Ware is a town of around 18,000 people in Hertfordshire, England, close to Hertford (the county town).

The town lies on the north-south A10 road which is partly shared with the east-west A414 (for Hertford to the west and Harlow to the east). There is a large viaduct over the River Lea at Kings Meads. The £3.6m two-mile bypass opened on 1976-08-17. At the north end of the bypass is the Wodson Park Sports Centre, with an athletics track[, and the Marriott Hanbury Manor Hotel and Country Club. The former route of the A10 is now the A1170. The train station is on the Hertford East Branch Line and operated by National Express East Anglia and is only single track

Features

It has a fourteenth-century priory, now the local council offices and a conference centre. Recent restoration work has shown that the 'priory' – it was really a friary – dates from the thirteenth century. Opposite the priory is the large fourteenth century parish church of St. Mary .It is known for its elaborate font with large carved stone figures. The town is also famous for its many 18th Century riverside gazebos, several of which have been restored recently. It is also famous for the Great Bed of Ware, which was mentioned by Shakespeare and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Ware is also mentioned in the Canterbury Tales.

Today the town's main employer is GlaxoSmithKline which has a large plant in the town, but there are also many other small factories. It is also a commuting town for London, with regular rail services between Ware railway station and London Liverpool Street.

Ware is home to Scott's Grotto, built for John Scott, an 18th Century poet who owned Amwell House from 1768. The grotto, the largest in the UK, is a series of chambers extending over 65ft into the chalk hillside. The chambers are decorated with shells, stones such as flint and coloured glass. The Grotto is owned by East Herts District Council and was restored in 1990 by the Ware society.

During two weeks of the summer, Ware Council holds the 'Ware Festival' culminating in the 'Rock at the Priory' a one day open air Music Festival that grows each year in popularity.

The motto on the town's coat-of-arms is a pun on the town's name; 'Cave' is Latin for 'beware'

Local Businesses
MCP Property Services LTD for all your heating and bathrooms requirements (GORGI registered)