Watford in 1838
Watford is in Cashio hundred, 15 miles from London, on the road to Aylesbury, near the Coln. The parish comprehends 10,980 acres, and is divided into four hamlets : the population in 1831 was 5,293, more than one-third agricultural. The town, which is neat, consists principally of one main street, about a mile in length, near the centre of which stands the church. There are considerable silk-mills, and also a paper-mill. The market is on Tuesday. The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of St. Albans and diocese of London, of the clear yearly value of £730, with a glebe-house. There were in the parish, in 1833, an endowed school with 60 children, another endowed school with 11 boys, two schools with 70 boys and as many girls, supported by the earl of Essex, thirteen other day-schools with 279 children, and five Sunday-schools with 419 children.
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