Chorleywood the Local Government Act 1894 created districts as subdivisions of the newly created county councils, Chorleywood became part of the Watford Rural District, which encircled Watford. In 1913, the town was separated from Watford Rural District to become Chorleywood Urban District. In the early 1960s, researchers at the British Baking Industries Research Association in Chorleywood improved upon an earlier American bread-making process. This resulted in the Chorleywood Bread Process which is now used in over 80% of commercial bread production throughout the UK. In the 1973 BBC Television documentary, "Metro-land", Sir John Betjeman described Chorleywood as "essential Metro-land". In 1974,
Chorleywood House Estate married Anne Hewett Osmond and they had one daughter. In 1881 he bought the adjoining Roughwood Estate and then Blacketts farm. He then proceeded to develop the whole area as one property. In 1887 he built Roughwood Park and moved there with his family. Chorleywood House was sold to Harding Cox. Harding Edward de Fonblanque Cox (1854-1944) was born in 1854 in Bloomsbury. His father Edward William Cox was a lawyer and very successful publisher of several journals and newspapers. He amassed a large fortune and when he died in 1879 his son Harding at the age of only 15