Hitchin is a town in Hertfordshire, England.

Hitchin is first noted as the site of a religious house founded by Offa, King of Mercia. The name comes from the Hicce people who lived there. By 1086 Hitchin is described as a Royal manor in the Domesday Book. Evidence has been found to suggest that Offa had his capital here at some period, possibly on Windmill Hill.

The town flourished on the wool trade, and located on the Icknield Way and by the seventeenth century Hitchin was a staging post for coaches coming from London. With the advent of the railways in the nineteenth century, the town developed as a centre for the grain trade. By the close of the twentieth century, Hitchin had become a satellite dormitory town for London.

Hitchin is also the venue for the annual Rhythms of the World (http://www.rhythmsoftheworld.com) festival, which is the largest free festival of world music in the UK.

Nearby villages

• Preston
• Ashwell
• Great Wymondley
• Little Wymondley
• Graveley