From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Berkhamsted (Berkhampstead, or Berkhamstead) is a historical town of some 19,000 people, is situated in the west of Hertfordshire, to the north-west of London, UK. It is in the administrative district of Dacorum
It is best known for its medieval castle. Now ruined and in the care of English Heritage, this was at one time the home of Edward, the Black Prince and his wife, Joan of Kent.
The town is also home to the prestigious Berkhamsted Collegiate School, founded in 1541 and attended by the celebrated author Graham Greene. The town now thrives as a wealthy settlement for those working in London and the South East.
Berkhamstead was also the terminating point of the Norman invasion of 1066, the invading army encircling London from the south east, across to the west and north through Wallingford, finally stopping at Berkhamstead, at which point the conquest was effectively complete. Edgar Atheling submitted to William the Conqueror here.
Recently (2001), upon renovation of a chemists shop at no.173 Berkhamstead High Street, it was discovered that the property was much older than believed. The Victorian facade hid a medieval building. The building has been dated via dendrochronology of structural timbers to between 1277 and 1297. This is the oldest known shop in the United Kingdom. It is believed that one of the older or even original uses for the shop may have been as a jeweller or goldsmith.
