town (parish), East Hertfordshire district, administrative and historic county of Hertfordshire, England. It lies along the River Lea north of London. Hertford was first recorded as the scene of a general synod (meeting of bishops) in 672 CE, but the oldest buildings extant in the parish are 15th-century timber-framed houses. Numerous examples of Georgian architecture also still stand, together with a few examples of East Anglian weather boarding (clapboards), as well as buildings faced with flints. The town has light engineering industries and many agricultural connections and also serves as the administrative centre of Hertfordshire county. Pop. (2001) 24,460.