A Topper

 Thomas Smith, the owner of the printing firm of the same name which launched into the locality, opened his works (now Morrison's) and forever is associated with naming the district after the Fleet Street district from which the business derived.  Thus we know Fleetville.

Two blocks of nearby land had remained undeveloped at Thomas' death in 1904, and it was left for Smith's sons to manage.  One was land between Royal Road and Tess Road (now Woodstock Road South).  On the latter corner, where is still the Post Office, was – for a fleeting moment – a little cinema; but that is another story, told in detail on the accompanying website.

When Dr Frederick Smythe first arrived he occupied 209 Hatfield Road. In 1930
the property included ground floor rooms, one of which may have been a
waiting room and consulting room.

On the other corner was an impressive brick detached house constructed soon after 1930. In that year arrived "the local doctor".  He was Dr Frederick Smythe, in the terminology of the day physician and surgeon.  He took up residence in Bycullah Terrace, and presumably had his consulting room there, on the ground floor.  Today, the premises is EHS, between Simmons and the Convenience Shop.

The Hatfield Road elevation of Fleet House, although its address has always been in Royal 
Road.

The Royal Road elevation, originally the front, as indicated by the newer brickwork which
had been the porched front door when first built.  On the far left is the slimline detached
house constructed in the garden of Fleet House.

Dr Smythe lost little time in purchasing a plot of land from the Smith estate, the afore-mentioned location on the corner of Royal Road and Hatfield Road, and had the brick detached house constructed for his consulting room and domestic accommodation.  There was even space for a small garden and a pleasant green space behind the boundary wall. The front garden is today far more enclosed by foliage than the managed beds of the early post-war period. Whether Dr Smythe named his property or whether it was applied later I'm not certain, but it was certainly known as Fleet House; why not, for it was in Fleetville?

There came a time after World War Two, when circumstances changed.  From a single household it became two households with its division into a ground floor flat and one on the first floor accessed via an external stairway.  Further, on the garden in Royal Road was built a slim detached house with an equally slim driveway for a car.  Thus there were three households on the same original plot.

The elevations and plans appearing on St Albans District Council's planning web portal to indicate
what was was proposed in 2023.
COURTESY ST ALBANS DISTRICT COUNCIL

For those of us who have walked along Hatfield Road recently we have noticed a board heralding imminent works.  With some surprise the lovely house quickly lost its roof, not in a storm but by careful removal.

The arrival of two prefabricated sections which were lifted on the original decapitated building
to form a new upper floor and a third flat for the site.
COURTESY VIC FOSTER

The road has re-opened the traffic cleared and work continues to enable a fourth household to
occupy this corner plot in Fleetville.
COURTESY VIC FOSTER

And on a day in late September 2024 there arrived a crane and a lengthy low loader which reversed into Royal Road – and not without creating some congestion.  Aboard the vehicles were sections of a third floor to Fleet House, pre-built timber sections, lifted into position.  Thus Fleet House, in one day, changed from a two floor house with a pitched roof into a box of three floors of not much greater height.  Access to first and the new second floor flats are both external.

We wish the new inhabitants well, as they enjoy their view over the recreation ground – and Morrisons!

Ladder Jobs

 The following roads are often referred to as a group, the ladder roads: Blandford Road, Glenferrie Road, Sandfield Road and Harlesden Road.  Although it is often assumed they were all developed as a single building estate under the ownership of Horace Slade, the straw hat and cardboard box manufacturer, only three fell into this group.  Blandford Road was developed separately by Jacob Reynolds (of Heath Farm) and H J Skelton.

Of course, there was a much shorter parallel road: Laurel Road, and others further east, Royal and Tess roads but I haven't included these.

To discover more about how the four roads began after the land was acquired in 1898 I had made use of the early almanacs and street directories, but these don't always publish the correct timescales with the consequent delays and inaccuracies in publication.  For the purpose of this article I left the 1901 census alone as this survey would have come along far too soon to provide an accurate picture of occupancy.  Consequently, I gained an overview of the rate of development by means of the directories and the precision of the 1911 census following a decade of growth on the estate.

Blandford Road came to life on the east side along half of its length in a single block completed c1903 and most of the rest left lying green until c1908.  The west side remained unbuilt until the middle of the decade.  Now, let's see whether Mr Slade's estate was any different.

Although we are reminded of housebuilding all over the place in a continuous development, that leads us to a false conclusion.  While there was certainly work proceeding in all of the roads most of the time the focus was limited to a small number of dwellings at a time, probably limited to the availability of sufficient skills building trades employees.  The pattern was very similar to Blandford with building work being concentrated firstly at the Hatfield Road end and the higher numbers left until the middle of the decade.

Much of Sandfield's building work was more spread out, with a few homes followed by plots left empty for a number of years, and unlike the previous two roads, plots at the Hatfield Road end were left empty beyond the end of the decade or even until the 1930s.  One plot on the corner of Brampton Road even remained a green patch until c1960 – it had been identified and reserved for a general shop, but eventually became a detached house.  The shop did arrive, but was located on the corner of Harlesden and Burnham roads instead.

Of this group of roads it was Harlesden which shown the quickest and shortest build period.  Activity began by 1900 and almost all homes were completed and occupied by 1903.  The pattern of occupation throughout the estate seemed to be dictated through a combination of distance from the the park (i.e. Clarence Park and the town), size of plot, and in two of the roads closeness to Hatfield Road.  Where the opportunities arose homes for rental were available at lower rents and on weekly terms, rather than monthly.

So, who was living in these streets during the first decade of the twentieth century?  As might be expected two occupations shares the top spot: railway work and printing.  The growth and popularity of the Midland Railway had encouraged a number of homes to be in build  during the 1880s and 1890s where commuters were close enough to walk to the Midland Station, the Midland Railway employed men to maintain and fire the locomotives for journeys beginning locally; and of course a considerably number of trained and skilled locomotive drivers – the term engine driver became a popular term.

There was a necessity for offices of clerks making out and recording details of tickets creating timetables, and no doubt recording employment details and freight loads.  All four roads had a fair number of employees working on the railway, some in supervisory roles could be detected in the larger properties further west.

And yes, the same can be said for tenants in the printing industry, and no doubt all had local work at the two Smith's works – Orford Smith quickly becoming the Sally Army building at Campfield.  The many skills in the industry were represented on the estate, in machinery maintenance, paper, compositing, proof reading and distribution.  Again there was evidence of more highly skilled employment and supervisory work in Blandford and Glenferrie roads.

1911 would be the last census that would identify the number of printing employees compared with railway operatives; the impending war from 1914 affected this trade more heavily than in rail transport.

Beyond these two industries other occupations were more widely spread and varied.  Two residents were employed in the prison until that closed; carriers, no doubt for local carriage; at least five residents worked in the GPO (post office); a number of tailors, not only those from Nicholson's coat factory in Sutton Road; naturally there were a number of brickies and joiners given the quantity of building work in this part of St Albans.  Engineers, perhaps described more vaguely what their work involved, but one was at the electric arc lighting factory in Campfield.

The ladder roads gave home to a wide variety of employment, and no doubt this would increase and change over the following decades, to include retail, an increase in law, property and banking jobs.  The betterment of wages would begin to alter the mix from rental to purchased homes, particularly when landlords decided to cash in their investments and look for potential house owners.  Enter a new style of banking with the Mutual or Building Societies in th 1930s.

Hills and Ill-Fitting Junctions

 I have previously illustrated in this blog that we can identify the levels of that part of Hatfield Road between The Crown and Loreto College can be dated specifically to the 1860s.  For readers who are unfamiliar with this section of road a cyclist beginning a journey at The Crown would be engaged in a steady climb to the railway bridge on the Midland Main Line Railway.  The cyclist would then, assuming the Lemsford Road traffic lights are in her/his favour, be able to freewheel some distance until the climb resumes outside the former College of Further Education – this, incidentally, is the foot of the St Albans hill along the main entry road.

The view from The Crown to the Hatfield Road Bridge.  Before the 1860s this road would have
been approximately level.  On the left ahead, Granville Road was one of the few roads
constructed to form a level junction with Hatfield Road.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

From the recreation area of Clarence Park the view shows the height of Hatfield Road above
park level opposite the Station Way junction.

Walking or riding was much more straightforward, of course, before the railway arrived because the bridge only arrived in the 1860s.  Whenever we visit Clarence Park we observe the enormous amount of spoil required to build up the road level – the road originally being at the same level as the park.

A similar remoulding of Victoria Street (then named Victoria Road for most of its length) was undertaken for the purpose of "vaulting" over the Victoria Street Bridge, before reaching the foot of St Albans hill near Lattimore Road.

Close to the bridge the relatively newly constructed Station Way has been graded back from
Hatfield Road from the much steeper gradient when it formed the station goods yards.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

It may not look very steep, but for a bicycle without gears and waiting for a green light the effort
would have been – and still is – considerable.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Pre-world war two buses used Beaconsfield Road to negotiate an awkward junction, especially
for under-powered vehicles, to make their way into the former station forecourt.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

The Alma Road/Victoria Street junction could be just as challenging as Hatfield Road for
cyclists, although Alma Road lacked traffic signals until the 1970s.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Two inclines in one: first from Alma Road to the middle of the junction, and then the climb to
the brow of the bridge. To the left lay the bed of a former stream – the same stream which
lay below London Road close to the the current Odyssey Cinema.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

...and looking down from nearer the top of Victoria Street Bridge, the buses referred to
stopped just to the right of the present car park sign.  The camber (the difference between
the road height in the middle and that at the kerb) was more extreme before the surface was
relaid, causing stopped buses to noticeably towards the side of the public house.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Buses also advanced over the bridge and turned into the station forecourt on occasions – 
another exciting part of the route for upper deck passengers!
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Cyclists, however, have also been irritated by the same road improvements when using roads such as Alma Road, Beaconsfield Road and Lemsford Road. Hint: cycles with sophisticate gearing were far less common.  It would be another two or three decades after the bridges arrived before housing development took place in New Town (between the St Albans hill and the railway line), so the employees who created the slopes approaching and leaving the bridges had no need to blend the gradients into the side roads, because, of course, they weren't yet there, still having a useful life as productive fields.

Before the end of Lemsford Road was remodelled the junction was much narrower, being
the width of the higher lane seen today.  Again a more challenging turn for an earlier single
gear bicycle.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Hatfield Road: on the left is Loreto College; on the right the former Further Education College.
The St Albans hill begins as we approach Lattimore Road.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Victoria Street at the Lattimore Road junction.  The St Albans hill begins beyond this
junction.

When houses began to grow along Alma, Beaconsfield and Lemsford roads little attention was given to road building, especially at Sandpit Lane, Hatfield Road and Victoria Street.  Although a modest amount of tinkering has been attempted at the Sandpit Lane/Lemsford Road junction, cycling from the former to the latter has always been a challenge – as has cycling from Beaconsfield to Lemsford Road, with the additional effort required to complete the procedure from a standing start, before the traffic signals jitter towards giving preference to Hatfield Road traffic instead, or a motor vehicle turns right from Lemsford to Hatfield Road across your path.

The circumstances are almost identical for cyclists on their way from Alma Road to Beaconsfield Road, or, even more challenging,  intending to turn right from Alma Road launching into the climb to the even steeper Victoria Street Bridge.

Not a problem today, but when the railway station was on the other side of the bridge and of Victoria Street – and when Stanhope Road was tree-lined, the early buses stopped using the latter road and, instead, used Hatfield Road and turned left into Beaconsfield Road, many of them turning in the station forecourt before proceeding into St Albans centre.  Before the Second World War buses had less powerful engines and less sophisticated gearing than today, so driving these vehicles to negotiate such changes of gradient demanded extra skill from their drivers.

Even double deckers approaching the bridge from a decapitated (i.e. felled) Stanhope Road would provide top deck passengers with an uneasy sensation at the bus stop just before Alma Road.  Not only was the road gradient still steep from the top of the bridge, but rather strangely, the road camber gave travellers the feeling they were about to be tipped sideway out of their windows, or that the bus would itself inevitably tip across the pavement into the hotel back yard!  The stopping place has of course been removed, passengers now leaving or boarding their services outside the new station building.

We certainly have been left with awkward junction gradients as a result of the railway passing through the city.

It's Private (2)

In the previous post we discovered a number of privately operated schools within the boundaries of St Albans at the time – the time in question being between the 1870s and the mid-1950s.  A few were men taking charge of a boys' establishment, perhaps preparing their charges for public schools at one end of the academic scale; and at the opposite pole providing practical skills as had been expected in the earlier 19th century industrial schools.  Most were owned by single women who would give classes to girls who would otherwise have little formal education.  A hybrid school type run by married couples focused on classes for girls, but with small groups for "little boys", usually under nine year olds.

Rowlatts and Lyndale.  These establishments were located in St Peter's Park when it was a fresh young residential district, a part of New Town.  Today we would identify the heart of St Peter's Park as Manor Road, in which Rowlatts School was located. Nearby, on the corner of Hillside Road and St Peter's Road was Lyndale School; the two schools between them being managed by Miss Elizabeth Sheehan, Miss Mary Sheehan and Miss Kate Sheehan.  The origin of Rowlatts was in 1886 when an advertisement appeared in the Herts Advertiser, when the name "High School for Girls, Miss Lewin, London Road" was identified. The following year a large house named Rowlatts was offered for sale in The Avenue.  Miss Lewin established her young school here.  By 1891 Miss Hornsby had become the Principal.

An early brochure produced, showing the grounds set aside for the pupils of this extant
school in Hatfield Road, opposite the former St Albans College of Further Education.
COURTESY LORETO COLLEGE

Loreto College  As with some many private schools Loreto opened in a tea magnate's substantial villa in Hatfield Road, a property the college still owns.  It was also fortunate in acquiring two adjacent plots, former nurseries, New Zealand and Wellington.  Later  Marlborough House and its grounds was also purchased.  Loreto is unique in this  collection in having grown in both size and success, and adapted to today's national education format.

Dirleston House opened in 1901 in a newish house at the Sandpit Lane end of Battlefield Road, and under the supervision of Mr John Henderson.  The establishment did not receive the name Dirleston for another five years when ownership passed to Cumming E A Atherton.  As with many little private schools Dirlston House lasted no more than ten years.

The former site of Athalls School in Hall Place Gardens, now the location of Maple
JMI School.

Athalls seems to have occupied a villa in Hall Place Gardens from new in 1907.  It pre-empted by two years the arrival of St Albans High School for Girls, although land for the latter had been acquired at the same time.  Athalls announced itself as a boarding and day school for young ladies, another example of competitive spirit in the use of similar names or moving in close by.  It appears Maple JMI School has been built on the same site.  Mrs Brumleu was in charge of Athalls and had her residence adjacent to the school rooms.

Grosvenor House.  This school was another in Bricket Road but probably only lasted for a short while.  The Misses Garlick announced "a boarding and day school for girls, and classes for little boys".  There was a resident French mistress and fully qualified visiting staff.  There is only one year to guide us, an advertisement in 1908, by which time most of the houses on the east side had been completed.

Home School for Girls.  The school may have been in the vicinity of Worley Road, for it was owned by Mr & Mrs Baird, living at Worley House.  The school first appeared on the scene advertising in 1898 "for yearly, weekly and daily boarders". Perhaps daily boarders applied to pupils for occasional boarding or on a particular night of the week. There was no evidence of sustained advertising.

Windcliffe.  Another 1898 start-up "for the daughters of gentlemen".  Miss Elizabeth Sheehan ran the school from a house in Hatfield Road, but its specific location is uncertain. At this time the options were opposite Clarence Park or between Lattimore Road and Marlborough Road.

St Albans Kindergarten and Preparatory School.  A trial run which perhaps didn't get very far.  It appeared c1930 at 26 Beaconsfield Road in a house owned by Miss Kathleen Kidd. 

The imposing building on the west side of Holywell Hill, formerly the home of Ernest Six
and the base for Holywell House School.

Holywell House School.  One of the very few schools still operating until the 1960s. Holywell House is about halfway down the west side of Holywell Hill and was the home of Mr Ernest Wix.  Following his death and then the death of his wife, the house was sold in 1931.  It was purchased by two sisters, the Misses Cloutte who converted the building into a private school: a boarding and day school for girls, and a boys' prep school.  Even evening classes were advertised, so the sisters were kept very busy.  The sisters retired c1960 and the property acquired by S Lander, architect.

Darnford School even had a flag of its own which two pupils were photographed with
for the press.
COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

Durnford House.  The school opened in 1951 in part of the Liberal Club premises, 9 Hatfield Road, the principal being Mrs Ruby E Colby.  As with most of the other schools in the collection pupil numbers were probably few, but the uniform for pre-prep and prep school pupils was wine and blue, with the letters DH in the centre of the blazer pocket badge.  In 1952 the school had capacity for 10 day pupils over six years old.  In 1953 the school moved into the White House in St Peter's Street. although 9 Hatfield Road was retained.  Classes were also held at a house in Hall Place Gardens; not all of the road's residents apparently approved!  In a short number of years Darnford found itself educating 150 children from 3 to 18, but was effectively bankrupt.  In an attempt to consolidate premises it looked to rent either Sopwell Manor or Thorne House.  We assume the proposals failed, and there was no further word about Darnford House.

The Misses Wright School.  Possibly the earliest school project extended back to 1877 when a new house had been erected in Victoria Street and the first pupils enrolled in October of that year.  It was listed in the 1881 census, but probably dwindled soon after and nothing more was heard of the school.

Battlefield House School. Battlefield House was a building at 4 Chequer Street, just around the corner from the Misses Wright.  Around 1880 Miss Mason advertised for "girls or young ladies" and was still continuing to do so in 1886, but nothing further was heard after this date.

Mr Hawkes High Grade Elementary School.  Another school which probably had a short life at 13 Verulam Road from 1886.  Mr Hawkes "would be" preparing boys for Oxford and Cambridge entrance examinations, the College of Preceptors and Post Office exams.  "Mrs Hawks looks after the under sevens".  The phrase "would be" suggests the plan was more in hope than success.

Miss Hestor's School.  Miss Hestor had accommodation at 3 Victoria Street for a school in 1887, but nothing further was heard so it is assumed no potential pupils applied.

The Ladies' School.  Applicants for a newly advertised school at Alban House, St Albans would need to be familiar with its location.  Either Miss Upton was overwhelmed she no longer needed to advertise, or no-one was able to locate the premises!  No further advertising was located.

Alma Road Girls' School.  Was this a further establishment or a school looking for larger accommodation.  But just one advertisement was  placed by Mrs Deed in 1897.

St John's Lodge, which was at the Sandpit Lane end of Beaumont Avenue, now replaced by
the St John's Court development.

St John's Court.  The Misses Blackwood acquired Avenue House at the Sandpit Lane end of Beaumont Avenue c 1922 and from this time the house was renamed St John's Lodge.  From here the sisters operated a school.  It must have been quite successful as the school continued, renamed as St John's Lodge Prep School, later continuing  from a new house at 75 Jennings Road from 1934 when the Beaumont Avenue house was sold to William Bird.  One ex-pupil recalls attending the latter premises and remembers the uniform of mauve blazers, and mauve and silver horizontal stripe ties.  The same ex-pupil also recalls transferring to Fleetville School in 1944.

It's Private

Almost no-one lived  in our East End before the age of publicly-provided schools of any kind.  Isolated hamlets and farm homesteads with children before 1870's beginning of compulsory education could look to the nearest village school at Sandridge, Colney Heath or London Colney, but the distance to be walked might have been considerable.  St Peter's Rural Board School, now known as Camp School, was the first to serve small populations nearer the city from the end of the century.

But there were several privately run schools. The term school was sometimes loosely used and may had registered fewer than ten or so  pupils – occasionally as few as three or four.  The children would have lived within the city or, if they boarded, perhaps brought from nearby towns.  So let's trawl through the 19th and early 20th centuries to discover how many private schools there were, from the advertisements the owners placed in the Herts Advertiser.  It is quite possible the same address was home to more than one establishment over a period of time, and the same establishment may have moved in response to expected growth. Nevertheless, it is a long list!

Oxford House began life in Alma Road under the tutorship of Mr G J Nettleton and was in existence before 1880.  It moved to larger premises in Bricket Road in 1883 before ownership transferred to Mr & Mrs J Thornhill by 1900.  From a mapping survey taken in 1877 Bricket Road had been laid out though no building had taken place; the first houses were on the east side.  It would have been one of these the school moved to.  Places were offered to both day pupils and boarders.  Below, in the paragraph about Claremont House, is a map showing that school.  Almost opposite Claremont is a pair of houses labelled Oxford Villas,  the starting location for Oxford House.

The pair of villas in Alma Road which were named Oxford Villas.  One or both of them had been
the first home of Oxford House School.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

An image of a room for younger children at Oxford House School.  It is more likely to have been
at Bricket Road than the earlier Alma Road premises.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

Rochester House: Miss Clara Bamforth opened this school in London Road, renaming it Rochester House High School once St Albans Girls' High School began advertising itself.  Miss Bamforth specialised in elocution training.  In 1901 the school moved to 101 St Peter's Street, next to the White House.  The Bamforth family are recorded in the 1901 census living here – the name may be familiar as one half of the partnership Gibbs & Bamforth, publishers of the Herts Advertiser.  Later numbered 68, it was next door to Mary Dear's Temperance Hotel, which was also home to a school for a short time.

Gentlemen's Preparatory School: In 1900 it was run from a villa called Verulam in Hatfield Road.  By 1919 it is thought to be the same establishment as "a school for young gentlemen from 5 to 13" known as Wellington House, Bricket Road, and headed by Mr W Millington.

Manor Lodge: for boarders and day girls in Upper Lattimore Road.  Miss Palmer was in charge in 1896, but she gave her address as Ramsgate; and a Miss Miskin offered a Paris address! The school, including a separate school room,  was offered for sale in 1909, marketed as a "high school for girls", although two years earlier the school also advertised having "classes for little boys".

The extant building which was formerly Manor Lodge in Lattimore Road.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Merrilands was a rarely-found educational building on the Beaumonts estate, Elm Drive, opening in 1933 and closing on the retirement of its owner, Miss I M Kell, in the mid fifties.  There was a uniform with the base colour of orange.

The owner and head teacher of Merrilands School at the Oakwood Drive end of Elm Drive
lived in the house on the right.  The house on the left, part hidden by a street tree, was
occupied by a rather unflattering bungalow until the 1960s and so is a later build.  
This was the school.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Birklands as a set of buildings had an interesting history, constructed  for Londoner Henry Jenkins Gotto in 1883 and called Newhouse Park.  He had acquired nearby Newhouse Farm in 1877.  Dating from the 16th century it had been a meeting place for nonconformist dissenters.  Miss Elizabeth Cox had a small girls' boarding school called Birklands in Highgate, London, but decided to move her school to Newhouse Park in 1905, renaming it New Birklands.  Although other schools moved to St Albans during World War Two, Miss Langridge, who had taken over ownership of the school, move her school from St Albans to Warwickshire, returning in 1945.  It continued at a smaller level until 1969 when the site was sold to the University of Hertfordshire.  It is now a range of apartments.

Originally named Newhouse Park, the school which later occupied these buildings was named
New Birklands, reverting to plain Birklands.  It was located at the London Colney end of London
Road, close to Newhouse Park Farm.

Clare House began from the address of the Misses Hare in Stanhope Road in the 1890s, although it had moved to Lemsford Road post WW1, under the tutelage of Miss Ingall, and later by the Misses Bryce.  It was another school specialising in education for girls, although there was a prep section for boys, according to an advertisement from 1907.

Clare House occupied a detached 1890s villa in the newly built Stanhope Road, then on the edge of
St Albans and before the district of Fleetville existed.

Claremont House.  This school may have been the forerunner of the above-named Clare House.  It appears to have begun life at a building known as College House in College Street, but by the 1880s moved to a villa of the same name in Alma Road.  Advertisements for this establishment appeared in the Herts Advertiser as early as 1872, under the rather long name of "Mr C Root's Middle Class Boarding and Day School for Young Gentlemen".  In 1872 a separate establishment was being advertised under the name Claremont House: the Classical Commercial and Scientific School, although by 1876 this had been modified to St Albans Commercial School for Boys, in which day boys and boarders continued to attend.  The latter named establishment was still advertising in 1898 and run by Mr Wroot – although this is the year in which he died.  The sale particulars stated the house possessed 13 bedrooms and that there were boarded buildings and a playground at the rear.  It was later in the charge of Mr Jackson Harrington.  Today, this property is partly on the footprint of Telford Court. Claremont House seems to have been unusual in being exclusively for boys.

Clearly shown on the town plan survey surveyed in 1877 Claremont House has a similarly long
rear garden space as other villas in Alma Road, but as a school much of this space has been
added to the domestic quarters specifically for school use; dormitory bedrooms and a 
school room.  There is also evidence of a playground and toilets at the far end.  This is a
sheet from the town plan surveyed in 1877.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

Russell House.  Opened in WW1 in premises formerly occupied by St Albans High School for Girls in the cottage hospital building in Holywell Hill.  The final advertisement appeared located in Kelly's Directory in 1932.  The site is now occupied by Abbey Court on the corner of Albert Street.  The school was run by sisters, the Misses Cloute.

On the site which is currently Abbey Court at the junction of Holywell Hill and Albert Street,
had previously been a small cottage hospital, but other occupiers of the site had been an inn and at least two schools, one of which was Russell House.

Aylesford House in London Road.  This boys' school was begun by Mr W Hanford Turner from a villa on the country side of the Midland Railway bridge.  The name came from the villa it occupied on start-up.  In 1907 the school was owned by Mr C Leighton. c1935 the school purchased the adjacent villa, Nunsmead, and thus became 246-8 London Road.  Mr and Mrs Bayley owned the school at this point.  It accepted boys from 7 to 14, preparing them for public schools and the Royal Navy.  The uniform colour was grey with pink edged blazers, later changed to pink stripes.  In 1939 the school announced there was a large concrete cellar, a facility which would have been uppermost the minds of potential parents in that year.  In 1947 the school moved to occupy part of Sandridgebury House, and was later merged with Hardenwick School, Harpenden.

The Hall. Around 1930 a small school "for young children" opened at 20 London Road, the site of the former Dear Hotel.  The owner was Miss Elsie Bodkin.

On this site in London Road – at an access driveway to a car park – was a Victorian temperance
hotel known as Dear's. When no longer required for this purpose a later occupier was Miss Bodkin
who ran a small school.  A renumbering of London Road is the reason for the replaced
building being numbered 64.

Verulam School. Not the current establishment in Brampton Road, but the advertisement indicated it was close to Clarence Park at 88 Hatfield Road, one of the villas near to Granville Road.  First advertised in 1903 it espoused "a modern and practical education" run by Mr J W Cassels.  By 1919 it had moved to Upper Lattimore Road. Here it was run by Miss Collier as a girls' school with a boys' prep class.  While at Hatfield Road it is assumed it catered for boys.

If you thought this was a fine list of private schools to have occupied St Albans, the above collection is yet less than half complete.  In almost all cases the establishments occupied buildings previously intended as residential dwellings for individuals, couples or families.  No-one spent money in engaging an architect to design a school for that purpose.  Especially given the poor investment rick.

The collection will continue.

By-Pass It

 Until the 1920s the road network between London Colney and St Albans was straightforward: High Street in the village connected with London Road and High Street in the city; Shenley Lane in the village connected with Napsbury Lane and then the ancient road from London towards St Albans; the old road between the village and Cell Barnes Lane (Alexander Road and Nightingale Lane) took a rather different route to the city's market centre via Cell Barnes and Victoria Street. Finally, a link was available from High Street via White Horse Lane to Tyttenhanger Green and Camp.  This last route was still possible while the St Albans Bypass was still a single carriageway.

Working on the St Albans Bypass North Orbital in the 1920s.  The land purchased was sufficient
for twin 3-lane carriageways plus additional space for cables, pipes and space between the
carriageways.  Only one carriageway was completed.
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A post-WW1 national roadbuilding programme included a bypass around St Albans between Hatfield and Watford – a section of the North Orbital Road – squeezing through the gap between Cotlandswick and Newhouse Park Farm.  This fresh west-east barrier between London Colney and St Albans remained a single carriageway until the 1950s, but it did include a roundabout linking the village High Street with London Road.  A "square-about" would be a more appropriate label and was located a little west of the present maze of traffic lights.  Elements of the square-about can still be detected by the roadside.

The first roundabout which separated London Colney's High Street and London Road, the main A6
road before the London Colney Bypass was built.  The abbreviation TCB (circled) was the
location of a telephone call box.
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At the bypass end of the stopped up High Street remain the connections for the former telephone
call box which served this important road junction.  The just-visible overbridge marks
the location of the original roundabout (sometimes known as a square-about).

The often-related account of the capture of a German spy at this junction in 1940 still retains its location evidence; the former telephone kiosk used by the spy, an off-duty soldier and a police officer from the former Fleetville police station where a telegraph post and a pavement connection box remain in place at the bypass end of the former stopped-up High Street.

To pass along Shenley Lane and Napsbury Lane across the first iteration of the bypass was on the flat, which was fine in its early days, but to herald the major widening works in the 1950s a new bridge was constructed over the approaching dual carriageway.

Photograph taken on the Shenley Lane over bridge looking towards London Colney roundabout,
as the second carriageway was opened in 1956.
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Shenley Road over bridge completed in advance of the new carriageway and which replaced
the original surface junction.

Compare the sparse traffic level of 1956 photograph with a 2014 view of the London Colney
roundabout before the present addition of further traffic signals and their re-phasing.

A significantly larger roundabout was also required for the next stage of the project, and the imminent inclusion of the three-mile London Colney Bypass.  This shaped relocation required the diversion of a small length of London Road between Birklands and Nightingale Lane.  Houses already built became satisfyingly marooned in their own backwater, although those in Nightingale Lane were less fortunate, being closer to the incessant streams of roundabout traffic.

In or around 1920 the Electrical Apparatus Company (EAC) opened one of its four works buildings (the others being at Walthamstow, Wandsworth and Vauxhall) between Birklands and the Midland Mainline Railway.  Small farms are vulnerable when modern infrastructure and expansive developments nibble at the edges or slice through the heart of a farm.

The "square-about", and to the left the surface junction of Shenley Lane and Napsbury Lane.

By 1954 Newhouse Park Farm effectively ceased to operate, having earlier relinquished land for the factory and housing, and now transferring still more to the Ministry of Transport for road construction.  EAC acquire 37 further acres for its staff playing fields.  The farm homestead, outbuildings and a home field became the property of Albert E Bygrave, and in 1959 he opened his nursery fronting the bypass.

Yes, these houses are in London Road.  The road led to London Colney High Street. The original
"square-about" was out of sight at the end of this view.

However, the youthful entrepreneur Roger Aylett entered the horticultural marketplace a full four years earlier, having completed his horticultural qualifications at Oaklands Agricultural Institute (now Oaklands College).  He acquired through his parents a seven acre segment of land surplus to EAC's recent acquisition.

Roger Aylett's parcel of land lay between the houses on the north side of Napsbury Lane and the remainder of the former Newhouse Park Farm homestead.  He benefited from a lengthy frontage to the bypass and its newly fenced off works being prepared for the second carriageway.  Aylett may not have realised it at the time but his frontage opening along a busy road and a second minor access from Napsbury Lane, offered his business a splendid kerbside vista, which Bygrave used to good effect as a location marker – "adjacent to Aylett's"!  A dual carriageway might have resulted in awkward access for his customers, but in the case of Aylett's the large nearby  roundabout on one side and an over bridge on the other ensured convenient access when entering and leaving his site.

Map and aerial photograph providing an overview of the topic. London Colney is to the
bottom right; London Road leading to St Albans to the top of the image.
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Driving or riding on a bus between London Colney and St Albans via the roundabout was one thing, but if you wish to cycle or even walk the bypass makes life difficult since it was necessary to carriageway-hop – until it became essential to respond to the accident rate and provide a scaffolding bridge on the site of the former square-about.  This bridge was later replaced by a more elegant structure, which is still in use today.

Meanwhile, the round roundabout became larger and collected even more traffic signals!

Nicky is Sixty Plus

 If you were reading the Herts Advertiser last week you will already be aware that one of our secondary schools celebrated its sixtieth birthday.  Nicholas Breakspear Secondary is the school, but its birthday is only that of the current suite of buildings in Colney Heath Lane, just on the south side of the railway bridge over the former branch railway (now Alban Way).

The land had previously been reserved for a  partner establishment to Hill End Hospital.  However the size of the site was discovered to insufficiently large for that purpose and the partner hospital became Cell Barnes, after the nearby lane, in 1930.  It no longer exists but part of Highfield has been built on its former site.  For a short while in the 1950s the Colney Heath Lane land was used for playing fields for St Albans College of Further Education, before moving to Smallford but a parcel of land is still retained by Oaklands College.

The story began here: at 148 London Road, just uphill from the current Odyssey Cinema.

Rooms at the back of the SS Alban & Stephen church in Beaconsfield Road were organised
into a full-time school...

...but external rooms were brought into use at the now-demolished Adult School
in Stanhope Road as pupil numbers increased further.

A purpose designed school opened in Vanda Crescent with separate sections for infants, 
juniors and seniors, creating an elementary school.

In the 1950s the secondary pupils found a larger site at Garston which we have always known as
St Michael's Catholic High School.

...and in the mid sixties a whole-school's-worth of secondary pupils found their present home
under the banner of Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School in Colney Heath Lane.  It has been
some journey!

But to discover the true origin of the Catholic Secondary School we need to travel much further back in time.  A Catholic denomination church was established on the south side of London Road in 1878, and educational provision was undoubtedly offered on a limited scale, but for worship and educational purposes a new church centre was opened in Beaconsfield Road,  a number of rooms at the rear of the site being used as a school, unfortunately rather close to the busy railway at the Midland City Station.

The school in this building remained here until 1935, although some of its classes also occupied external rooms, including in the Adult Schools building in Stanhope Road. The Ss Alban & Stephen School as an  organisation was  formalised on Elementary principles, just as the rest of the educational service had begun to separate into separate primary (infant and junior) and secondary establishments.  The new elementary school was achieved by the acquisition of Friederick Sander's private garden in Camp Road when this was sold by his sons in the 1920s after their father's death.  A purpose designed single storey set of buildings was created and was opened with separate infant, junior and secondary wings in Vanda Crescent.

Although plans were made in the 1950s for two outreach schools at Marshalswick and St Julians the development of these two units was much delayed.

The opportunity arose in 1955 for the secondary unit at Vanda Crescent to become a larger junior space.  A new Catholic secondary school was opened at Garston under the name St Michael's in High Elms Lane.  The SsA&S secondary pupils transferred to Garston, enabling a more mature secondary curriculum to be offered.  However, within three years St Michael's became full, and expansion came with the provision of a Catholic secondary school specifically for St Albans.

The new 3-form entry school opened on the Colney Heath Lane site under the name Nicholas Breakspear Catholic Secondary School.  Occupying the 31 acres previously deemed not sufficient for a hospital the site has now settled for the longest period in its history, so this is an additional reason for celebrating the anniversary.

For further information St Nicholas Catholic Church is located in Watling Street and St Adrian's JMI school in nearby Watling View opening in 1960, just ahead of Nicholas Breakspear School.

Of course, the structures of school buildings from the post-war period, were not expected to last for an endless period; nor were they expected to be efficient to maintain.  The school is therefore planning ahead for a future with new buildings.  And who knows what NBS will look like in three or four years time.