The Skelton investment

In our exploration of the properties lining Hatfield Road eastwards from The Crown, Rumballs land agents had enabled Horace Slade to acquire Great Long Field (or Long Field East as it was also known).  The hedge separating Long Field from Long Field east met Hatfield Road just before the line of Blandford Road, so when Frank Sear first purchased the land for his nursery and its shop and house it was on the east side of the hedge and in Long Field East.  But Jacob Reynolds of Heath Farm expressed an interest in part of St Peter's Farm and purchased a strip of land on each side of Blandford Road.  He was clearly only interested in residential development,  not main road development.  His purchase had not included Sear's future Ninefields Nursery, nor had it approached the main road on the east side of Blandford Road.

An early plan of the land purchased by Joshua Reynolds.  The road names
have not yet been agreed, but the land is on either side of Blandford Road.

In stepped Mr H Skelton, a builder from Luton who purchased an interest facing Hatfield Road when development first began in 1899.  On this land he straightaway built two terraces of four houses each.  There will be a closer look at these in the next post.  For now, that land accounted for only half of the Hatfield Road frontage in his ownership.  From Blandford Road he was content to leave a sizeable plot vacant for a full ten years.  As for living close to the job, he, his wife, son and daughter, occupied four different properties, at least two of them – and maybe all of them – he had been responsible for building.

Mr Skelton's purchased land east of Blandford Road.  The first building, consisting of four purpose- built shops was not developed until c1910.  On the far right, the building beyond Asker's awning is where J B Rollings ran his wholesale confectioner's business.  The rectangular clock is fixed
to the first floor front elevation.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

The ornate balustrading hides the view from the street of the second-floor windows, which are
nevertheless visible from the more distant view shown in the top picture of this pair.

In 1910 the design for a terrace of four at the plot-in-waiting at the Blandford Road end was agreed and proceeded with, and would certainly have made a greater impression than his earlier gable ends further along the road.  Those who only look down or ahead when walking along the road may not have noticed.  Neither is it obvious to many of us that this terrace is triple floored.  Above the ground floor, which was intended to open straight onto the pavement rather than via a slim six foot garden space, the first floor has residential squared profile bay windows and adjacent ancillary rooms with a flat window.  Except the corner property, which only has a longer bay window, which is angled; no flat window for another room.  The reason for this becomes clear when we look around the corner.  These appear to be more than tiny flats and all four extend some distance to the rear.  Number 109 has two windows overlooking Blandford Road, a benefit not available to the other three properties; it is therefore probable that the internal layout is different.

The third level attic room windows are mainly hidden behind an ornate stone balustrade with the roof drainage fed downwards from pipework below balustrade level.

Since 1922 number 109 has been a home of St Albans Co-operative Society grocery department.  The author only remembers it from the 1950s, when it was already self-service, except for the delicatessen counter. Home delivery, so popular once more, was also a feature back then; the customer handing in a notebook, with requirements ticked if supplied, and the assistant calculating the cost.  Even "subs" were taken into account if the exact product wasn't in stock.  Today it is still part of the Co-op as Funeral Care.

Next door at number 111 it took until 1938 for the Co-op to open its butchery, which previously had been an independent shoe shop and a gents outfitter.  The shop front was fairly impressive, with the lower facing panels having a black stone grained finish, and heavy glazed doors with shiny metal edgings.  When the Co-op opened its supermarket its little local shops closed.

The third Co-op shop in the row, number 113, was its greengrocery and then Society Dry Cleaners, but only from the early 1950s. Before then the sign above the door welcomed young people to the Carlton Club, while the fascia stated Bishop's Stores.  The shop attracted a number of young people and one of the activities which came out of these comings and goings was a very successful football club.  To this day, a detail page on the St Albans City Football Club's website carries photos of the teams of young people from the immediate post-war period.

A 1945 Carlton team pictured at Clarence Park
COURTESY THE GORDON JAMES COLLECTION

Number 115's first occupant was a trader which later became well known for its delicatessen shops in Victoria Street and Chequer Street, Saxby Bros, but by 1930 A Asker had taken over what had previously been a watchmaker's and then become Fleetville's pawnbroker's shop.  Today it is a cafe.

Mr Skelton's purchased land facing Hatfield Road between Blandford and Glenferrie roads is
boxed in orange. The properties in this post are numbers 109 to 115, and number 117.
MAP COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

And finally, in this post ...

Mr Skelton had a plot of land left between the 1910 development we have explored today and the two terraces of houses to the east and which we will find out more next time.  Around 1920, and because of the small amount of extra width he allowed a shop for Mr John  Blackmore to run a drapery business, with residential accommodation to the side rather than above or behind.  However, for whatever reason Mr Blackmore sold up within a couple of years in favour of a man well-known in Fleetville, Mr John Bradbury Rollings.  He was living in a small house in Brampton Road and in charge of a small wholesale business.  The urgent need to expand brought him to buy number 117, which he named Clifton House after the house he had previously owned in Finsbury.  As he did not need the attached house for residential purposes, this, along with the shop, became the new warehouse.  The top photo, taken in 1964, shows the property – it is the one with the rectangular clock attached to the frontage.  Compare it with the picture taken in 2012.  The right side which was the original shop received a significant change, both to the frontage and to the roofline.  In the 1960s, further expansion forced the company to move into a warehouse at the top of Camp Hill, number 117 eventually being the home of a popular computer accessories retailer called Beebug.

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We have seen a considerable range of traders moving into this growing party of the city, and either staying because they were successful, or moving on after a while to try their luck elsewhere or in the search for larger premises or more popular locations.  This week Saxby's, Rollings and the Co-op did just that.  Next time we'll see how Mr Skelton's terraces of homes fared.