Hitchin

History

Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce people, a tribe holding 300 hides of land as mentioned in a 7th-century document, the Tribal Hidage. Hicce, or Hicca, may mean the people of the horse. The tribal name is Old English and denotes a Middle Anglian people. The ancient Icknield Way runs just north of Hitchin, passing through the neighbouring village of Ickleford. It has been suggested that Hitchin was the location of 'Clofesho', the place chosen in 673 by Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury during the Synod of Hertford, for the first meeting of representatives of the fledgling Christian churches of Anglo-Saxon England, who were to hold annual synods of the churches as Theodore attempted to consolidate and centralise Christianity in England. By 1086 Hitchin is described as a Royal Manor in the Domesday Book: the feudal services of avera and inward, usually found in the eastern counties, especially Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, were due from the sokemen, but the manor of Hitchin was unique in levying inward. probably in the early tenth century but this did not last. The modern spelling of the town first appears in 1618 in the "Hertfordshire Feet of Fines". (as in the name of the town). It would have been pronounced 'River Hitch'. The Hicca Way is an walking route along the River Hiz Valley, believed to have been used for trade between the Danes and English in the Anglo-Saxon age. St Mary's Church is remarkably large for a town of its size and was once a minster. The size of the church is evidence of how Hitchin prospered from the wool trade. It is the largest parish church in Hertfordshire. Most of the church dates from the 15th century, with its tower dating from around 1190. During the laying of a new floor in the church in 1911,…

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  17,646
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,694
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,534
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12,942
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,258
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,745
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,511
• European Goldfinch

  Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,309

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2020-09-22
  5 km N of Aylesbury, United Kingdom
• M 3.9 — 2020-09-08
  2 km WSW of Pitstone, United Kingdom
• M 3.3 — 2019-02-27
  3 km SE of Dorking, United Kingdom
• M 2.8 — 2018-07-05
  1 km S of Ewhurst, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2018-06-27
  5 km W of Capel, United Kingdom
• M 2.7 — 2018-04-01
  4 km E of Holmwood, United Kingdom