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Hitchin

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Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, and has an estimated population of 30,360.

Contents

History

Hitchin is first noted as the site of a religious house founded by Offa, King of Mercia. The name comes from the Hicce Anglo Saxon tribe who settled in northern Hertfordshire and southern Bedfordshire in the 6th century. By 1086 Hitchin is described as a Royal manor in the Domesday Book. Evidence has been found to suggest that Offa had his capital here at some period, possibly on Windmill Hill. The modern name 'Hitchin' first appears in 1618 in a document called the 'Hertfordshire Feet of Fines'.

In 1697, Hitchin (and the nearby village of Offley) were subject to what is thought to have been the most severe hailstorm in recorded UK history. Hailstones over 4 inches in diameter were reported.

The town flourished on the wool trade, and located on the Icknield Way and by the seventeenth century Hitchin was a staging post for coaches coming from London. With the advent of the railways in the nineteenth century, the town developed as a centre for the grain trade. By the close of the twentieth century, Hitchin had become a satellite dormitory town for London. Hitchin also developed a fairly strong Sikh community based around the Walsworth area. Hitchin also has a strong 'emo' or 'scene kid' community. Groups of this subculture often meet in and around Hitchin, some going to clubs such as Club 85 and The Phoenix.

Hitchin is also the venue for the annual Rhythms of the World[Rhythms of the World] festival, which is the largest free festival of world music in Europe.

Politics

Hitchin is joined with the town of Harpenden to form a parliamentary constituency, Peter Lilley has been MP for this area since 1997. Prior to this, Hitchin was part of the Hertforshire North constituency and was represent by Oliver Heald (1992-7) and Ian Stewart (1983-92). From 1924-1983 Hitchin was a constituency itself (although subject to boundary changes over this period) and was represented by: Ian Stewart (1970-83), Shirley Williams (1964-70), MFM Maddan (1955-64), Nigel Fisher (1950-55), Maj. P A Jones (1945-50), Lt Col Sir AT Wilson (1935-45), Viscount Knebworth (1931-5) and Guy Molesworth Kindersley (1924-??).

Hitchin is divided into five areas for the purposes of electing councillors to North Hertfordshire District Council: Hitchin Bearton, Hitchin Highbury, Hitchin Oughton, Hitchin Priory and Hitchin Walsworth. It is also divided into three areas for the purpose of electing councillors to Hertfordshire County Council: Hitchin North, Hitchin South and Hitchin Rural. Hitchin tends to elect a mixture of primarily Labour councillors, followed by Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors.

Famous People born in Hitchin

Famous Connections

A famous connection to Hitchin is the American actor/comedian Bob Hope who died in 2003. Bob Hope was originally born in Eltham in England and emigrated to the USA in 1907 at the age of four. However, he maintained strong links with his family back in England and still has family in Hitchin. Indeed, Bob Hope "claimed to have inherited his sense of humour from his paternal grandfather from Hitchin"[link]

The conductor and founder of The Promenade Concerts Henry Wood (Conductor) is buried in Hitchin at St. Mary's Church. He was taken to Hitchin Hospital on 16th August 1944 and died there three days later.

Schools

Twinning

Hitchin is twinned with: 
Nuits-St-Georges, France
    • Bingen am Rhein, Germany

    Districts of Hitchin

    Nearby villages

    References

    External links

     

    From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
    All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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