Hertfordshire Postcodes — England (ENG)

Hertfordshire

One of the home counties in southern England, Hertfordshire is a popular place to live. It is bounded by Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. It is considered part of the East of England statistical region for official purposes.

There are exactly 634.366 square miles in Hertfordshire (1,643.00 km2). Both the county's coat of arms and its flag feature images of a hart (stag) and a ford, the origins of which can be traced back to the name of the county town, Hertford. Hertford, a former market town and the present county town, is home to Hertfordshire County Council. Watford is by far the most populous city in the area.

Letchworth, a model garden city since 1903, was the first to grow under the New Towns Act of 1946 in postwar Britain.

Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Watford, and St. Albans (the county's lone city) each had between 50,000 and 100,000 persons in 2013. The total population of Hertfordshire was approximately 1,140,700 in 2013. Around 47,000 people call the nearby areas of Welwyn Garden City, Hoddesdon, and Cheshunt home.

Northern and western areas feature greater elevations, with the Chilterns at Tring reaching over 800 feet (240 meters) above sea level. Both the River Lea and the River Colne, which flow south and are connected by canals in the county's upper valleys, serve as the county's primary waterways and serve as the county's economic and cultural focal points. Much of the unbuilt area in Hertfordshire is designated as a green belt to prevent urban sprawl. In recent years, the service industry has dominated the county's economy. Access to London, the Midlands, and the Northern United Kingdom is facilitated by the county of Hertfordshire's excellent transportation infrastructure.

Geography

You'll find Hertfordshire to the north of London, and it's considered a part of the East of England region. Essex is to the east, Buckinghamshire is to the west, while Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire are to the north. Throughout London, a sizeable percentage of the population makes the daily trek into the city center.

To a large extent, the boundaries of Hertfordshire have been set since the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 abolished exclaves, with minor adjustments made in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, when East Barnet Urban District and Barnet Urban District were abolished and their area was transferred to form part of the present-day London Borough of Barnet.

Along the Ridgeway long distance national path, between Hastoe near Tring and Drayton Beauchamp, Buckinghamshire reaches a peak at 244 m (801 ft).

East Hertfordshire had the lowest population density (290 persons per km2) of the county's ten districts in the 2011 census, while Watford had the highest (4210 per km2). Hertfordshire's overall population (about 1 million) is bigger than that of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, two counties to the north and west, despite the absence of major urban centers on par with Luton and Milton Keynes (all of which have populations of over 200,000).

Flowing from its source at Harpenden, the River Lea passes through the boroughs of Wheathampstead, Welwyn Garden City, Hertford, Ware, and Broxbourne on its way to Cheshunt and the Thames. The Chiltern Hills encompass Tring, Berkhamsted, and the Ashridge estate in the county's westernmost region, making it the hilliest part of the county. This designated scenic area begins in the north near Hitchin and extends south into Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Central, northern, and southern Hertfordshire are home to many of the county's largest cities and towns, including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, Rickmansworth, St. Albans, Harpenden, Radlett, Borehamwood, Potters Bar, Stevenage, Hatfield, Welwyn and Welwyn Garden City, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Baldock. These are all relatively sizable communities, ranging from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand people, and they range from postwar boomtowns to older, more established areas. St. Albans is a great example of a historical village because it has a Norman cathedral and monastery and Roman ruins from the neighbouring city of Verulamium. New urban development in the wake of World War II coexists with Stevenage's earlier, more rural history. This historic district may be found in Stevenage's "Old Town," which is filled with stores and buildings from before World War II. Historic buildings from the Tudor and Stuart periods can be found in the heart of Hitchin, which is surrounded by newer buildings.

In eastern Hertfordshire, you'll find a lot of farmland and little towns, as well as some larger ones. Major cities in the area include Hertford, Ware, and the county seat of Hertford in addition to smaller ones like Royston, Buntingford, and Bishops Stortford. Compared to the western part of Hertfordshire, the landscape in the east is flatter, with fewer hills and more noticeable rivers like the Stort. Starting its course in Essex, this waterway meets up with the Lea not far from Ware. The River Colne is the most important river in the western section of the county, alongside the Lea and the Stort. From its location south of Watford and Radlett, this system/drainage area extends into both London and Buckinghamshire to the south.

The Pasqueflower, a purple star-shaped flower with golden filaments, is unofficially recognized as one of the indigenous county flowers of the area.

Economy

MBDA, based in Stevenage (a subsidiary of: BAE Systems, Airbus, and Finmeccanica), is responsible for missile development. Airbus' (Defense & Space) satellites are made in the same city.

It was in Hatfield that de Havilland built the first passenger jet airliner, the Comet. A business park and the University of Hertfordshire's new campus now occupy the former airport. Some of the most prominent e-commerce companies in the world, including EE and Computacenter, as well as Ocado, are all housed on this massive employment website.

Welwyn Garden City is home to several major businesses, including Roche UK and its pharmaceutical division, Tesco UK and its UK Cereal Partners facility (subsidiary of the Swiss Hoffman-La Roche). Both Ware and Stevenage are home to GlaxoSmithKline facilities.

In St. Albans, you'll find the headquarters of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the professional group representing the pharmacy industry in the United Kingdom.

Pure, a manufacturer of DAB digital radios, has an office and production facility in Kings Langley.

There are many well-known businesses headquartered in Watford; some examples are J.D. Wetherspoon, Camelot Group, Bathstore, and Caversham Finance (BrightHouse). Hilton Worldwide, TotalEnergies, TK Maxx, Costco, JJ Kavanagh & Sons, Vinci, and Beko all have their UK headquarters in the city. The hotel hosted the 2006 and 2013 World Golf Championships and the Bilderberg Conference, respectively. Since the early 2000s, Warner Bros. has owned and operated Warner Studios in Leavesden, Watford, as their primary UK location.