Have you ever walked along the High Street and wondered what era each of the different styles of architecture was from? Or wandered through a churchyard and wanted to know the stories behind the names on the tombs? Then Watford Museum’s new series of guided walking tours will be right up your street.

The walks will be led by the museum’s learning officer Gemma Meek and collections officer Luke Clark, and will explore the architectural and social history of Watford’s High Street, and you can choose to go on a High Street Trail, a Ghosts and Legends Trail, or a Victorian Trail.

High Street Trail

The Free School opposite St Mary’s Church was built in 1704 by Mrs Elizabeth Fuller ‘for the teaching of 40 poor boys and 14 poor girls of Watford in good literature and manners’. Mrs Fuller was a three-time widower who established and ran the school in the early years, her name visible on a plaque above the doorway. In the mid-1800s, the boys school uniform was knickerbockers, grey breeches and waistcoats with broad brass buttons; the girls wore a lindsey-wolsey dress with a cap and check apron.

Victorian Watford Trail

A legend popular with Victorian tourists was that of the Fig Tree Tomb in St Mary’s. The tomb was that of an atheist who had argued throughout life whether there was a god or life after death. To end the argument, he asked to be buried with something that could germinate – if it grew from the heart and out of the tomb it would prove life after death. Of course, a beautiful fig tree grew from the tomb, supposedly proving God’s existence! It was found in the late 19th Century – it had grown from the vault rather than the tomb.

Ghosts and Legends Trail

Watford’s High Street Station dates to 1913, and was a vital transport link to the success of the town. During planning, the Earls of Essex and Clarendon did not want the railway going through the Cassiobury estate, requiring the line to be re-routed. The railway route included a tunnel through part of an old churchyard near Watford, resulting in a disturbance of the dead residents. Coffins mysteriously fell open and human remains tumbled onto workers below!

  • All trails begin at Watford Museum, Lower High Street, Watford, starting on June 14, from 12pm to 1.30pm. Details: 01923 232297, watfordmuseum.org.uk