About Watford, Hertfordshire and its neighbours

A market town that grew into a busy hub

Watford sits in south west Hertfordshire, just outside the Greater London boundary. Many people know it for the M1, the M25 and fast trains into London, but the town started life as a small market settlement and that character still shows if you know where to look.

Watford Borough Council traces the market back to the 12th century, when royal permission was granted to the Abbot of St Albans, as lord of the manor, to hold a market in the town. Livestock was sold on Tuesdays and general goods on Saturdays, and a market has adapted and carried on in the town centre ever since.

The Pond and the High Street

At the top of the High Street, the Pond is one of the most recognisable spots in town. The Museum of Watford explains that it is actually a natural feature, once used for watering livestock on market days, and old photographs show how much the scene around it has changed.

Walk down the High Street from the Pond and you pass from the leafier, older end towards the shopping centre, St Mary's Church and the lower High Street, which is still lined with older buildings worth a second look.

The Town Hall and a new home for the museum

Watford Town Hall, a Grade II listed building from the 1930s, stands at the northern end of the town centre beside the Colosseum. The council is moving the Museum of Watford and its collections into the Town Hall, supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund money, and the museum says its previous building is closed while that move takes place.

Getting around

Watford Junction is the main station, with services into London and north along the West Coast route, and the town has further stations on local lines. Buses link the centre with Garston, Leavesden, Abbots Langley, Bushey and Rickmansworth. Check the operators' own journey planners for current times and fares.

The places around Watford

This directory covers Watford and the communities that look to it every day: Bushey, Oxhey, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Abbots Langley, Garston, Leavesden, Kings Langley, Carpenders Park and South Oxhey. Some sit within Watford borough and others in neighbouring districts, but for shopping, work and finding a good tradesperson they are all part of the same local patch.