Placed in the vale of the River Mimram, it was first settled in the Iron Age. A Belgae colonised the region in the 1st century BC, and late it was settled per Romans. Numbers of Roman artifact st& been incurred, and the remains of a Roman bath house may be visited. Great deal late, in the 17th century, as it lies on the old Great North Road, it became an important staging post and a total of Coaching inns remain as public houses.

The Norman church was built on the places astir 1190. A nave of the present church (St Mary's), was built in the 13th century, the chancel arch being a virtually all visible early structure. There are ii medieval corbels at the east prevent of the to the south aisle. Patronage of the church passed across many mitts until around 1549 it was sold to the Wilshere family, world health organization lived at The Frythe until relatively recently.