grain, train and pilgrims

High Street Methodist Church, High Street, Harpenden, AL5 2RU

The next Harpenden & District Local History Society lecture is by Dr Alexander Thomas and entitled Grain, Trade and Pilgrims: Harpenden from Prehistory to Medieval. This lecture will explore the key events which shaped Harpenden’s development and the big questions still remaining about its early history.

Dr Thomas says: “From prehistory to the medieval period, Harpenden’s fertile landscape has been both a source of prosperity and conflict. Harpenden was a contested landscape for royal and ecclesiastical authority. The cultivation of grain is fundamental to understanding the town’s ancient origins, but control of its harvest yields fuelled centuries of political disputes over its land ownership.”

Dr Alexander Thomas is an archaeological and historical researcher and author of Viking Age England. He was born and brought up in Harpenden.

Lectures are free to Society members and students; visitors are welcome, and a £5 donation is requested. Booking is not required; just turn up. As well as free on-street parking in the evening, the Methodist Church benefits from direct pedestrian access to the back from Bowers Way (West) public car park, lower level, behind Sainsbury’s. New members joining now, and until the year end, buy membership through to the end of 2026.