The Dacorum Heritage Trust
 The history of Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley & Tring

What area does the Dacorum Heritage Trust cover?

The Borough of Dacorum is situated in the western part of Hertfordshire, bordering Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It covers a diverse area, including the towns of Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead and Tring, and many of the scattered rural villages such as Chipperfield, Flamstead, Kings Langley and Markyate.

The Dacorum Heritage Trust is an 'umbrella' museum in that it is made up of various organisations, each with their own unique collections, which are housed at the Museum Store. They are:

• Berkhamsted & District Archaeological Society
  
  
• Berkhamsted Local History & Museum Society
  
  
• Berkhamsted Town Council
  
  
• Dacorum Borough Council
  
  
• Dacorum Heritage Trust - DHT also has its own collection.
  
  
• Flamstead Society
  
  
• Hemel Hempstead Local History & Museum Society
  
  
• Kings Langley Local History & Museum Society
  
  
• The Graham Greene Birthplace Trust
  
  
• Tring & District Local History & Museum Society

What does the word Dacorum mean?

The most widely accepted origin of the name Dacorum is as follows.
The word dates back to the Saxon period when a treaty was drawn up between the Danes and English, which stated that the River Lea should be a boundary. A monk writing about this area described it as "the Hundred of the Danes", using the word "Daneis". The word was later wrongly transcribed as "Danicorum" and later shortened to "Dacorum".

The current Borough of Dacorum covers the largest portion of the old Hundred of Dacorum. The original Hundred of Dacorum also included places like Aldenham, Bushey, Harpenden, Shenley and Wheathampstead, which are now part of other districts.