Holy Rood Church, Watford (/ˈwɒtfərd/ ⓘ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne.

Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and breweries.

The Grand Junction Canal in 1798 and the London and Birmingham Railway in 1837 resulted in Watford's rapid growth, with paper-making mills such as John Dickinson at Croxley, influencing the development of printing in the town.

[3] 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.

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 to the west.

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.

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.

[10] Watford's original railway station opened in 1837 on the west side of St Albans Road, a small, single-storey red-brick building.

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.

As of the 2021 census, Watford's religious profile roughly reflected that of England and Wales, with a larger Muslim and Hindu population than the average.

[40] In 1835, Watford became the centre of a poor law union, and a workhouse was built in 1836–1837 at 60 Vicarage Road (then called Hagden Lane).

Hertfordshire County Council designates Watford and Stevenage to be its major sub-regional centres, heading its list of preferred sites for retail development.

[52] Carrying forward £4.5 billion of debt into 2020,[53] the company was not able to survive the retail downturn due to the COVID-19 crisis, and went into administration in June 2020.

[55] 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, Costco, JJ Kavanagh and Sons, Vinci, Beko and TeleAdapt.

Mr Colbeck was a renowned local architect, and designed Cheslyn House; he and his wife created the original 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.

[12] 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.

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".

Built in 1890 by John Francis Bentley, the architect responsible for Westminster Cathedral in London, it is noted as a particularity fine example of Gothic Revival architecture.

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.

[75] The Colosseum is also an important venue for boxing matches with heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury building on his reputation, shortly after turning professional, in 2009.

[76] The venue also has seen some important and highly popular plays taking place and it regularly holds events in support of charities.

[77] 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, Sir Joshua Reynolds, William Blake and Jacob Epstein.

[80] Watford is served by a number of different bus operators, including Arriva Kent Thameside, Arriva Shires & Essex, Carousel, London Sovereign, Lucketts of Watford, Mullanys Coaches, Red Eagle Buses, Red Rose Travel, Sullivan Buses, Uno and Vale Travel.

The station is mainly served by frequent suburban and regional trains operated by London Northwestern, which run to Tring and Milton Keynes and the cross-London Southern service to Clapham Junction via Shepherd's Bush.

[90] 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 operation and run by Hertfordshire County Council.

"[4] 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 addition to those seeking selective places, all applicants to Bushey Meads and Queens' School are required to take the tests, so they are taken by the majority of Year 6 children in the area.