Lying as it does on the direct route from the metropolis to the north and north-west of England, and containing in its western portion the formerly important city of Verulam, Hertfordshire, as might be expected, is traversed by several trunk roads leading in those directions, two of which date from Roman times. What these lines of communication were in pre-Roman days we have no means of knowing, although it is probable that they were little more than rude tracks through the great forest, or “weald,” which in those days extended some forty miles to the north of London, and afforded shelter to the great wild ox, red deer, wild boars, bears, and wolves. Road-making was a special attribute of the ancient Romans; and after they had constructed highways from their early stations in Kent, they probably set to work on those in the counties to the northward of London. So well made and so straight were these ancient Roman roads that many of them (with in some cases a certain amount of local deviation) have remained the main highways of the country down to the present day. Immediately before the introduction of railways, when the coaching traffic was brought to its highest pitch of development, these main trunk roads--thanks to the invention of Macadam--were maintained in superb condition, though with the extension of the railway system some of them were allowed to deteriorate. [Illustration: The Ermine Street at Hertford Heath] There are three great Roman roads traversing Hertfordshire--Watling Street, the Icknield Way, and Ermine Street. Watling Street starts from Dover, and after passing through London, enters the county to the south of Elstree, whence it is continued through Colney Street, Park Street and St Stephens to St Albans, and thence on through Redbourn and Markyate Street, and so to Dunstable whence it eventually reached Chester and Holyhead. Although frequently miscalled the North Road, the modern representative of Watling Street is known as the Chester and Holyhead road. Originally the Roman road in the neighbourhood of St Albans ran altogether to the west of the Ver, from Gorham Block to the Pondyards; this section of the modern road, which crosses the river to enter the city, having been constructed during the years 1826–1834. [Illustration: The Icknield Way, showing a Ford between Ickleford and Wilbury Hill] The Icknield Way (taking its name apparently from the British tribe of the Iceni) may be the oldest of the three great tracks, and originally of pre-Roman age, as, like the Pilgrims’ Way in Kent, it mainly follows the line of the chalk downs. It may be called a cross-country road from the west of England, cutting the Watling Street at Dunstable, and thence extending in a north-easterly direction across Hertfordshire through Little Offley, Ickleford, and Baldock, and thence by way of Royston, where it crosses the Ermine Street, to Newmarket and Yarmouth.