Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, 26 miles N. of London by rail, on the Lea, which is navigable for barges up to this point. It has a town or shire hall (1768), an infirmary, a corn exchange and free library (1859), a grammar-school and several charity schools, whilst at the entrance into the town on the London Road is a preparatory school in connection with Christ's Hospital in London. A considerable trade is carried on in corn, malt, and flour. Hertford, whose municipal boundary was extended in 1892, returned two members to parliament till 1867, and then till 1885 one. Pop. (1851) 6605 ; (1901) 9322. The New River (q.v.) has its source a mile east of the town, and 2 miles westward is Pan-shanger, the seat of Earl Cowper, with its valuable collection of pictures. Of the old castle of Hertford, commenced by Edward the Elder about 905 to protect the inhabitants from the Danes, and strengthened by the Conqueror, but a small portion now remains; the present castle was built by William Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, or Sir William Harrington, in the reign of James I., and in 1805-9 was occupied by the East India Company as a temporary college during the erection of Haileybury (q.v.). See Turner's History of Hertford (1830).