Hoddesdon lies along the A10, making it an easily accessible location to Londoners looking for a UK town to visit.
It can be found a little more than 20 miles from Romford – just less than an hour by car or around an hour away on the fastest train.
The town has roots back to the Saxon period, when in the 11th century it existed as a small hamlet with a population understood to have been a few hundred.
It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, with its name believed to translate to Hodda’s Hill (don).
In the 13th century, Hoddesdon was given a market charter which permitted it to host market days.
The clock house pictured in the town(Image: Google Maps)
To this day, the town centre hosts a market every Wednesday and Friday.
A clock tower stands in the town in place of an old chapel, the Chapel of St Katherine.
The clock house has a rather unusual history, once housing suspected criminals in two cells and even the town’s fire engine.
Another historical feature is the 15th century Rye House Gatehouse.
Rye House Gatehouse(Image: Google Maps)
According to Phil Holland’s The Rye House: An Investigative History, one of King Henry VIII’s wives Catherine Parr spent some of her childhood on the grounds.
The building was also the scene of a scandal known as The Rye House plot, a conspiracy from 1683 to assassinate the King of England Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York.
The Rye House Gatehouse has also been subject to reports of paranormal activity, with an alleged ‘sighting’ of a figure in 2016.
A picture of people queueing to see the Harry Potter filming(Image: Lewis Cocking MP)
More recently however, Hoddesdon has been visited by the wizarding world as filming for the Harry Potter TV series continues.
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Local MP and Hoddesdon resident Lewis Cocking stumbled across the set of the series in a visit to the town centre on September 23.
The HBO series is expected to air in 2027, with filming in Hoddesdon capturing scenes involving Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley.
The town was sent back in time for the filming, with extras seen walking about on set in old fashioned clothing.