An Introduction To Watford

Watford is a town in the county of Hertfordshire in the South of England

. It lies just under 20 miles north of London but is not part of greater London, although it is often mistaken as a suburb of the capital. The population of the town of Watford is around 80,000 with the district home to around 120,000 and it was at the time of the last census the 47th largest town in England. The name Watford originates from the Anglo-Saxon word for Ford.

A Brief History of Watford

Literature of Watfords existence goes back to 1007. In the Doomsday book, though not mentioned by name, it is part of the area of Cashio, the area where Watford town hall now stands. The first significant settlements were in the 1100s around the time that the Abbott of St Albans was allowed to hold a weekly market on land he owned. He was also responsible for St Marys Church being built, which was the towns first church and still stands to this day. It was built in 1230 and extensively restored in 1871. Although this period was the real beginnings of Watford there is evidence of people travelling through the area prior to this on their way from London to the West Midlands. A road was built for this purpose, as was a railways and canal later on. Until the industrial revolution Watford was mainly an agricultural area. During the industrial revolution the Grand Union Canal was built in 1798. A key point in the towns future was the building of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1837. The railway station was built to the north of Watford, outside of the town centre. The Watford High Street Railway has been built in the centre of town since. The railway travels under the town centre, the reason being that they originally wanted to keep the smoke from stream trains away from some of the estates at the request of land owners.

Transport Links

Watford has excellent railway and road links. By rail there is a direct line to London Euston with a journey time of around 20 minutes. The town is close to two of the UKs major motorways, the M1 and M25. Driving time is around 6 minutes to the M1 and around 12 minutes to the M25. Both London Heathrow and Luton airports are around a 30 minute drive away with regular bus and coach services to both of these. Within the town there is a large network of cycle lanes with a larger than average percentage of the population using these to cycle to work.

Industry and Shopping

Many large corporations have bases in Watford. This includes the head offices of companies including Weatherspoons, Camelot and British Waterways. The main shopping area is the High Street and the Harlequin Shopping Centre which is just off it.

Watford Football Club

Nicknamed the Hornets, Watford Football Club began as Watford Rovers in 1881 and first reached the football league in 1920. They moved to their current home, Vicarage Road, in 1922 which has a capacity of 17,000. The clubs most successful period was during the 1980s when they were owned by Elton John and managed by Graham Taylor who later went on to manage the English national team. During this time they rose from the fourth division to the first division, the top league at the time. Their greatest moment came in 1984 when they reached the FA Cup final before losing 2-1 to Everton.

Andrew Marshall

by: expo09

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