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 List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, 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

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

2013 Bilderberg Conference The 2013 Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg Conference took place June 6–9, 2013, at The Grove, Watford, The Grove hotel in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. It was the first Bilderberg Group conference to be held in the United Kingdom since the 1998 mee ...

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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

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

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 manus ...

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

and the royal palace at Kings Langley. A big house was built at

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

, 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

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

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 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 opposing ...

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 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

Watford, The old railway station house - geograph

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
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

. 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:

and

. 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, 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 des ...

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

, 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

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

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

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 heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

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 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 TK Maxx is a subsidiary of the American apparel and home goods company TJX Companies based in Framingham, Massachusetts. The stores operate throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands, totall ...

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (Trade name, doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only Big-box store, big-box retail stores (warehouse c ...

JJ Kavanagh and Sons JJ Kavanagh and Sons is Ireland's largest private coach operator. It was founded in 1919 by J.J. Kavanagh with the operation of a service connecting Urlingford with Kilkenny City. The company has expanded greatly since the 1990s with the tak ...

, Vinci and

Beko Beko ( ; stylized as beko) is a Turkish major appliance and consumer electronics brand of Arçelik A.Ş. controlled by Koç Holding. History Beko Elektronik A.Ş. was founded by Vehbi Koç, the founder of Koç Holding (who also founded Ar� ...

. Both the 2006 World Golf Championship and the

, took place at 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 Tandon Motorcycles were manufactured in Watford by Devdutt Tandon (1902–1980)from 1947 to 1959for export to his native India and other third world countries initially.Wilson, Steve ''British Motorcycles Since 1950 Volume 4'' (Patrick Stephe ...

, 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 Cassiobury House was a country house in Cassiobury Park, Watford, England. It was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Essex. Originally a Tudor building, dating from 1546 for Sir Richard Morrison, it was substantially remodelled in the 17th and ...

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 The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

, 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 Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

van, a kiosk where one may buy food, and 10.25" gauge miniature railway. The

passes through the park. Cassiobury Park is host to the weekly 5k community event

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior 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 building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s in Watford. These include St Mary's Church, which dates to the 12th century, and 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 style. It also contains the Essex Chapel, which served at the burial place of the nobility of the Cassiobury Estate, including the

. The chapel contains a number of large, ornate marble tombs and memorials dating from the 16th century and later, and was described by

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

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 John Francis Bentley (30 January 1839 – 2 March 1902) was an English ecclesiastical architect whose most famous work is the Westminster Cathedral in London, England, built in a style heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture. Life Bentle ...

, the architect responsible for

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

in London, it is noted as a particularity fine example of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th cent ...

. The ornate interior contains stained glass by the designer

Nathaniel Westlake Nathaniel Hubert John Westlake FSA (1833–1921) was a 19th-century British artist specialising in stained glass. Career Nathaniel Westlake was born in Romsey in 1833. He began to design for the firm of Lavers & Barraud, Ecclesiastical Design ...

. There are ten conservation areas in Watford; one Grade II Listed Park, and 240 locally-listed buildings.

Theatres

Watford Palace Theatre

The

Watford Palace Theatre Watford Palace Theatre, opened in 1908, is an Edwardian Grade II listed building in Watford, Hertfordshire. The 600-seat theatre on Clarendon Road was refurbished in 2004. It houses its own rehearsal room, wardrobe, cafe and bar. History The ...

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 The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

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 dancing Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

), Pump House Jazz (jazz club), Open House (live open mic music),

Woodside Morris Men {{COI, date=January 2023 Woodside Morris are a UK Morris dance side based in Watford, Hertfordshire. The side dance Cotswold Morris locally in the towns and villages around Watford, Rickmansworth, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans, and further afield a ...

(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 Watford Colosseum is an entertainment venue in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Established in 1938, as the Assembly Rooms for Watford Town Hall, the complex was extended in 2011 with improvements which included new meeting spaces, a new restauran ...

is an entertainment venue in the town. Established in 1938, as the Assembly Rooms for

, 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 A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

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 The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

, including '' Friday Night is Music Night''. It has also housed performances by performers including

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

, and Oasis. The Colosseum is also an important venue for boxing matches with heavyweight boxer

Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the WBC title since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020, and '' The Ring'' magazine title from 2020 to August 202 ...

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 Watford Museum is a local museum in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Watford Borough Council and is located on the Lower High Street in Watford. The museum opened in 1982 and is housed in a Grade II-listed Georgian ...

, 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 William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

and

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

. 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 Making of Harry Potter 29-05-2012 (7528994480)

The Making of Harry Potter 29-05-2012 (7528994480)

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 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 ...

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 Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of ''Harry Potter'' is a walk-through exhibition and studio tour in Leavesden, Hertfordshire, England, owned by Warner Bros. and operated by their Studio Tours division. It is located within W ...

'', 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

road-building has resulted in Watford being close to several motorway junctions on both the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which ...

and the

M25 London Orbital Motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

. Watford is served by a number of different companies, including

Arriva Kent Thameside Arriva Kent Thameside is a bus operator based in North-West Kent, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva. The company operates services in Northfleet, Gravesend & Dartford as part of the Arriva Southern Counties division from their Northfleet ...

, Arriva Shires & Essex, Carousel,

London Sovereign London Sovereign is a bus company in North London. It is a subsidiary of RATP Dev Transit London and operates buses under contract to Transport for London. Company history London Sovereign can trace its roots back to independent Borehamwood ...

, Lucketts of Watford,

Mullanys Coaches JJ Kavanagh and Sons is Ireland's largest private coach operator. It was founded in 1919 by J.J. Kavanagh with the operation of a service connecting Urlingford with Kilkenny City. The company has expanded greatly since the 1990s with the take ...

, Red Eagle Buses, Red Rose Travel, Sullivan Buses, Uno, and Vale Travel. Oyster Cards are accepted on TfL routes 142 (towards Brent Cross) and

258 Year 258 ( CCLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tuscus and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 1011 '' Ab urbe cond ...

(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 Green Line route 724 is a bus service currently operated by Arriva Southern Counties as part of the Green Line Coaches network. It runs on an orbital route round the north and western outskirts of London between Harlow and Heathrow Terminal 5, ...

connects Watford Junction station and the town centre to

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

on weekdays, with a service once every two hours at weekends and on bank holidays. Regular bus services run between Watford and

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...

, but not directly to Luton Airport. Direct train services run from Watford Junction Station to

Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...

Elstree Airfield London Elstree Aerodrome is an operational general aviation aerodrome located in Elstree, situated east of Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Elstree Aerodrome has Civil Aviation Authority Ordinary Licence P486, which allows flights for the pu ...

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 The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...

Watford is served by five railway stations and a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

station. is on the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

with trains from to the Midlands, the northwest and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. 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 West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

which run to and Milton Keynes and the cross-London Southern service to via . Two all-stations services terminate at Watford Junction: the suburban service operated by

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

which runs to Euston; and the

Abbey Line The Abbey Line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster C ...

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 Watford tube station is the terminus of a Metropolitan line branch line in the north-western part of the London Underground in Zone 7. The station opened in 1925. Location and description The station is in the Cassiobury area, on Cassiob ...

is the terminus of the Watford branch of

's Metropolitan line. The station is located outside the centre of Watford, close to Cassiobury Park. Watford railways

Grand Union Canal look east near Watford

Watford is on the main

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 The River Gade is a river running almost entirely through Hertfordshire. It rises from a spring in the chalk of the Chiltern Hills at Dagnall, Buckinghamshire and flows through Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, then along the west side of Watfo ...

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 Routes 6 and 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 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 ...

'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 Watford Gap services are motorway services on the M1 motorway in Northamptonshire, England. They opened on 2 November 1959, the same day as the M1, making them one of the oldest motorway services in Britain. The facilities were originally mana ...

but current use may refer to either Watford or the Watford Gap services.

Abandoned schemes

In 2008 a proposal was made that

Regional Eurostar Regional Eurostar was a planned Eurostar train service from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom beyond London. The services would have been run using a fleet of seven ''North of London'', 14-coach British Rail Class 373/3 trai ...

services could run via Watford to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

via

Kensington Olympia Kensington (Olympia) is a combined rail and tube station in Kensington, on the edge of Central London. Services are provided by London Overground, who manage the station, along with Southern and London Underground. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. ...

. In 1999 the 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 A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...

operation and run by

. 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 The Croxley Rail Link, or the Metropolitan Line Extension, is a proposed railway engineering project in the Watford and Three Rivers districts of Hertfordshire, England, that would have connected the London Overground and the London Undergrou ...

project was approved to extend the London Underground Metropolitan line to Watford Junction by reinstating a stretch of the former

. 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 Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway l ...

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 Elizabeth Fuller (1644–1709) founded a Free School for boys and girls in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Watford schools At the end of the 17th century there was already an existing Free School at Watford, which Mrs Elizabeth Fuller of Watfor ...

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 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 Go Forward with Preparation , established = 1884 ( Single-sex) , type = partially selective academy , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Ian A. Cooksey , r_head_label = , ...

and the

Watford Grammar School for Girls Watford Grammar School for Girls (commonly abbreviated WGGS) is an academy for girls in Watford in Hertfordshire, UK. Despite its name, it is only a partially selective school, with 25% of entrants admitted on academic ability and 10% on music ...

, moved to new sites in 1907 and 1912, the building housed the Watford

Central school A central school was a selective secondary education school with a focus on technical and commercial skills in the English education system. It was positioned between the more academic grammar schools and the ordinary elementary schools where ...

, 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 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, later Reed's School, was located near

Watford Junction station 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 ...

between 1871 and 1940. The only independent secondary school in the borough is Stanborough School, a day and boarding school operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. There are several independent schools nearby, including

Purcell School The Purcell School for Young Musicians is a specialist music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal ...

, a specialist music school. All the state-funded

primary schools in Watford This article provides brief details of primary schools in the borough of Watford in Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. Some Watford children attend schools in the neighbouring boroughs of Three Rivers and Hertsmere. All of the state-funded ...

are

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

. 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, 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 and

Hertsmere Hertsmere is a local government district and borough in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other settlements in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar. The borough borders the three north London ...

district. Within this area, there are:Moving On – Applying for a Secondary or Upper School place
, Hertfordshire County Council, 2007. * 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 Parmiter's School is a co-educational state comprehensive school with academy status in Garston, Hertfordshire, close to the outskirts of North West London, England with a long history. Although the school admits pupils of all abilities it is ...

Queens' School Queens' School, near Watford, Hertfordshire, is a partially selective secondary school and sixth form with academy status. It currently is a specialist science and sports college. History The story of Queens' begins with two schools in Watf ...

Rickmansworth School Rickmansworth School in Croxley Green, Hertfordshire, is a coeducational secondary school and a sixth form with academy status for 1,400 pupils. Rickmansworth is a secondary school for boys and girls aged 11 to 18 of all academic abilities, a ...

, St Clement Danes School,

and

. * 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 Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

schools, whose intake is evenly spread: 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 and

Westfield Academy Westfield Academy (formerly Westfield Community Technology College) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in the Holywell Estate in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. Previously a community school ...

. *

Falconer School Falconer School is a secondary school catering to students with special needs (primarily learning disabilities or those diagnosed with social, emotional and mental health - SEMH difficulties). Falconer is situated in Hertfordshire and provide ...

, 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

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 West Herts College is a college for further education in Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The college has campuses in Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Kings Langley. As of 2017 the college has 5,900 students on study programmes or apprentic ...

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 The London School of Theology (LST), formerly London Bible College, is a British interdenominational evangelical theological college based in Northwood within the London Borough of Hillingdon. History During the 1930s A. J. Vereker, secreta ...

, Europe's largest evangelical theological college.

Sport

The professional football team

Watford F.C. Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. They play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club’s original foundation is 1881, aligned with that of its antecede ...

competes in the EFL Championship in the 2022-2023 season. Watford reached the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

FA Cup Finals, also finishing as league Division One (now the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

) runners-up in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. 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 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 Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

by three goals to nil. The club was relegated to the Football League Championship after a single season ( 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, 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 Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...

, with Saracens Rugby Football Club. Other sports teams include a non-League football team,

Sun Sports FC The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, which plays at The Sun Postal Sports & Social Club, the

Watford Cheetahs The Hertfordshire Cheetahs (formerly the Watford Cheetahs and Chiltern Cheetahs) are an American football team based in Watford, including a senior kitted team (contact) competing in the BAFA National Leagues (BAFANL), Under 16 and under 19 kitt ...

, an American football team which played home games at Fullerians RFC between 2008 and 2012, Glen Rovers, who play both hurling and Gaelic football, and Watford Town Cricket Club.

Notable people

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the

of Watford.

Individuals

* Rt Hon Lord Clarendon : 28 July 1924. * Rt Hon Lord Hemingford : 22 March 1943. * Sir Elton John : 6 October 1977. * Sir Raphael Tuck: 15 November 1980. *

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

: 25 June 2001. *

Luther Blissett Luther Loide Blissett (born 1 February 1958) is a former professional footballer and manager who played for the England national team during the 1980s. Born in Jamaica, Blissett played as a striker, and is best known for his time at Watford, ...

: 18 October 2021.

Military Units

1st East Anglian Regiment The 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. History As a result of the Defence Review, the 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment amalgamated on ...

: 1959. *

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating i ...

: 1964.

References

External links

Watford Borough Council''Watford Observer'' newspaperWatford ColosseumWatford Palace TheatreWatford MuseumWatford, HertfordshireA 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 CentreFamous WatfordiansCassiobury Park
{{authority control Towns in Hertfordshire Market towns in Hertfordshire Districts of Hertfordshire Unparished areas in Hertfordshire Boroughs in England Former civil parishes in Hertfordshire