Things To See & Do
Berkhamsted Common is open grassland, woods and a golf course. As you walk around, you will most likely see fallow deer and hear the squeaks of the red kites in the skies above.
The Berkhamsted WWI training trenches are a set of preserved and partially restored trenches dug during the First World War by soldiers from the Royal Engineer Training Corps and other units stationed in the area. The site was used to prepare troops for trench warfare before they were sent to the Western Front.
Between 1914 and 1918, thousands of troops trained on Berkhamsted Common, situated at the edge of the Chiltern Hills. The London Irish Rifles were among the first units to use the area. They practised digging and fighting in conditions meant to mirror those they’d face in France and Belgium. These weren’t just for show. Soldiers learned how to build defensive positions, lay barbed wire, and adapt to the cramped, muddy conditions they would soon face.
You can still see sections of the trenches today. Some have been cleared and preserved, allowing you to walk along them and get a sense of the scale and structure. It’s not like a full-blown museum, more of a quiet historical site hidden in the woods. There are also information boards, like the one in the picture below, to explain what you’re looking at.
