North Hertfordshire in the context of "Welwyn Hatfield"

Baldock (/ˈbɔːldək/ BAWL-dək) is a historic market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The River Ivel rises from springs in the town. It lies 33 miles (53 km) north of London and 14 miles (23 km) north northwest of the county town of Hertford. Nearby towns include Royston to the northeast, Letchworth and Hitchin to the southwest and Stevenage to the south. In 2021 it had a population of 10,615.

Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990.

Letchworth was an ancient parish, appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086. It remained a small rural village until the start of the twentieth century. The development of the modern town began in 1903, when much of the land in Letchworth and the neighbouring parishes of Willian and Norton was purchased by a company called First Garden City Limited, founded by Ebenezer Howard and his supporters with the aim of building the first "garden city", following the principles Howard had set out in his 1898 book, To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform. Their aim was to create a new type of settlement which provided jobs, services, and good housing for residents, whilst retaining the environmental quality of the countryside, in contrast to most industrial cities of the time.

Royston is a town and civil parish in the District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England.

It is situated on the Greenwich Meridian, which brushes the town's eastern boundary, and at the northernmost apex of the county on the same latitude as towns such as Milton Keynes and Ipswich. It is about 43 miles (69 km) north of central London in a rural area.

Hitchin (/ˈhɪtʃɪn/) is a market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills. It is 16 miles (26 km) north-west of the county town of Hertford, and 35 miles (56 km) north of London. The population at the 2021 census was 35,220.

Hitchin grew around a market place and the adjoining parish church of St Mary on the western banks of the River Hiz. At the southern end of the town centre is Hitchin Priory, a former monastery dating back to 1317, which was partially rebuilt into a large country house with extensive parkland following the dissolution of the monasteries. The ancient parish of Hitchin covered a large rural area as well as the town itself, including several hamlets which subsequently became separate parishes, including Langley, Preston, St Ippolyts and Walsworth.