Watford - History
The Watford Coat of Arms
The Watford Coat of Arms is divided into several sections that represent facets of the town. The cross at the top are the Arms of St Albans (a Roman founded City, about 10km north of Watford), to mark it's close association with Watford. The animals on either side of it are the "Harts" taken from the Hertfordshire Coat of Arms, the county which Watford is a part.
The fasces (a Roman bundle of elm or birch rods, containing an axe) in the centre of the lower half denote magisterial authority. Some people refer to the axe as "Wata's Axe" - A Saxon man's name rumoured to have founded the town.
The wavy blue and white lines represent the ford over the River Colne that used to be at the bottom of the High Street. The two escallop shells, either side, are taken from the Arms of the Earl of Clarendon, Charter Mayor.
Finally, the motto is taken from Virgil's Aeneid VI, 95:
"tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito, quam tua te Fortuna
sinet"
"Yield not thou to ills, but go forth to face them more boldly
than thy fortune shall allow thee."
There are several theories for the origins of the name 'Watford'. The
'ford' part almost certainly referred to the ford over the River Colne.
'Wat' may have come from 'Wet ford', a deep ford which wetted it's users,
'Wade ford', deep enough to have to wade,
Wattle ford, a ford protected by wattles,
Watling ford, because the road was a branch of the Roman Watling Street, or
Wata's ford, a Saxon man's name, or
Wath ford, wath Saxon for hunting.
The first recorded mention of Watford was in the will of Ethelgifu (wife of Edmund, a Saxon King, grandson of Alfred the Great) in 946. Before that time, Watford was part of the Manor of Cashio, which is mentioned in the Doomsday Book.
Agriculture was the most important activity in the area and has been until fairly recent times. There is evidence in the Doomsday Book for four corn grinding mills. In about 1170 the grant of a market was made. Malting and wool were also very important in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
By 1792 silk spinning became one of the principle industries in the town, with at least three mills.
Watford peasants were among those who marched to St Albans in 1381 as part of the Wat Tyler uprising. During the War of the Roses, Henry VI stayed in the town the night before his march on St Albans in 1455. Watford became the property of Henry VIII in 1539 and passed through several hands eventually being bought by the fourth Earl of Essex in 1770.
During the Civil War, the town sided with parliament, against the crown from 1642 to 1652. There was one small skirmish in the area when the King's troops from Uxbridge, met those of the Earl of Essex, a Parliamentary General.
The town was described by Daniel Defoe in 1724 as:
"Very long, having but one street"
This had changed very little up to the 1849, as this map shows:
The map is on the same scale as the main map. For the full screen version click here, or click on the map itself.
The first recorded school in Watford was in 1575. In 1640 Francis
Combe gave 10 pounds a year for a free school, which lasted until
1832. By 1704 another free school was established in
St Mary's Churchyard
, to cope with the increased population, which was now
about 3000.
The railway from London to Birmingham arrived in 1837, with the only
station being what is now Watford
Junction. Before this, it used to take
four hours to get to London by coach along the turnpike road (the
end marker of which is still standing next to
Bushey Arches . Queens Road and later
Clarendon Road were built to give access to the station from the
main street. The railway enabled people to commute to London and
thus the town's population grew at a rapid rate up to the end of
the 19th century, especially around the
town centre and the Nascot Estate, where the Watford School
of Music was established in 1877.
Important town announcements used to be made from the balcony of the Essex Arms (a Hotel in the High Street that closed in 1930, that was almost opposite the end of Market Street, now Walker and Hall jewellers). It was also used as a magistrates' court.
In 1905 the Palace Theatre was opened (and then rebuilt in 1911). Before this performances had been given in a marquee where the theatre now stands. Other places of entertainment included the 'Agricultural Hall' to watch 'The Magic Lantern' and the Assembly Hall in the old public library for chamber music. In the 1950s Watford had seven cinemas.
Since the 1900s many new industries sprang up in the town, namely
aircraft (at Rolls Royce - Leavsden, now a film studio), brewing
(Benskins - in the lower High Street, which is now the
Watford museum),
chemicals, electrical engineering, other engineering, food, glass
(Watford Crystal), instruments, laundries, leather, photographic
goods, paper (Croxley Stationery) and printing (Odhams and Sun printers).
Until recently, printing (and it's associated industries, such as paper and printing inks) were the biggest industry in the town, and was known throughout the world. It was started by John Peacock in 1893 when he set up his printing establishment where the High Street Station now stands.
Watford has made large contributions to three wars, namely the South African,
(where the town provided a company of Herts Yeomanry) and the two World Wars.
Two armaments factories were set up in the 1914-18 war, when 818
Watford citizens lost their lives. After the war, voluntary subscriptions
were used to set up a new hospital called the 'Peace Memorial', next to
the Town Hall.
Three memorial statues were placed in front of it, but were moved
to the top of the High Street, when the road was widened. Sadly the
hospital closed about 10 years ago, but there are now plans to reopen it
as a hospice, again from voluntary donations.
During the 1939-45 war, many allied service personnel were trained in the
town, which suffered 998 air raid alerts, in which
58 houses were destroyed
and many more seriously damaged.
If you'd like to know more about the town's history, why not visit
Watford Museum?