Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England, and has an estimated population of 30,360. 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 King 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'. The name of the town also is associated with the small river that runs through the town, most picturesquely in front of the east end of St. Mary's Church, the town's parish church. The river is noted on maps as the River Hiz. Contrary to how most people now pronounce the name, that is to say phonetically, the 'z' was an abbreviated character for a 'tch' sound, as in the name of the town. It would have been pronounced 'River Hitch'. (A similar example is the 'y' which was, or is, an abbreviation for a 'th' in phrases and names such as Ye Olde King's Head). 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 near the Icknield Way and by the seventeenth century Hitchin was a staging post for coaches coming from London. By the middle of the 19th century the railway had arrived, and with it a new way of life for Hitchin. The Corn Exchange was built in the Market Place and within a short time Hitchin established itself as a major centre for grain trading. More on Hitchin 

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