About Bishops-Stortford : Bishop's Stortford is a market town in east Hertfordshire, England, just touching the border with Essex. A small area of Bishop's Stortford is actually located in Essex. It is situated just west of the M11, is the closest town to London Stansted Airport and is part of the London commuter belt. Its football club currently competes in the Conference South. In the latest annual edition of the channel 4 'best and worst places to live in the UK' East Herts was the 7th best district to live in. There was nothing significant in the Bishop's Stortford area until it became a small Roman settlement on the Roman road of Stane Street between St Albans and Colchester. After the Roman empire broke down, the small town was abandoned. A new Saxon development grew up on the site. At that time, the settlement was known as Esterteferd, probably because a family called Estere owned or controlled the river crossing around which the settlement was based. Over time, this became Stortford. In 1060, William, Bishop of London bought the Stortford manor and estate for 8 pounds, and the town has been known as Bishop's Stortford ever since. At the time of the Domesday book the town had a population of around 120. The Normans built a wooden castle in the town, but by the Tudor period it was in ruins (the mound still remains). Development of the town increased with the presence of a river and the roads. A weekly market was set up for farmers to sell their goods.

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