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The early Middle Ages

After the Romans AD c 400 to 600

By the late fourth century, Britain was a dangerous place, raided by Scots from the west, Picts from the north and Saxons from the east. Although the Roman government tried to sort the situation out, it was almost bankrupt and gave up control of Britain. In the fifth century, a British king called Vortigern hired Saxon mercenaries and gave them land in Kent and Essex. They soon turned on their masters and more began to settle in Britain. They called themselves Englisc (English), so we now call the areas where they took control England.

In a few places, the Britons were not affected by Saxon settlers. We do not know if this is because they fought them off or because they lived in places that did not interest the newcomers. North Hertfordshire was one of those areas. People continued to live at Baldock much as they had done for centuries, burying their dead on Clothall Common, but without the luxuries they had enjoyed under Roman rule. The economy had collapsed and the mass-produced pottery and jewellery that had used was no longer made.

Archaeologists used to think that they could identify Britons and Saxons from the style of jewellery they wore or the things buried with them in their graves. But wearing a German style brooch does not make the owner ‘German’: Britons began to wear them because they were fashionable in areas where the Saxons were settling. Fifth and sixth century Saxon jewellery is very rare in North Hertfordshire, so we suspect that there were few, if any, settlers at this time and the main areas of early Saxon settlement locally were in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.

During the sixth century, more settlers seem to have arrived in this area. We do not know if people moved overseas (we know that some Britons left to settle in north-western Gaul, which became Britanny, at this time) or out into the countryside; it is possible that Hitchin began to develop as people moved out from Baldock.

Early medieval England AD c 500 - 900

The early Middle Ages were a time of enormous change in Britain. The Anglo-Saxons who had settled in the east organised themselves into kingdoms, which slowly merged and conquered all of what is now England. International trade was revived from the middle of the seventh century and coinage began to be used again. Ports-of-trade grew up under royal control and eventually developed into market towns. By 900, England had been unified as a single medieval kingdom.

The making of Mercia AD c 600 - 800

By the early seventh century, documents begin to tell us about a number of kingdoms in eastern Britain. A document of this period known to historians as the Tribal Hidage was compiled to work out how much tax each kingdom should pay. It lists three local kingdoms: Hicce, the people of Hitchin, Cilternsæte, the people of the Chilterns, to the south-west of Hicce, and East Seaxe, the East Saxons, who controlled Essex and eastern Hertfordshire. Hicce was a small kingdom – only 300 families were expected to pay tax – but its name is intriguing, as it is Celtic, rather than Old English. We think that this means that it was controlled by native Britons rather than invading Anglo-Saxons until it was taken over by Merica.

The arrival of Christianity

The people of Mercia were not converted quickly to Christianity: their warrior king Penda (King 632-655) was determined to resist, although his son Peada was baptised in 653. After Penda’s death in battle, Peada was given control of the small kingdoms to the south and east of Mercia, including Hicce and Cilternsæte. It was at this time that the local Saxons were probably converted. Over the next few centuries, churches were established throughout Mercia. The earliest we know about was at Hitchin. According to medieval legend, it was founded by Offa (King 757-796) in 792. According to a medieval writer, the original church burned down in 910; this is likely, as virtually all early churches were made from wood. Other documents of this period mention churches at Ashwell, Braughing, Henlow, Hertingfordbury, Luton and Welwyn although none of the ancient buildings has survived.

Viking Age England AD c 800 - 1100

In the ninth and tenth centuries, England was ravaged by war with invaders from Scandinavia. At times, North Hertfordshire was in the front line of fighting and at a treaty negotiated in 878, the River Lea became the boundary between the English and the Danes. For a generation, most of the district lay in the Danelaw, the area controlled by the Danes, but shortly after 900, it was reconquered. Hitchin and Ashwell perhaps grew as fortified market towns at this time. Part of the tenth-century town ditch of Hitchin was discovered in 2004 and in 2008, it was found to be more than three metres deep. The threat passed quickly and the town's defences were soom demolished and forgotten.

In 1066, the Norman Duke William landed on the Sussex coast and defeated the English King Harold II. The new dynasty had been established by force of arms and it used its military might to hold on to the conquered land. Castles were built from which the new Norman lords could rule over a population they did not trust. There are examples locally at Therfield, Great Wymondley and Pirton.