Copyright © 2011-12 Rotary International & The Rotary Club of Hatfield. Made 15 February 2012 with Serif WEBPlusX4.
Registered Charity Number 1030942
Our Town
Hatfield is 20 miles (32 kilometres) north of London, on the Great North Road and rail routes from King’s Cross in London to the North of England and to Scotland.
Hatfield was recorded in the Doomsday Book as Hetfelle; a right to hold a market in the town was granted by King Henry III in 1226.
The manor was then owned by the Abbots (later the Bishops) of Ely, hence the later name for the town of "Bishop's Hatfield" and the inclusion of "Bishop's" in some building names and locations around the town to this day. The Bishops built a palace located near the parish church of St Etheldreda's: the Great Hall of 1480 - now known as the Old Palace - still stands.
From 1538, after the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, the town became known as King's Hatfield. Princess Elizabeth was resident at Hatfield House when the death of Queen Mary in 1558 resulted in her accession to the throne as Elizabeth I. She held her first Council of Ministers in the Great Hall.
Elizabeth I later appointed William Cecil as her principal secretary. In 1607 James I exchanged the Cecil residence of Theobalds, near Enfield, for other properties including Hatfield House. Robert Cecil, the first Earl of Salisbury started building the current Hatfield House at the end of that year: his descendants occupy the house to this day.
More . . .
hatfield-herts.co.uk
. . . a comprehensive
web-site that provides
an entertaining
description of Hatfield past, present and future!
