Oak Villas and a greengrocery

Between 1900 and the First World War the pace of building development on the north side of Hatfield Road was brisk, and at any one time there would be some construction happening in all of the streets, and naturally many builders were interested in plots facing Hatfield Road.  In this collection of posts the focus is on houses and shops; we'll return later for the story of the churches.

The area bounded by the red box identifies the Hatfield Road buildings in this post.  The centre pair
are Oak Villas; the left pair are Emerton's shops; the right was Mr Hills' house; finally the two spare
plots between.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

In travelling eastwards from The Crown the focus is now on the site between Glenferrie and Sandfield roads. In 1899 George Emerton took a look and became interested in two plots right in the middle.  We don't know whether that was coincidental or whether there was some symmetry at work.  But the outlook across the road was towards the field east of the Cemetery, rather than the burial ground itself.

Oak Villas 1 and 2 with a more modern front garden wall which obscures part of the front bay
windows.

What resulted was a semi-detached pair of houses, solidly built, with doors adjoining, the usual minimum width front garden, and named Oak Villas 1 and 2.  So who lived in them?  According to the street directories George Emerton himself lived in number 1 until 1910, and various tenants in number 2.  The Valuation Office record indicates there were workshops (plural) behind number 1, as if he was using Oak Villa 1 as a base for his building work.  Sisters Olive and Lily Emerton moved into number 2 in 1938 and remained resident until c1973. Equally interesting, number 1 was occupied by P Osborne for a short time and then Henry Jagels.  Their story is followed up below. But in recent years both villas have been converted in a Mosque.

From left to right, the two shops, Oak Villas 1 and 2, and the remaining spare plot. The first shop
blind shades Mr Davies' Toys and Sports shop; finally the original Hills' house, converted into jewellery and later a wool shop.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

In the meantime, the Valuation Office reveals George Emerton also acquired two plots to the west of Oak Villas.  In c1910 Mr Emerton raised two shops on these plots, which became 135 and 137.  Several Fleetville residents recently noted building alterations taking place and a pair of former shop fascia signs were revealed from an earlier period. 

Until the end of WW1 number 135 apparently remained empty, and then Miss O Emerton managed a confectionery shop there, before being let to a tailoring business.  From 1960 it was home to general engineers and instrument makers and in recent times was the location of a Credit Union.  Number 137 had been a greengrocery from 1912 onwards, firstly by the Osborne brothers, and then by the Jagels family. Henry Jagels and his wife lived in Oak Villa 1, and their son Frederick came to take over the greengrocery from the Osborne brothers.  The upstairs flat was not adequate for a family and as they are believed to have raised three children, the family lived in a house at the Brampton Road end of Glenferrie Road.  The greengrocery was thought to have remained Osborne's, even though it was managed by the Jagel family for over twenty years.  This would might account for the fascia sign.

Recent renovations reveal the former fascia sign for the greengrocery under the management
of the Osborne Brothers
COURTESY PETER ELLIOT

Around two years after Mr Emerton's arrival a house was constructed on the west corner of Sandfield Road.  It was quite narrow and was acquired by Mr Henry Hills.  He was another Hatfield Road occupier who relished the benefit of turning his ground floor into a shop to advance his jewellery trade.  Subsequently it became a drapery and a house furnishing shop.  From 1949 Mr Davies moved in to supply the increasingly popular wool trade, and until 1956 two plots between this shop and Oak Villas remained unused, which is a long period for an otherwise busy district shopping street.  But in that year Mr and Mrs Davies created an extension to the original shop on the corner and opened the ground floor as St Albans Toys & Sports.

A surprisingly spacious Sandfield Road c1912.  On the right is the side-facing living
accommodation of the corner house of Henry Hills.  Unfortunately I have not yet been able
to located a photo of the house frontage or the first version of the shop. The original 1906 Rural
Council street plate can just be seen to the left of the the first floor drain pipe on the east corner.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

By 1975 the Davies's had handed the property over to Westminster Bank/ National Westminster Bank, which extended the building further to include the remaining spare plot.  The floor to ceiling window sections extended from the entrance on the left to the corner and then along Sandfield Road.  As with all other examples all other national banks had branches in Fleetville, and eventually all closed those branches.

This is how the building was remodelled for its role as National Westminster Bank, although all
references to the bank have since been removed.

Today, the ground floor has an unrelieved and bland office treatment, although it is possible to identify the westward spare plot, then the Davis extension shop and finally the original corner house.