Anglo-Saxon Hertford

a bustling town and its mint

Today, Hertford has the atmosphere of a quiet country town rather than that of a bustling and prosperous trading centre.  However, in its Anglo-Saxon days that was completely different.

It all started when – according to Anglo-Saxon Chronicle – Edward the Elder (reigned 899 to 924) established a burh (a fortification) on the north side of the River Lea, “betwixt the Memer, and the Benwic, and the Lea” [i] in 912 (though there is some controversy about the year, it might have been 911 or 913 as well).  The following year, his forces built another one on the southern side.

Edward the Elder (Wikimedia Commons)