26 Facts About Watford

Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.

International conferences and sporting events have taken place in Watford, including the 2006 World Golf Championship, the 2013 Bilderberg Conference and the 2019 NATO summit which all took place at The Grove.

Watford became an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894 and a municipal borough by grant of a charter in 1922.

Watford stands where the River Colne could be crossed on an ancient trackway from the southeast to the northwest.

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.

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Watford remained an agricultural community with some cottage industry for many centuries.

Watford was the biggest printing centre in the world and many advances in printing were made in Watford.

Watford developed on the River Colne in southern Hertfordshire, England, 16 miles northwest of central London.

Watford has two tiers of local government, at district and county level: Watford Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council.

Dorothy Thornhill was the first directly-elected mayor of Watford, elected in May 2002 and re-elected in May 2006 and May 2010.

The old parish of Watford was therefore split, with the part of the parish outside the urban district becoming the parish of Watford Rural with effect from the first parish meeting on 4 December 1894.

Watford became a municipal borough on 18 October 1922 when it was granted a charter of incorporation.

Under the Local Government Act 1972 Watford kept the same boundaries, but changed from being a municipal borough to a non-metropolitan district with borough status.

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

Watford is the UK base of various multi-nationals including Hilton Worldwide, TotalEnergies, TK Maxx, Costco, JJ Kavanagh and Sons, Vinci and Beko.

Post World War II 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 five railway stations and a London Underground station.

Watford Junction is on the West Coast Main Line with trains from London Euston to the Midlands, the northwest and Scotland.

Watford is on the main Grand Union Canal route northwards from 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.

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".

Scheme to introduce light rail to Watford was conceived in 2009 when it was proposed that the Abbey Line should be converted to tram-train operation and run by Hertfordshire County Council.

Free School closed in 1882, and its endowment contributed to founding the Watford Endowed Schools, which provided secondary education and charged fees.

Watford reached the 1984 and 2019 FA Cup Finals, finishing as league Division One runners-up in 1983.

Watford won the then Nationwide Division Two championship in 1998, then the following season reached the Premier League.

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Watford still maintains his links with Watford as Honorary Life President.