Baldock is a town in Hertfordshire, England where the River Ivel rises. It is in the local government district of North Hertfordshire. Baldock was founded by the Knights Templar (also the name of the town's secondary school) in the twelfth century. Indeed, the word Baldock is believed to be a corruption of Baghdad, which the Templars would have visited during the crusades. (However, some have suggested that the name is more likely to be derived from "Bald Oak", meaning a dead oak, and that Baghdad was not, in fact, visited by the Crusaders.) The modern layout of the town, and many buildings in the centre, date from the sixteenth century.