Watford Rural is a civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the Three Rivers

Three Rivers (district)

Three Rivers is a local government district in Hertfordshire in the East of England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth.It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Rickmansworth Urban District and Chorleywood Urban District with part of Watford Rural District...

 district of, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The parish covers the areas known as South Oxhey

South Oxhey

South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London.-History:...

 and Carpenders Park

Carpenders Park

Carpenders Park is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London...

, which although part of the Watford

Watford

Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...

 urban area, do not form part of the borough of Watford. Despite its name it is largely urbanised, with a population of 20,250 according to the 2001 census.

The parish was formed in 1894 from part of the ancient parish of Watford, which was subdivided to form new civil parishes of Watford Rural and Urban. It was in Watford Rural District

Watford Rural District

Not to be confused with the Watford Rural civil parish.Watford was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It originally consisted of contiguous land to the west, north and east of Watford, which was a separate urban district...

 (covering a larger area), and then became part of Three Rivers district in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972

Local Government Act 1972

The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

.