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 Ag ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

, 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 The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the Midlands to London, b ...

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. 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 and the royal palace at

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The villa ...

. 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 northea ...

in the 16th century. This was partly rebuilt in the 17th century and another

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

was built at The Grove. The

in 1798 and the London and Birmingham Railway in 1837 resulted in Watford's rapid growth, with paper-making mills such as

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at Croxley, influencing the development of printing in the town. Two brewers, Benskins and Sedgwicks, amalgamated and flourished in the town until their closure in the late 20th century. Hertfordshire County Council 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) (his ...

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 The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England use ...

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 ...

is the local authority with the Mayor of Watford 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 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 ...

for "waet" (full of water – the area was marshy), or "wath" (hunting), and ford. St Albans Abbey claimed rights to the manor of Casio (then called "Albanestou"), which included Watford, dating from a grant by King Offa in AD 793. Cassiobury Park by Kip and Knyff

The name Watford is first mentioned in an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

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 St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman ...

to the east and into the Chiltern Hills along the valley of the River Chess to the west. The town grew modestly, assisted by travellers passing through to Berkhamsted Castle and the royal palace at

. 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 Earls of Essex, and The Grove the seat of the Earls of Clarendon. In 1762, Sparrows Herne Turnpike Road 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'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implement ...

approximately followed the route of the original A41 road. The location of a toll house 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 Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel '' Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

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

(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 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 trains 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 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 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; 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 an ...

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 an ...

'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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 ...

Ernő Goldfinger, the designer Robin Day 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 a ...

, 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 Lambretta () is the brand name of mainly motor scooters, initially manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti. The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named ...

in the 1960s. The de Havilland factory at Leavesden was responsible for the manufacture of the Mosquito fighter bomber and the Halifax bomber 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 Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. 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 resident ...

in the

. The Watford subdivision of the Greater London Urban Area, 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 Hertfordshire County Council. Watford is one of only 15 authorities in England and Wales headed by a directly elected mayor. Dorothy Thornhill was the first directly-elected mayor of Watford, 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

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, Novgorod, and

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Unami language, 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 colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North ...

. The council award an honorary status of Freedom of the Borough 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 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 was established for the town. The local board district covered part of the parish of Watford and part of the neighbouring parish of Bushey. 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 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 local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shire counties'') in a two-tier arrangement. Non- ...

with

borough status Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, ...

Economy

Watford is a major regional centre in the northern home counties. 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, 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, 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 identified ...

, 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, Camelot Group, Bathstore, and Caversham Finance (BrightHouse). Watford is also the UK base of various multi-nationals including Hilton Worldwide, TotalEnergies,

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, ...

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation ( 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 retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costc ...

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 ta ...

, Vinci and Beko. Both the 2006

and the 2013 Bilderberg Conference, took place at The Grove hotel. The town was home to the

Scammell Lorries Scammell Lorries Limited was a British manufacturer of trucks, particularly specialist and military off-highway vehicles, between 1921 and 1988. History Scammell started as a late- Victorian period wheelwright and coach-building business, G S ...

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 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.

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 I ...

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

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. The chapel contains a number of large, ornate marble tombs and memorials dating from the 16th century and later, and was described by 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 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 movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. 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 Designe ...

. 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 opened in 1908 and is the only producing theatre in

. 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), 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, 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 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 Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...

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 The 2020 Shoot Out (officially the 2020 BetVictor Snooker Shoot Out) was a professional ranking snooker tournament held from 20 to 23 February 2020 at the Watford Colosseum in Watford, England. It was the 13th ranking event of the 2019–20 sno ...

professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in ...

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 Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

, 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 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 an ...

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

. Post

road-building has resulted in Watford being close to several motorway junctions on both the M1 motorway and the M25 London Orbital Motorway. 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, Lucketts of Watford, Mullanys Coaches, 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 condi ...

(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 an ...

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

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. Watford Junction stn Overground signage

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 with trains from to the Midlands, the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. 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 Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

and the cross-London

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

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 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 Cassio ...

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 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'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 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 and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

via Kensington Olympia. 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 al ...

operation and run by Hertfordshire County Council. 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 Undergroun ...

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 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 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 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 musica ...

, 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 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 i ...

, a specialist music school. All the state-funded primary schools in Watford are 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

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 Bushey in Hertsmere district. Within this area, there are:Moving On – Applying for a Secondary or Upper School place
, Hertfordshire County Council, 2007. *

partially selective school In England, a partially selective school is one of a few dozen state-funded secondary schools that select a proportion of their intake by ability or aptitude, permitted as a continuation of arrangements that existed prior to 1997. Though treated ...

s, 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 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, alt ...

St Clement Danes School St Clement Danes School is a mixed academy school in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire. Admissions St Clement Danes is a partially selective school, providing education to students aged 11 (Year 7) through to 18 (Year 13). Most students are admitted ...

, Watford Grammar School for Boys and

. *

Bushey Meads School Bushey Meads School (also known as "BMS") is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England. The school forms part of the Bushey St James Trust, in partnership with Little Reddings ...

, 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 a ...

. * Falconer School, a school for boys with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The partially selective schools and

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

. 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 2022-2023 season. Watford reached the 1984 and 2019 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. 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 ...

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, with 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 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 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 : 25 June 2001. * Luther Blissett : 18 October 2021.

Military Units

* 1st East Anglian Regiment: 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 ...

: 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