Watford Gap

Watford Gap

Watford Gap and the small village of Watford located here, is the traditional crossing point on the old east-west coaching route across England. Here, a natural gap in the hills affords the easiest route between the Midlands and East Anglia, as well as linking to the important north-south route provided by Watling Street. An important coaching inn was located here, and the building still stands, named as the Watford Gap pub. In recent times (2000) this was closed for business, and in need of renovation.

Nowadays, the village lends its name to the nearby Watford Gap service station on the M1 motorway. Many modern communication routes pass through this narrow gap, in addition to the Roman Watling Street (A5) - the M1, the West Coast Main Line, and the Grand Union Canal. Engineers throughout history have found this to be the most natural course through this region.

The village is often mistaken for the much larger town of Watford, about 50 miles south, especially when people use the phrase "North of Watford (Gap)" to mean an imaginary division of the country into northern and southern halves.