Crossword Genius

Knowing a place in Herts (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aware

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'knowing' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a place in herts' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ware' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aware that I've seen before include "fly" , "Knowing (of something)" , "Conscious or having knowledge of" , "Having knowledge of, informed" , "Alert, conscious of" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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