Edward the Elder built two burhs at Hertford in 912 — one north and one south of the River Lea — as part of his systematic containment of the East Anglian Danelaw. The Hertford fortifications blocked the main Danish raiding route from East Anglia into Mercia and the Thames Valley. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that while Edward was at Maldon, a Danish raiding force attacked Hertford but was repulsed by the local garrison. This forms part of the patient, methodical campaign that culminated in the reconquest of the Danelaw by 920.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near Hertfordshire