Berkhamstead, formerly also
Great Berkhampstead
[key], town, Hertfordshire, central England. Berkhamstead is mainly
residential but has clothing, timber, and chemical industries. It is the
site of an 11th-century royal castle in which Edgar Atheling, a claimant to the
throne, submitted to William the Conqueror; Thomas à Becket lived in
the castle, and Henry II held court there. John II of France was briefly
imprisoned in the castle after the battle of Poitiers (1356) in the Hundred
Years War. The poet William Cowper was born in Berkhamstead. The
town has a remaining 16th-century grammar school.
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