Hertfordshire

Last updated

Economy

View of one of the buildings at Hatfield Business Park, currently the headquarters of EE Hatfield Business Park.jpg
View of one of the buildings at Hatfield Business Park, currently the headquarters of EE

This is a table of trends of regional gross value added of Hertfordshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. [20]

Hertfordshire
Knebworth W front.JPG
Berkhamsted Canal.jpg
The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban.jpg
Hertfordshire UK locator map 2010.svg
Coordinates: 51°49′N0°13′W / 51.817°N 0.217°W / 51.817; -0.217
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region East
Established Likely 10th century
Time zone UTC+0 (GMT)
  Summer (DST) UTC+1 (BST)
UK Parliament List of MPs
Police Hertfordshire Constabulary
Largest town Watford
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant Robert Voss
High Sheriff Anne Patricia Brewster [1] (2024-25)
Area
[2]
1,643 km2 (634 sq mi)
  Rank 36th of 48
Population 
(2022) [2]
1,204,588
  Rank 13th of 48
  Density733/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Ethnicity
  • 71.8% White British
  • 10% Other White
  • 8.6% Asian
  • 3.7% Black
  • 3.8% Mixed
  • 2.1% Other
  • (2021) [3]
YearRegional Gross Value Added [n 1] Agriculture [n 2] Industry [n 3] Services [n 4]
199511,742963,2928,354
200018,370774,13814,155
200320,937824,34816,507

Hertfordshire has the main operational and/or headquarters UK site of some very large employers. Clockwise from north:

In Stevenage (a subsidiary of: BAE Systems, Airbus and Finmeccanica) MBDA, develops missiles. In the same town, Airbus (Defence & Space Division) produces satellites.

Hatfield was where de Havilland developed the first commercial jet liner, the Comet. Now the site is a business park and new campus for the University of Hertfordshire. This major employment site notably hosts EE, Computacenter and Ocado groceries and other goods e-commerce.

Welwyn Garden City hosts Tesco's UK base, hosts the UK Cereal Partners factory and in pharmaceuticals it hosts Roche UK's headquarters (subsidiary of the Swiss Hoffman-La Roche). GlaxoSmithKline has plants in Ware and Stevenage.

Hemel Hempstead has large premises of Dixons Carphone.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the trade association for UK pharmacies, is based in St Albans.

Kings Langley has the plant-office of Pure, making DAB digital radios.

Watford hosts national companies such as J D Wetherspoon, Camelot Group, Bathstore, and Caversham Finance (BrightHouse). It is also the UK base of multi-nationals Hilton Worldwide, TotalEnergies, TK Maxx, Costco, JJ Kavanagh and Sons, Vinci and Beko. The 2006 World Golf Championship and the 2013 Bilderberg Conference, took place at The Grove hotel. [21] Warner Bros. owns and runs its main UK base since the 2000s, Warner Bros. Studios, in Leavesden, Watford.

Rickmansworth hosts Skanska.

Media

Television

Most of the county is served by BBC London & ITV London, however Stevenage and North Hertfordshire is served by BBC East & ITV Anglia. Some northwestern parts of the county around Tring can also receive BBC South and ITV Meridian.

Radio

Local radio for the county is provided by BBC Three Counties Radio, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (covering Royston), Heart Hertfordshire, Greatest Hits Radio Bucks, Beds and Herts (formerly Mix 96), Mix 92.6 (formerly Radio Verulam St. Albans) and Community Radio Dacorum (Hemel Hempstead).

Newspapers

Local newspapers in the county are:

Sport

Watersports

Waltham Cross, Broxbourne, is the location of the Lee Valley White Water Centre, a purpose-built venue opened in 2010 for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The site consists of two white water courses; one 300m Grade IV "Olympic" run; and one 160m Grade III "legacy" run. [22]

During the games the center was the venue for the canoe and kayak slalom events.

Lee Valley has since hosted the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships twice. First in 2015, and most recently in 2023, where Britain topped the medal table with 5 golds.

Football

Vicarage Road stadium in Watford Vicarage Road 2015.jpg
Vicarage Road stadium in Watford

As of the 2024–25 season, there are four professional football teams in Hertfordshire: Watford, Stevenage, Arsenal WFC and Boreham Wood

Watford have played their home games at Vicarage Road since 1922. [23] The club joined the Football League in 1920 as a founding member of the Third Division [24] and first played in the First Division of English football in 1982, finishing as runners-up to champions Liverpool. [24] Watford was promoted to the Premier League at the end of the 2020–2021 season. After spending one season in the Premier League, they were relegated to the Championship again for the 2022–2023 season. [25]

Stevenage F.C. was formed in 1976 as Stevenage Borough and have played at Broadhall Way since 1980. [26] Stevenage was the first club to win a competitive match at the new Wembley Stadium, beating Kidderminster Harriers 3–2 in the 2007 FA Trophy Final. [27] The club currently play in the EFL League One and have been managed by former player Alex Revell since February 2020. [28]

Arsenal, whilst based at the Emirates Stadium in the London Borough of Islington, has long held a training ground in the county. Until 1999, it held the London Colney University of London facility, until it built a new purpose-built compound adjacent to it. Watford FC currently utilises the old Arsenal training area as its training facility.

Arsenal W.F.C. play at Meadow Park in Borehamwood. [29] The club was formed in 1987 and have played in the FA Women's Super League since its inaugural season in 2011. [30]

Hertfordshire has many semi-professional and amateur clubs. The highest placed are Boreham Wood, Hemel Hempstead Town and St Albans City, who all play in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football.

Rugby

Rugby league

Hemel Stags are a rugby league team based in Hemel Hempstead. [31] Hemel Stags have played at Pennine Way Stadium since the club's founding in 1981. [32] [33] Until 2018, the club played in league 1, the third tier of the British rugby league system, and now compete in the Conference League South. [34]

Rugby union

The Hertfordshire Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in Hertfordshire and is responsible for any interested parties involved in rugby. [35]

Tring Rugby play matches at Cow Lane, Tring. [36] The first XV currently play in the Regional 1 South East, [37] League. A level 5 league.

GAA

Gaelic Football is played within Hertfordshire, with clubs from Oxfordshire all the way to Cambridge playing in the Hertfordshire League and Championship. Eire Óg, Oxford are the 2022 County Champions. Hurling is played by an amalgamated team, St Declan's CLG, with players contributed from all football teams across Hertfordshire. St Declan's currently play in the Warwickshire League and Championship, having previously played in the London GAA championship. A number of St Declan's players have also played for the Warwickshire Senior Hurling team, playing in the Lory Meagher and Nicky Rackard competitions, including Patrick Lancaster, Eamon Doherty, Alan Hayes, and Alex Hanley.

Landmarks

Cedars Park Cheshunt, Theobalds - geograph.org.uk - 552741.jpg
Cedars Park
St Albans Abbey The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban.jpg
St Albans Abbey
St George's School St George's School.jpg
St George's School
Hatfield House Hatfield House, Hertfordshire - geograph.org.uk - 3490603.jpg
Hatfield House
Bluebells in Dockey Wood Trees and Bluebells, Dockey Wood, Ashridge - geograph.org.uk - 1516118.jpg
Bluebells in Dockey Wood
The Warner Bros. Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour at Leavesden The Making of Harry Potter 29-05-2012 (7528994480).jpg
The Warner Bros. Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour at Leavesden

Below is a list of notable visitor attractions in Hertfordshire:

Main footpaths

Transport

Junction of the M1 and M25 near Hemel Hempstead M25-M1 intersection near Hemel Hempstead.jpg
Junction of the M1 and M25 near Hemel Hempstead
Govia Thameslink Railway provide frequent train services through Hertfordshire on the Midland Main Line and East Coast Main Line 700110 - London Blackfriars 3T13.JPG
Govia Thameslink Railway provide frequent train services through Hertfordshire on the Midland Main Line and East Coast Main Line
Bridge 168 on the Grand Union Canal Bridge 168, Grand Union Canal, Watford - geograph.org.uk - 464942.jpg
Bridge 168 on the Grand Union Canal

Hertfordshire is a home county with many towns forming part of the London commuter belt and has some of the principal roads in England including the A1, A1(M), A41, A414, M1, M11, and the M25.

Four principal national railway lines pass through the county:

A number of other local rail routes also cross Hertfordshire:

Three commuter lines operated by Transport for London enter the county:

The distance travelled by buses in Hertfordshire has reduced by 56.5% since 2017. [38]

Stansted Airport and Luton Airport are both within 10 miles (16 km) of the county's borders in Essex and Bedfordshire, respectively. The commercial airfield at Elstree is for light aircraft.

The Grand Union Canal passes through Rickmansworth, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring.

Education

University of Hertfordshire University of Hertfordshire building 1.jpg
University of Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire has 26 independent schools and 73 state secondary schools. The state secondary schools are entirely comprehensive, although 7 schools in the south and southwest of the county are partially selective (see Education in Watford). All state schools have sixth forms, and there are no sixth form colleges. The tertiary colleges, each with multiple campuses, are Hertford Regional College, North Hertfordshire College, Oaklands College and West Herts College. The University of Hertfordshire is a modern university based largely in Hatfield. It has more than 23,000 students.

Literature

Hertfordshire is the location of Jack Worthing's country house in Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest .

Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice is primarily set in Hertfordshire. [39]

The location of Mr Jarndyce's Bleak House in Charles Dickens's Bleak House is near St Albans. [40]

The eponymous residence in E. M. Forster's novel Howards End was based on Rooks Nest House just outside Stevenage. [41]

George Orwell based Animal Farm on Wallington, Hertfordshire, where he lived between 1936 and 1940. Manor Farm and The Great Barn both feature in the novel. [42] [43] [44]

See also

Notes

  1. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
  2. includes hunting and forestry
  3. includes energy and construction
  4. includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

References

  1. "No. 64345". The London Gazette . 10 March 2023. p. 5286.
  2. 1 2 "Mid-2022 population estimates by Lieutenancy areas (as at 1997) for England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. 24 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  3. "Summary of Kent facts and figures". Hertfordshire County Council. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics . 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  5. "Census 2021 Profile for Hertfordshire". Herts Insight. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  6. "Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  7. "Zeppelin Raids - Herts at War". hertsatwar.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  8. "Leavesden Studios". Film London . Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
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  10. Lewis, Katy (11 December 2015). "I thought a plane had landed on us". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
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  15. "Wild Plants: Pasqueflower" Archived 26 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine Plantlife. Retrieved 26 February 2015
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  17. "About the chalk mines". Dacorum Borough Council. 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
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  20. Regional Gross Value Added Archived 1 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine , Office for National Statistics, pp. 240–253.
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  30. Conn, David (7 April 2011). "Women's Super League aims to step out of men's shadow | David Conn". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
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  44. "All villages are equal". The Guardian. 24 May 1999. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.