Cow Roast (sometimes written as Cowroast) is a hamlet within the civil parishes of Northchurch and Wigginton in Hertfordshire, England. It is between Tring and Berkhamsted, along the A4251, adjacent to the Grand Union Canal and the West Coast Main Line. Today it comprises a row of 20th-century houses and a marina, together with several older properties including a public house (closed since September 2017). There are three car dealerships and a petrol station beside the main road. Cow Roast is located on the site of a Romano-British settlement, close to the route of Akeman Street. Origin of the name The name Cow Roast is almost certainly a corruption of the name 'Cow Rest', indicating a place where there were pens and grazing for resting cattle on route to market. The hamlet lies on an ancient drovers' route which passes through the Chiltern Hills towards London. History During the Iron Age, a Celtic tribe called the Catuvellauni occupied Hertfordshire. Their main settlement (or oppidum) was Verlamion on the River Ver (near present-day St Albans); other oppida in Hertfordshire included a settlement at Cow Roast, near the springs at the source of the River Bulbourne. Archaeological evidence suggests that this area was at one time a prominent location for the extraction, smelting and trade of bog iron in Iron Age Britain. Cow Roast was also the site of a Romano-British settlement, which grew up close to the route of Akeman Street. The Berkhamsted and District Archaeological Society began to conduct an excavation at Cow Roast in 1972. Over the next four years, digging took place in an orchard near the Cow Roast Inn, and for three years excavations were also conducted at the future site of the marina. The scope of the works later extended onto fields adjacent to the Cow Roast Inn. These excavations resulted in the discovery of various Roman artefacts, which led to the area subsequently being registered as an ancient monument, under the protection of Historic England, and designated as a Roman town. The excavations at Cow Roast led to the discovery of a number of significant items. Smaller finds included a variety of crafted objects such as pottery, coins, tools and jewellery made from iron, bronze, stone, shale, glass and bone. Larger finds included fourteen well-shafts which, due to their significant number, suggest water usage on an industrial scale – likely for the purposes of iron