access to the pole, so that it can be viewed only at a distance from the public road. It is one of only a handful of totem poles in the United Kingdom, others being on display at the [[British Museum]] and [[Horniman Museum]] in London, [[Windsor Great Park]], [[Bushy Park]] and the [[Yorkshire Sculpture Park]].<ref>{{harvnb|Tearle|1998|p=3}}.</ref> The carvings on the totem pole represent four figures from First Nations legend: at the top sits [[Raven in mythology|Raven]], the trickster and creator deity; he sits on the head of [[Solar deity|Sunman]], who has outstretched arms representing the rays of the sun and wears a ''copper'' (a type of ceremonial shield); Sunman stands on the fearsome witch-spirit [[Dzunukwa]]; at the base is the two-headed warrior sea serpent, [[Sisiutl]], who has up-stretched wings.<ref>{{harvnb|Tearle|1998|p=7}}.</ref>
* [[Ashridge]] is a [[country estate]] and [[stately home]]. Ashridge House is a large [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] [[English country house|country house]] built between 1808 and 1814. Since 2015 it has been the home of [[Hult International Business School]]'s [[Ashridge Executive Education]] programme ([[#Business school|see above for more information about the building]]). The surrounding country estate is a park managed by the [[National Trust]], consisting of {{convert|5000|acre}} of native [[broadleaf woodland]]s, commons and chalk downland on a Chiltern ridge just to the north of Berkhamsted.{{sfn|Hastie|1999|p=52}} Ashridge has been featured many times in film and television series due to its distinction as an area of natural beauty. Scenes were filmed for ''[[Sleepy Hollow (film)|Sleepy Hollow]]'' at Golden Valley and ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' at Ashridge's ancient [[Frithsden Beeches]] Wood.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chilternsaonb.org/caring/stwp_site_details.asp?siteID=414|title=Special trees and woods&nbsp;— Frithsden Beeches|publisher=Chilterns Conservation Board|access-date=16 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613145351/http://www.chilternsaonb.org/caring/stwp_site_details.asp?siteID=414|archive-date=13 June 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The climbable monument to [[Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater]], a tall Doric column with urn (a Grade II* listed building), stands in a grove within Ashridge.