ISBN: 0 300 09611 9
Although so close to London this is still a rural area, with quiet country churches with fine
monuments, timber-framed farmhouses, and some splendid country houses, of which the most
celebrated is Cecil's Jacobean Hatfield House. At St Albans the remains of Roman Verulamium
and the great early Norman abbey speak eloquently of older civilisations. The towns offer
intriguing contrasts: Hertford, Bishop's Stortford and Hitchin still have the character of
traditional market centres, while the new towns of Stevenage, Hemel Hempstead and Hatfield
are important exemplars of planning ideals of the 1950s and 60s.
