Watford () is a town and
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
in
Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, on the
River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the
Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and
breweries. While industry has declined in Watford, its location near
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and transport links has attracted several companies to site their headquarters in the town.
Cassiobury Park is a public park that was once the manor estate of the
Earls of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...
.
The town developed next to the River Colne on land belonging to
St Albans Abbey. In the 12th century, a charter was granted allowing a market, and the building of
St Mary's Church began. The town grew partly due to travellers going to
Berkhamsted Castle
Berkhamsted Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The castle was built to obtain control of a key route between London and the Midlands during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century. Robert of ...
and the royal palace at
Kings Langley. A
mansion was built at
Cassiobury
The Cassiobury Estate is a suburban residential area of Watford in Hertfordshire, England. It is bounded to the south by Cassiobury Park, the main public park in the town, to the west by playing fields next to the River Gade, and to the northe ...
in the 16th century. This was partly rebuilt in the 17th century and another
country house was built at
The Grove.
The
Grand Junction Canal in 1798 and the
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
in 1837 resulted in Watford's rapid growth, with paper-making mills such as
John Dickinson
John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...
at Croxley, influencing the development of printing in the town. Two brewers,
Benskins
Benskins was the pre-eminent brewery in Watford, and Hertfordshire's biggest brewer until its acquisition by Ind Coope in 1957.
While Benskins has not existed as an independent company for over half a century, the brand continues to be well kn ...
and
Sedgwicks, amalgamated and flourished in the town until their closure in the late 20th century.
Hertfordshire County Council
Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, ...
designates Watford to be a major sub-regional centre. Several head offices are based in Watford. International conferences and sporting events have also taken place in Watford, including the 2006
World Golf Championship
The World Golf Championships (WGC) are a group of annual professional golf tournaments created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more frequently than the pre-existing four ...
, the
2013 Bilderberg Conference and the
2019 NATO summit which all took place at
The Grove.
Watford became an
urban district
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
under the
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
and a
municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
by grant of a charter in 1922. The borough, which had 90,301 inhabitants at the 2011 census, is separated from
Greater London to the south by
Three Rivers District
Three Rivers is a local government district in southwest Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of Rickmansworth Urban Distr ...
.
Watford Borough Council
Watford Borough Council is the local authority for the Watford non-metropolitan district of England, the United Kingdom. Watford is located in the south-west of Hertfordshire, in the East of England region. The council is based in the Town Hall o ...
is the local authority with the
Mayor of Watford
The Mayor of Watford is the head of the borough council of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The holder of the position is a directly elected mayor using the supplementary vote every four years. The current mayor of Watford is Peter Taylor, who ...
as its head – one of only 18
directly elected mayors in England and Wales.
History
Early history
There is evidence of some limited prehistoric occupation around the Watford area, with a few Celtic and Roman finds, though there is no evidence of a settlement until much later.
Watford stands where the
River Colne could be crossed on an
ancient trackway
Historic roads (historic trails in USA and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient trackways ...
from the southeast to the northwest. Watford's High Street follows the line of part of this route.
The town was located on the first dry ground above the marshy edges of the River Colne. The name Watford may have arisen from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
for "waet" (full of water – the area was marshy), or "wath" (hunting), and
ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
.
St Albans Abbey claimed rights to the
manor of Casio (then called "Albanestou"), which included Watford, dating from a grant by
King Offa
Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æ ...
in AD 793.
![Cassiobury Park by Kip and Knyff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Cassiobury_Park_by_Kip_and_Knyff.jpg)
The name Watford is first mentioned in an
Anglo-Saxon charter of 1007, where "Watforda" is one of the places marking the boundary of "Oxanhaege". It is not mentioned in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086, when this area was part of St Albans Abbey's manor of Cashio. In the 12th century the Abbey was granted a charter allowing it to hold a market here, and the building of St Mary's Church began. The settlement's location helped it to grow, since as well as trade along this north-south through route it possessed good communications into the vale of
St Albans to the east and into the Chiltern Hills along the valley of the
River Chess
The River Chess is a chalk stream that rises near Chesham in the Chiltern Hills, and flows for through Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire to its confluence with the River Colne in Rickmansworth. The Chess, along with the Colne and Gade, gi ...
to the west. The town grew modestly, assisted by travellers passing through to
Berkhamsted Castle
Berkhamsted Castle is a Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The castle was built to obtain control of a key route between London and the Midlands during the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century. Robert of ...
and the royal palace at
Kings Langley. A big house was built at
Cassiobury
The Cassiobury Estate is a suburban residential area of Watford in Hertfordshire, England. It is bounded to the south by Cassiobury Park, the main public park in the town, to the west by playing fields next to the River Gade, and to the northe ...
in the 16th century. This was partly rebuilt in the 17th century and another substantial house was built nearby at
The Grove. The houses were expanded and developed throughout the following centuries. Cassiobury became the family seat of the
Earls of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...
, and The Grove the seat of the
Earls of Clarendon.
In 1762,
Sparrows Herne Turnpike Road
Sparrows Herne Turnpike Road from London to Aylesbury was an 18th-century English toll road passing through Watford and Hemel Hempstead. The route was approximately that of the original A41 road; the Edgware Road, through Watford, Kings Langle ...
was established across the Chilterns. The
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...
approximately followed the route of the original
A41 road
The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford, Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, ...
. The location of a
toll house
A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge.
History
Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th an ...
can be seen at the bottom of Chalk Hill on the Watford side of Bushey Arches; set in an old flint stone wall is a Sparrows Herne Trust plaque.
In 1778,
Daniel Defoe described Watford as a "genteel market town, very long, having but one street".
Industrial Revolution
Watford remained an agricultural community with some
cottage industry for many centuries. The
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
brought the
Grand Junction Canal (now
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...
) from 1798 and the
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
from 1837, both located here for the same reasons the road had followed centuries before, seeking an easy gradient over the Chiltern Hills. The land-owning interests permitted the canal to follow closely by the river Gade, but the prospect of smoke-emitting
steam train
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s drove them to ensure the railway gave a wide berth to the Cassiobury and Grove estates. Consequently, although the road and canal follow the easier valley route, the railway company was forced to build an expensive tunnel under
Leavesden to the north of the town.
Watford's original railway station opened in 1837 on the west side of St Albans Road, a small, single-storey red-brick building. It closed in 1858 when it was replaced by a new, larger station at
Watford Junction
Watford Junction is a railway station that serves Watford, Hertfordshire. The station is on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), 17 miles 34 chains from London Euston and the Abbey Line, a branch line to St Albans. Journeys to London take between 16 ...
approximately further south-east. The old station house still stands today; it is a Grade-II-listed building, now in the middle of a high density housing development, it and was for many years a second-hand car
dealership. Watford Junction railway station is situated to the north east of the town centre.
These developments gave the town excellent communications and stimulated its industrial growth during the 19th and 20th centuries. The Grand Union Canal, allowed coal to be brought into the district and paved the way for industrial development. The Watford Gas and Coke Company was formed in 1834 and gas works built. The canal allowed paper-making mills to be sited at Croxley. The
John Dickinson and Co. mill beside the canal manufactured the Croxley brand of fine quality paper. There had been brewing in Watford from the 17th century and, by the 19th century, two industrial scale brewers
Benskins
Benskins was the pre-eminent brewery in Watford, and Hertfordshire's biggest brewer until its acquisition by Ind Coope in 1957.
While Benskins has not existed as an independent company for over half a century, the brand continues to be well kn ...
and
Sedgwicks were located in the town.
The parish church of St Mary's was extensively restored in 1871.
The town expanded slightly during this time. In 1851 a new street off the High Street was opened, King Street, followed by Queens Road and Clarendon Road in the early 1860s. During this time, Watford had a population of around 6,500
The railways also continued to expand from Watford during this period; the
Watford and Rickmansworth Railway
The Watford and Rickmansworth Railway (W&RR) ran services between Watford and Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. The company was incorporated in 1860; the line opened in 1862. The Rickmansworth branch was closed in 1952, and the remaining ...
opened in 1862 as a short branch line via to , and another branch was added to in 1912. The original plan was to extend the Rickmansworth line south connecting Watford to
Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...
; this scheme failed and both the Rickmansworth and Croxley branches closed.
Watford's population had risen to 17,063 by 1891 to become very cramped. Local landowners sold land for the development of the town and it was bought up by commercial interests. Various factories and other works sprung up in Watford, mostly breweries and prints, but also engineering works, a steam laundry, a cold storage company and a
cocoa
Cocoa may refer to:
Chocolate
* Chocolate
* ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree
* Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao''
* Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...
processing plant. The town expanded rapidly, most of the new inhabitants moving in from London.
20th century
At the start of the 20th century the town was growing fast. New roads were laid out in Callowland, North Watford, and in West Watford on farmland. Many continued to live in the cramped and unsanitary houses in the yards and alley-ways opening off the High Street. Some of these people were among those who rioted in 1902 when the celebration for
King Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
's coronation was postponed. The Council had a programme of
slum clearance
Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...
which stopped with the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1914. Building council houses resumed after the war and in the 1920s the Harebreaks estate was developed.
By the 1920s, printing had become the biggest industry in Watford. The biggest printers in the town were Sun Printers Ltd and
Odhams Press
Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and the ...
. Watford was the biggest printing centre in the world and many advances in printing were made in Watford. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the prints were taken over by the government who used them to print propaganda. After the war, the printing industry began going into decline. Union activity was common in Watford and advances in technology meant much of the industry became obsolete. Odhams Press closed down in 1978 and The Sun moved out of Watford during the 1980s after market reforms allowed it to do so.
In 1925, the
Metropolitan Railway Company built a branch to Watford, opening a station close to
Cassiobury Park.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Watford was the home of the British designer furniture manufacturer
Hille. At their premises on St Albans Road, designed by the
modernist architect
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that Form f ...
Ernő Goldfinger
Ernő Goldfinger (11 September 1902 – 15 November 1987) was a Hungarian-born architect and designer of furniture. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the Modernist architectural movement. He is most prom ...
,
the designer
Robin Day
Sir Robin Day (24 October 1923 – 6 August 2000) was an English political journalist and television and radio broadcaster.
Day's obituary in ''The Guardian'' by Dick Taverne stated that he was "the most outstanding television journalist of ...
conceived the
polypropylene stacking chair
The polypropylene stacking chair or polyprop is a chair manufactured in an injection moulding process using polypropylene. It was designed by Robin Day in 1963 for S. Hille & Co. It is now so iconic, it was selected as one of eight designs in ...
, now recognised as a classic of modern design. Although Hille left the area in 1983, the listed Goldfinger building still stands on St Albans Road.
Mod
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
culture found expression through clubs such as the
Ace of Herts
The Ace of Herts was one of the first dedicated Lambretta scooter clubs in greater London, running from 1958 to 1971. Based in Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the ...
in the 1960s.
The
de Havilland factory at Leavesden was responsible for the manufacture of the
Mosquito fighter bomber and the
Halifax bomber
The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the World War II, Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.
The Halifa ...
and later became Leavesden Aerodrome, to the north of Watford. No longer operational, it was converted into
Leavesden Film Studios
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in South East England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film an ...
, now famously the home of the
''Harry Potter'' films.
Geography
![Odhams Press Hall Watford](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Odhams_Press_Hall_Watford.jpg)
Watford developed on the
River Colne in southern Hertfordshire, England, northwest of
central London. Ethnicity is 61.9% white British, 2.3% Irish, 0.1% Gypsy or Irish traveller, 7.7% other white, 17.9% Asian/Asian British, 5.8% black or black British.
The borough had 90,301 inhabitants at the time of the 2011 census.
[2011 Census: Usual resident population and population density, local authorities in the United Kingdom](_blank)
Accessed 8 January 2012. The borough is separated from
Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of
Watford Rural
Watford Rural is a civil parish in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is an urbanised parish characterised by suburban residenti ...
in the
Three Rivers District
Three Rivers is a local government district in southwest Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of Rickmansworth Urban Distr ...
. The Watford subdivision of the
Greater London Urban Area
The Greater London Built-up Area, or Greater London Urban Area, is a conurbation in south-east England that constitutes the continuous urban sprawl of London, and includes surrounding adjacent urban towns as defined by the Office for National Sta ...
, which includes much of the neighbouring districts, had a total population of 120,960 in the 2001 census.
Governance
Watford has two tiers of local government, at district (borough) and county level:
Watford Borough Council
Watford Borough Council is the local authority for the Watford non-metropolitan district of England, the United Kingdom. Watford is located in the south-west of Hertfordshire, in the East of England region. The council is based in the Town Hall o ...
and
Hertfordshire County Council
Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, ...
.
Watford is one of only 15 authorities in England and Wales headed by a
directly elected mayor.
Dorothy Thornhill
Dorothy Thornhill, Baroness Thornhill, (born 26 May 1955) was the first directly elected mayor of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. She was the Liberal Democrats' first directly elected mayor, and was also the first female directly elected may ...
was the first directly-elected
mayor of Watford
The Mayor of Watford is the head of the borough council of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The holder of the position is a directly elected mayor using the supplementary vote every four years. The current mayor of Watford is Peter Taylor, who ...
, elected in May 2002 and re-elected in May 2006 and May 2010. She was the first female directly-elected mayor in England and the
Liberal Democrats' first directly-elected mayor.
Since 1999 Watford has been divided into 12
wards.
Each ward has three councillors who are elected for a four-year term. Watford elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the
first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
system of election, for the
Watford constituency. Prior to the establishment of this constituency in 1885 the area was part of the three seat constituency of
Hertfordshire.
Town twinning
The council have made
twinning links with five towns. The first was
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
, Germany, in 1956, and the most recent is
Pesaro, Italy, in 1988; the others are
Nanterre
Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807.
The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...
,
Novgorod, and
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
. The council award an honorary status of
Freedom of the Borough
The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
to certain individuals "who have in the opinion of the council, rendered eminent services to the borough"; as of 2020 there are three freemen:
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
, and two local councillors involved in the twinning process.
Administrative history
The
ancient parish of Watford was included in the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of
Cashio. In 1835, Watford became the centre of a
poor law union, and a workhouse was built in 18361837 at 60 Vicarage Road (then called Hagden Lane).
In 1850 a
local board of health
Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...
was established for the town. The local board district covered part of the parish of Watford and part of the neighbouring parish of
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow ...
. The Watford Local Board District came into effect on 15 August 1850, and the first board was elected the following month.
The local board was responsible for building the town's waterworks and sewers. For a time the board held its meetings at an upper room of the waterworks on Local Board Road. In 1891 the board purchased Upton House at 14 High Street for £2,650, converting it to become their offices and meeting place, holding its first meeting in the building on 1 October 1891.
Under the
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
, the Watford Local Board was reconstituted as Watford Urban District Council with effect from 31 December 1894. The act also stipulated that parishes could not be partly in an
urban district
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
and partly outside it. The old parish of Watford was therefore split, with the part of the parish outside the urban district becoming the parish of
Watford Rural
Watford Rural is a civil parish in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is an urbanised parish characterised by suburban residenti ...
with effect from the first parish meeting on 4 December 1894. At the same time, the parish of Bushey was split, with the part within the Watford Urban District becoming a parish called Bushey Urban, which was later renamed Oxhey in 1906. Watford Urban and Bushey Urban / Oxhey were both classed as
urban parishes and so did not have parish councils of their own, but were directly administered by Watford Urban District Council. The two urban parishes merged in 1935 to form a single parish called Watford.
Watford became a
municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
on 18 October 1922 when it was granted a charter of incorporation. The council was granted a
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
on 16 October 1922, two days before it became a borough.
Upton House at 14 High Street continued to serve as the meeting place and offices for Watford Urban District Council and then Watford Borough Council until 1940. In 1938 work began on building
Watford Town Hall
Watford Town Hall is a municipal building in Rickmansworth Road, Watford, England. It is a Grade II listed building.
History
In the early 20th century Watford Urban District Council operated from municipal offices at Upton House in The Parade. ...
at the junction of Rickmansworth Road and Hempstead Road, and the building officially opened on 5 January 1940. Upton House was subsequently demolished in 1961 and Gade House built on the site.
[
Under the ]Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
Watford kept the same boundaries, but changed from being a municipal borough to a non-metropolitan district
Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shi ...
with borough status.
Economy
Watford is a major regional centre in the northern home counties
The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
. Hertfordshire County Council designates Watford and Stevenage to be its major sub-regional centres, heading its list of preferred sites for retail development.
The High Street is the main focus of activity at night having a high concentration of the town's bars, clubs and restaurants. The primary shopping area is the Harlequin Shopping Centre
Atria Watford is a shopping centre in the middle of Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. It opened in June 1992 as the Harlequin Shopping Centre. The centre was rebranded as intu Watford in 2013 following the renaming of its parent Capital Sho ...
, a large purpose-built indoor mall with over 140 shops, restaurants and cafes built during the 1990s, opened officially in June 1992. The owners of the shopping centre, Capital Shopping Centres, changed their name to Intu
Intu Properties plc was a British real estate investment trust (REIT), largely focused on shopping centre management and development. Originally named Liberty International plc, it changed its name in May 2010 to Capital Shopping Centres Group p ...
, resulting in The Harlequin changing name to "intu Watford" from May 2013. Carrying forward £4.5 billion of debt into 2020, the company was not able to survive the retail downturn due to the COVID-19 crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, and went into administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...
in June 2020. The council owns part of the freehold the site, and feels that as the shopping centre is very popular (it was one of top 20 places to shop in the UK in 2019), it will remain open and viable.
The town contains the head offices of a number of national companies such as J D Wetherspoon
J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It o ...
, Camelot Group
The Camelot Group is the operator of the UK National Lottery whose current franchise period started in 2009 and runs until February 2024. It has also operated the Illinois State Lottery in the state of Illinois in the United States since 20 ...
, Bathstore
Bathstore.com Ltd., (also known as bathstore) is the largest specialist bathroom retailer in the United Kingdom.
History
Bathstore was originally started in the beginning of the 1990s by Patrick Riley and Nico de Beer, with the idea to bring q ...
, and Caversham Finance (BrightHouse). Watford is also the UK base of various multi-nationals including Hilton Worldwide, TotalEnergies
TotalEnergies SE is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and ...
, TK Maxx, Costco, JJ Kavanagh and Sons, Vinci (construction), Vinci and Beko. Both the 2006 World Golf Championship
The World Golf Championships (WGC) are a group of annual professional golf tournaments created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more frequently than the pre-existing four ...
and the 2013 Bilderberg Conference, took place at The Grove, Watford, The Grove hotel. The town was home to the Scammell Lorries factory from 1922 until 1988. The site is now a residential area. Tandon Motorcycles, founded by Devdutt Tandon, were manufactured in Colne Way from 1947 until 1959.[Wilson, Steve ''British Motorcycles Since 1950 Volume 4'' (Patrick Stephens Limited 1991) ]
Parks
Cassiobury Park
The name Cassiobury has had various spellings over time. It is derived from 'Caegshoe', which is believed to be the combination of 'caeg', a person's name, and 'hoe', meaning a spur of land. When the land was granted to Sir Richard Morrison in the 16th century, it was called 'Cayshobury', with 'bury' indicating a manor.
Cassiobury Park was formed from the grounds of Cassiobury House and consists of of open space. The house was demolished in 1927 and the Cassiobury Gates in 1970, for road widening. In July 2007, the park won a Green Flag Award, which recognises the best green spaces in the country. There is a children's play area, which includes a paddling pool, play equipment, a bouncy castle, an ice cream van, a kiosk where one may buy food, and 10.25" gauge miniature railway. The Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...
passes through the park. Cassiobury Park is host to the weekly 5k community event parkrun.
Cheslyn House and Gardens
Awarded Green Flag status since 2009, Cheslyn has been open to the public since 1965 as a formal gardens and house. The 3.5 acre gardens comprise a formal open area to the front and a semi-natural woodland area to the rear. Henry and Daisy Colbeck originally owned the house and gardens. Mr Colbeck was a renowned local architect, and designed Cheslyn House; he and his wife created the original gardens. The Colbecks travelled extensively, and this is reflected in the range of unusual and exotic plants in the gardens. Since the space has been open to the public it has been further developed, with new features added such as the pond, rock garden, large herbaceous borders and aviary.
Woodside Park
Awarded Green Flag status since 2011, Woodside Playing Fields cover approximately 59 acres of playing fields, sports facilities and woodland. The site comprises a range of sports facilities including an eight lane synthetic track and stadium, an indoor bowls green, a community centre, cricket squares, football pitches and Woodside Leisure Centre. Woodside Stadium is home to Watford Harriers Athletics Club and hosts national level events such as the British Milers Club Grand Prix.
Heritage
There are 92 nationally listed buildings in Watford. These include St. Mary's Church, Watford, St Mary's Church, which dates to the 12th century, and Holy Rood Church, Watford, Holy Rood Church which dates to 1890.[
St Mary's is noted for its interior which was renovated in 1850 by the architect George Gilbert Scott and includes fine oak pews decorated in the Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival style. It also contains the Essex Chapel, which served at the burial place of the nobility of the Cassiobury Estate, including the ]Earls of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...
. The chapel contains a number of large, ornate marble tombs and memorials dating from the 16th century and later, and was described by Nikolaus Pevsner, Pevsner as "the chief glory of Watford Church".
The Roman Catholic Church, Holy Rood, is a much later structure. Built in 1890 by John Francis Bentley, the architect responsible for Westminster Cathedral in London, it is noted as a particularity fine example of Gothic Revival architecture. The ornate interior contains stained glass by the designer Nathaniel Westlake.
There are ten Conservation area (United Kingdom), conservation areas in Watford; one Grade II Listed Park, and 240 locally-listed buildings.
Theatres
Watford Palace Theatre
The Watford Palace Theatre opened in 1908 and is the only producing theatre in Hertfordshire. It presents an annual traditional pantomime, world premières, dance and family shows. Situated just off the High Street, the Edwardian architecture, Edwardian 600-seat theatre underwent a refurbishment in 2004. The Palace houses its own rehearsal room, wardrobe, café and bar. It also shows films and 'live' and 'as live' streams of opera and ballet during its theatre season.
Pump House
The Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre is based in an old pumping station situated just off the Lower High Street. The building was converted for use as a theatre, with rehearsal rooms, and meeting place for local arts based groups. Current facilities include a 124-seat theatre, rehearsal rooms, and live music venue. Community groups currently meeting at the Pump House include Dance House (children's ballet), Pump House Clog Morris (women's Morris dance, Morris dancing), Pump House Jazz (jazz club), Open House (live open mic music), Woodside Morris Men (men's Morris dancing), child, youth and adult theatre groups and also the Giggle Inn comedy club. In 2018, the venue hosted the inaugural Watford Short Film Festival alongside Watford Museum.
Watford Colosseum
Watford Colosseum is an entertainment venue in the town. Established in 1938, as the Assembly Rooms for Watford Town Hall
Watford Town Hall is a municipal building in Rickmansworth Road, Watford, England. It is a Grade II listed building.
History
In the early 20th century Watford Urban District Council operated from municipal offices at Upton House in The Parade. ...
, the complex was extended in 2011 with improvements which included new meeting spaces, a new restaurant and new bar facilities. Performers at the venue have included the soprano Maria Callas in September 1954 and the tenor Luciano Pavarotti in June 1995. The Colosseum has been used to record various film soundtracks and is regularly used to host concerts by the BBC Concert Orchestra, including ''Friday Night is Music Night''. It has also housed performances by performers including The Who, Robbie Williams, and Oasis (band), Oasis.[
The Colosseum is also an important venue for boxing matches with heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury building on his reputation, shortly after turning professional, in 2009. The venue also has seen some important and highly popular plays taking place and it regularly holds events in support of charities. The 2020 Snooker Shoot Out professional snooker tournament was held at the Colosseum between 20 and 23 February 2020.]
Museums
Watford Museum, housed in a former brewery building on the Lower High Street, is home to a collection of fine art and sculpture which includes works by J. M. W. Turner, Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Blake and Jacob Epstein. The museum also hold special collections related to the Cassiobury Estate, Watford Football Club, and local heritage, as well as an archive collection of documents, printed ephemera, photographs and diaries related to Watford townsfolk, local government, nobility and businesses.
The Hertfordshire Fire Museum is dedicated to the history of firefighting in the county. It is based in a purpose-built building at Watford Fire Station, on the same street as Watford Museum. The Museum includes a wide range of vehicles, equipment, uniforms and archive material.
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden is an 80-hectare film studio complex which has been used for a wide range of Hollywood film productions. Part of the site is open to the public and houses the ''Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter'', displaying costumes and sets from the ''Harry Potter'' films which were produced at Leavesden. The studio complex is to the north of the borough, around from the town centre, and a special shuttle bus provides a connection from Watford Junction station to the studios.[
]
Transport
Watford is northwest of central London. Post World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
road-building has resulted in Watford being close to several Interchange (road), motorway junctions on both the M1 motorway and the M25 motorway, M25 London Orbital Motorway.
Watford is served by a number of different companies, including Arriva Kent Thameside, Arriva Shires & Essex, Carousel Buses, Carousel, London Sovereign, Lucketts of Watford, Mullanys Coaches, Red Eagle Buses, Red Rose Travel, Sullivan Buses, Uno (bus company), Uno, and Vale Travel. Oyster Cards are accepted on TfL routes London Buses route 142, 142 (towards Brent Cross) and London Buses route 258, 258 (towards Harrow) into London. Intalink Explorer and Hertfordshire SaverCard is accepted on all but the London Bus routes.
The hourly Green Line bus route 724 connects Watford Junction station and the town centre to London Heathrow Airport on weekdays, with a service once every two hours at weekends and on bank holidays. Regular bus services run between Watford and Luton, but not directly to Luton Airport. Direct train services run from Watford Junction Station to Birmingham Airport.
Elstree Airfield is east of Watford. Several private charter companies and flying clubs are based there. Watford is the base for 2F (Watford) Squadron, Air Training Corps.
Watford is served by five railway stations and a London Underground station. is on the West Coast Main Line with trains from to the The Midlands, England, Midlands, the North-West England, northwest and Scotland. Journey time to London Euston is typically 16 minutes non-stop. The station is mainly served by frequent suburban and regional trains operated by London Northwestern which run to and Milton Keynes Central railway station, Milton Keynes and the cross-London Southern (train operating company), Southern service to via . Two all-stations services terminate at Watford Junction: the suburban service operated by London Overground which runs to Euston; and the Abbey Line shuttle service to .
The London Overground service from Watford Junction runs south via a suburban loop and stops at , before continuing via to London Euston.
Watford tube station is the terminus of the Watford branch of London Underground's Metropolitan line. The station is located outside the centre of Watford, close to Cassiobury Park.
Watford is on the main Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...
route northwards from London. There is little commercial use, since the advent of the motorways, but the canal is used for recreational purposes. The River Gade and the River Colne flow through Watford.
Watford town centre and the surrounding area is relatively compact and the terrain is generally quite flat. Over of new cycle routes have been developed in the town since 2003 and a range of cycle maps are available locally. In Watford cycling to work makes up 2.2% of all journeys compared with 1.6% across the whole of Hertfordshire.
National Cycle Route 6, National Cycle Routes 6 and National Cycle Route 61, 61 run across the eastern and southern sides of the town, using the off-road Ebury Way and Abbey Way. There is a continuous cycle route through the north-south axis of the town centre, including the pedestrianised parts along The Parade and High Street. Cycle parking is provided at intermittent points in the town centre and at local centres in the wider town.
There is an expression, ''North of Watford'', meaning locations north of Greater London. Alternatively, ''North of Watford Junction'' was used with similar meaning referring to Watford Junction railway station's position as the last urban stop on the main railway line out of Euston. The phrase's original use pre-dates the M1 motorway Watford Gap services but current use may refer to either Watford or the Watford Gap services.
Abandoned schemes
In 2008 a proposal was made that Regional Eurostar services could run via Watford to Gare du Nord, Paris via Kensington Olympia. In 1999 the List of committees of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Select Committee on Environment, Transport and the Regions took the view that Watford was "well placed to become an integrated transport hub" and it recommended that "services from Watford to Paris should commence as soon as possible". The Regional Eurostar scheme eventually came to nothing and was put on hold indefinitely.
A scheme to introduce light rail to Watford was conceived in 2009 when it was proposed that the Abbey Line should be converted to tram-train operation and run by Hertfordshire County Council
Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, ...
.[
] The project was cancelled due to the complications and expense of transferring the line from National Rail to the county council.
In 2013 the Croxley Rail Link project was approved to extend the London Underground Metropolitan line to Watford Junction by reinstating a stretch of the former Watford and Rickmansworth Railway
The Watford and Rickmansworth Railway (W&RR) ran services between Watford and Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. The company was incorporated in 1860; the line opened in 1862. The Rickmansworth branch was closed in 1952, and the remaining ...
. As part of the scheme, Watford Metropolitan station would have closed to passengers and been replaced by new stations on the reopened route at and . The project did not go ahead due to funding problems.
In August 2014, the transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin indicated that the government was actively evaluating the extension of Crossrail as far as , with potential Crossrail stops at , , , , , , and . This proposal was subsequently shelved in August 2016 due to "poor overall value for money to the taxpayer".
Education
The earliest records of schooling in Watford are of a schoolmaster named George Redhead in 1595, and of a Free School receiving an annual donation of £10 in 1640. The school consisted of "a room over two houses belonging to the Church Estate, nearest the churchyard." In 1704, Elizabeth Fuller of Watford Place built a new Free School for forty boys and twenty girls on her land next to the churchyard, with rooms for a master and a mistress. In the mid-19th century, the recorded schools in Watford were Fuller's Free School, by now in a poor state, and the separate boys and girls National school (England and Wales), national schools of St Mary's in Church Street. All offered elementary education.
The Free School closed in 1882, and its endowment contributed to founding the Watford Endowed Schools, which provided secondary education and charged fees. After these schools, now called the Watford Grammar School for Boys and the Watford Grammar School for Girls, moved to new sites in 1907 and 1912, the building housed the Watford Central school, which taught pupils up to the age of 14.
St Mary's National Schools closed in 1922, and the site is now a car park. The London Orphan Asylum, later Reed's School, was located near Watford Junction station between 1871 and 1940.
The only independent secondary school in the borough is Stanborough School, Watford, Stanborough School, a day and boarding school operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. There are several independent schools nearby, including Purcell School, a specialist music school.
All the state-funded primary schools in Watford are Mixed-sex education, co-educational. Under an earlier system, schools were divided into infant schools, covering Reception and Years 1 and 2, and junior schools, covering Years 3 to 6. Most such schools have amalgamated to form Junior Mixed Infant schools or (equivalently) primary schools, and all new schools are of this type.
Although all state-funded secondary schools in Hertfordshire are comprehensive school, comprehensive, there is a great deal of differentiation in the southwestern corner of the county, centred on Watford but also including most of the Three Rivers (district), Three Rivers district and Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow ...
in Hertsmere district.
Within this area, there are:[Moving On – Applying for a Secondary or Upper School place](_blank)
, Hertfordshire County Council, 2007.
*partially selective school (England), partially selective schools, which offer a proportion of places according to ability or aptitude, and the rest to siblings or those living near the school: Parmiter's School, Queens' School, Rickmansworth School, St Clement Danes School, Watford Grammar School for Boys and Watford Grammar School for Girls.
*Bushey Meads School, which selects 10% for technological aptitude and uses banded admissions to ensure a comprehensive intake for the remainder.
*non-selective Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic schools, whose intake is evenly spread: St Joan of Arc Catholic School, Rickmansworth, St Joan of Arc Catholic School and St Michael's Catholic High School.
*other non-selective schools, whose intake is markedly affected by the above partially selective schools: Future Academies Watford, The Grange Academy, Bushey, The Grange Academy and Westfield Academy.
*Falconer School, a school for boys with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
The partially selective schools and Bushey Meads School operate common admissions tests in mathematics and non-verbal reasoning each autumn. In addition to those seeking selective places, all applicants to Bushey Meads and Queens' School are required to take the tests, so they are taken by the majority of Year 6 children in the area. The partially selective schools also operate a common test and audition procedure to select children for specialist music places.
Results achieved by the schools at GCSE are also widely spread, including the three highest and the two lowest scoring state schools within Hertfordshire. The area also has by far the highest incidence in the county of children allocated to schools to which they had not applied.
The Watford Campus of West Herts College is the only grade 1 further education college in the United Kingdom according to a 2011 Ofsted report. The Centre for Missional Leadership (CML) is the Watford branch of the London School of Theology, Europe's largest evangelical theological college.
Sport
The professional football team Watford F.C. competes in the EFL Championship in the 2022–23 EFL Championship, 2022-2023 season. Watford reached the 1984 FA Cup Final, 1984 and 2019 FA Cup Final, 2019 FA Cup Finals, also finishing as league Division One (now the Premier League) runners-up in 1982-83 in English football, 1983. They were relegated from Division One in 1988. In 1996, Watford was relegated from the new Division One (now the Football League Championship). Watford won the then Football League Second Division, Nationwide Division Two championship in 1998, then the following season (1998–99) reached the Premier League. The club was relegated the next season. After five years, Watford won the Football League Championship play-off final achieving promotion to the Premier League in 2006, this time beating Leeds United FC by three goals to nil.
The club was relegated to the Football League Championship after a single season (FA Premier League 2006-07, 2006–2007) in the Premier League. It was promoted to the Premier League in 2015, after finishing second in the Championship. The singer-songwriter, Sir Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
, is a keen, long-term supporter of Watford FC and a former club chairman. He still maintains his links with Watford as Honorary Life President. Between 1997 and 2013, the club shared its ground, Vicarage Road, with Saracens FC, Saracens Rugby Football Club.
Other sports teams include a non-League football team, Sun Sports FC, which plays at The Sun Postal Sports & Social Club, the Watford Cheetahs, an American football team which played home games at Fullerians RFC between 2008 and 2012, Glen Rovers, who play both hurling and Gaelic Athletic Association, Gaelic football, and Watford Town Cricket Club.
Notable people
Freedom of the Borough
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough
The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
of Watford.
Individuals
* George Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon, Rt Hon Lord Clarendon : 28 July 1924.
* Dennis Herbert, 1st Baron Hemingford, Rt Hon Lord Hemingford : 22 March 1943.[
* Elton John, Sir Elton John : 6 October 1977.][
* Raphael Tuck, Sir Raphael Tuck: 15 November 1980.][
* Graham Taylor : 25 June 2001.][
* Luther Blissett : 18 October 2021.]
Military Units
* 1st East Anglian Regiment: 1959.[
* Royal Anglian Regiment: 1964.][
]
References
External links
Watford Borough Council
''Watford Observer'' newspaper
Watford Colosseum
Watford Palace Theatre
Watford Museum
Watford, Hertfordshire
A Vision of Britain Through Time
Department of Geography, University of Portsmouth
Watford Genealogy on ''A Guide to Old Hertfordshire''
The Pump House Theatre and Arts Centre
Famous Watfordians
Cassiobury Park
{{authority control
Watford,
Towns in Hertfordshire
Market towns in Hertfordshire
Districts of Hertfordshire
Unparished areas in Hertfordshire
Boroughs in England
Former civil parishes in Hertfordshire