Hertford is an inland county, situated in the south-eastern portion of England, and cut off from the nearest sea by the whole width of Essex, which forms the greater portion of its eastern border. Neither has it any great river of its own communicating with the ocean; although the Lea, which is navigable below Hertford, and falls into the Thames at Barking in Essex, affords the means of transporting malt (the great output of Ware) and other products to London and elsewhere by water. As to canal communication, this will be discussed in a later section.

Originally Hertford was essentially an agricultural county, as it is to a great extent at the present day; its northern three-quarters being noted for its production of corn. The southern portion, on the other hand, was partly a hay-growing and grazing country. Nowadays, however, more especially on the great lines of railway, conditions have materially altered; and large areas have become residential districts, which in the more southern part are little more than suburbs of the metropolis. Printing-establishments and factories—moved from London for the sake of cheapness—have likewise been set up on the outskirts of many of the larger towns, such as St Albans and Watford, or even in some of the villages. On the other hand, the old-fashioned timbered and tiled or thatched cottages formerly so characteristic of the county are rapidly vanishing and giving place to the modern abominations in brick and slate. Gone, too, is the old-fashioned and picturesque smock-frock of the labourer and the shepherd, which was still much in evidence some five and forty years ago, or even later; its disappearance being accompanied by the loss of many characteristic local words and phrases, to some of which reference will be made in a later section. The gangs of Irish mowers and reapers which used to perambulate the county at hay and harvest time are likewise a feature of the past.

The scenery of the southern portion of the county differs—owing to its different geological formation—very markedly from that of the northern two-thirds; the latter area representing what may be called typical Hertfordshire. Although there is nothing grand or striking in the scenery of this part, for quiet and picturesque beauty—whether of the village with its ancient church nestling in the shelter of the well-wooded valley, or the winding and tall-hedged lanes (where they have been suffered to remain)—it would be hard to beat; and in many instances is fully equal in charm to the much-vaunted Devonshire scenery, although, it is true, the hedge-banks lack the abundant growth of ferns characteristic of those of the latter county. Very characteristic of this part of the county are its open gorse or heath commons, like those of Harpenden, Gustard Wood, Bower’s Heath, and Berkhampstead. From the higher chalk downs on the northern marches of the county extensive views may be obtained over the flats of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire; while in like manner the southern range of chalk hills in the neighbourhood of Elstree presents a panoramic view over the low-lying clay plains of the southern portion of the county and Middlesex.

In former days, it may be mentioned in this place, the inhabitants of most, if not all, of the English counties had nicknames applied to them by their neighbours; “Hertfordshire Hedgehogs” being the designation applied to natives of this county, while their neighbours to the eastward were dubbed “Essex Calves.”