Archaeological finds of pottery, tiles and coins at Loudwater Farm indicate that it may be the site of a villa and water mill occupied by Germanic settlers in the 4th and 5th centuries AD.[5] In the mid-19th century a paper mill was established in Loudwater using new technology developed by George Tidcombe.[6] The mill was still standing in 2008.[7]
The present estate was built over approximately 20 years from 1939 on plots from the grounds of Loudwater House (see below) and now is a conservation area.[8] There are approximately 450 dwellings, and there is no pub, shop or community focus, but there is a residents' association.[1]
In 2002, nearly a quarter of the residents were millionaires, the highest concentration of any community in the United Kingdom.[9] The average house price in April 2020 was £1,620,296. [10]
As of April 2020[update] the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire is Robert Voss CBE, a resident of Loudwater with his wife Celia. [11]
Loudwater House
Loudwater House in Loudwater, which had a park of 150 acres (60 ha),[12] contained a pioneering central heating system in 1837.[13] It was later occupied by Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda, MP.[12] The house was converted into eleven flats in the mid-20th century.[14]
^"Papers assess Blair's diplomatic tour". BBC News. 6 January 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2009. The place with the highest number of millionaires is not the London borough of Kensington or Mayfair but the village of Loudwater near Watford in Hertfordshire, where almost one in four people have a seven figure fortune.
