\n Hoddesdon lies along the A10, making it an easily accessible location to Londoners looking for a UK town to visit.\n<\/p>\n
\n 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.\n<\/p>\n
\n 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.\n<\/p>\n
\n It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, with its name believed to translate to Hodda’s Hill (don).\n<\/p>\n
\n In the 13th century, Hoddesdon was given a market charter which permitted it to host market days.\n<\/p>\n
\n The clock house pictured in the town(Image: Google Maps)\n<\/p>\n
\n To this day, the town centre hosts a market every Wednesday and Friday.\n<\/p>\n
\n A clock tower stands in the town in place of an old chapel, the Chapel of St Katherine.\n<\/p>\n
\n The clock house has a rather unusual history, once housing suspected criminals in two cells and even the town’s fire engine.\n<\/p>\n
\n Another historical feature is the 15th century Rye House Gatehouse.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rye House Gatehouse(Image: Google Maps)\n<\/p>\n
\n 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.\n<\/p>\n
\n 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.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Rye House Gatehouse has also been subject to reports of paranormal activity, with an alleged ‘sighting’ of a figure in 2016.\n<\/p>\n
\n A picture of people queueing to see the Harry Potter filming(Image: Lewis Cocking MP)\n<\/p>\n
\n More recently however, Hoddesdon has been visited by the wizarding world as filming for the Harry Potter TV series continues.\n<\/p>\n