Hitchin is a market town in North Hertfordshire and dates from the 7th century. Its St Mary's Church is the largest parish church in the county and while most of it dates from the 15th century, its tower dates from around 1190.

Hitchin is fortunate in having retained so many of its ancient houses, though most of them have been refronted and much altered in the 18th and 19th centuries. In Bancroft or Bancroft Street, at the north end of the market-place, are many old houses. The Market place is cobbled and surrounded by old traditional buildings dating back to the 15th century. Tudor and Georgian buildings surround the town creating the beautiful look that Hitchin is so famous for.

Hitchin flourished in the time of the wool trade in the 17th century but grew considerably when the railway arrived in the middle of the 19th century.

Hitchin has a number of new housing estates also in and around it, built during various eras of the 20th century and right up to the present day. New build developments include large detached and semi-detached houses in Cedar Gardens and Talbot Street and apartments and even barn conversions in Oughton Head Way in Oughton Way.