Absent Photo: Smallford Tollhouse

 You might be surprised to note the location of this week's absent picture, convinced you have viewed a photo of this building on this very blog and on the SAOEE website itself.  You would, of course be correct – and to prove it here it is below.  Undoubtedly one key reason for its survival was the building's survival, thought to have been the early 1950s, which gave it a better chance of being photographed. In fact by the Herts Advertiser in 1935 when the demolition proposal, for road widening, was first announced; but the war intervened.

A press photo taken in 1935 when it was anticipated the cross roads junction would be widened
with the consequential demolition of the toll house (left), which we eventually lost in the early
post-war period.  Hatfield Road facing east towards Hatfield. Station Road on the right and, 
mainly hidden Sandpit Lane (now renamed Oaklands Lane) on the left.
COURTESY HERTS ADVERTISER

Many readers will already be aware that the HA, several years ago, destroyed its entire photographic library in order to save space.  So the version shown here is a low grade photographic copy taken directly from a paper copy of the HA at Hertford.  The result is therefore unique.  I say unique, unless other good images taken, perhaps, post war come to light.

OS map published 1898 after the closure of the turnpike, but the toll building remains, circled in
red.  The house faces both St Albans and Station Road.  This is the first edition of the map
which identifies a telephone call box (TCB) at the Three Horseshoes PH.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

Let's therefore investigate what our image shows, and therefore work out what it does not reveal.  The context was an event, as mentioned above, about to take place in which the highways department of Hertfordshire County Council was to widen a section of Hatfield Road at what was then known as Smallford Crossroads.  The photographer captured the scene which would shortly change.  The road shown is Hatfield Road facing eastwards a short distance before its name changes to St Albans Road West. On the right is the entry to Station Road, but the fourth road, which we now know as Oaklands Lane and which then was still called Sandpit Lane, is almost completely hidden from view.  Its entrance is just visible in front of the corner building.

It is the corner building which was the toll house, a much more substantial building than others in the locality, such as the Hut Toll in Colney Heath Lane, or the Rats' Castle Toll (see Absent Photo series two posts back).  For a start it was built of brick, had a tiled roof and substantial chimneys.  We therefore assume it served as a headquarters for the eastern half of the 51-mile turnpike, possibly as far as Rickmansworth or Chorley Wood (as then written).  It was occupied until c1880 after which the turnpike was disbanded and became a county road.  It is probable that ownership of the toll house transferred to the County Council but there is no evidence that the premises were occupied during the period until 1935.  In fact there is no reference to the toll house, or former toll house in any of the following four census returns. Its condition is likely therefore to have deteriorated, although the image gives the impression of being in perky condition.

The thicket of trees on the north side of the roundabout marks the location of the former toll house.
Its front boundary on Hatfield Road would lie below the present road surface; however it is
thought the whole of the Sandpit Lane arm of the house is below that road.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

If we are able to see an image of the eighteenth century tollhouse; is that not sufficient?  Well, certainly it is a help and does inform us of the architectural style.  But there is no clue about the extent of the two wings, nor therefore the number of rooms, which a photo taken from the entrance of Station Road would do, or from Sandpit Lane/ Oaklands Lane.  An earlier image, say c1900, may have captured the location of the gate or gates.  The main gate crossed the Hatfield road, but there would have been two side gates for traffic entering the turnpike towards St Albans.  All of these features are a matter of guesswork and assumptions without  photographic evidence, or from an artist's brush or pencil. 

It is thought this boundary fence was part of the rear boundary of the plot on which the toll house
hat been constructed.  The paddock beyond is the same one shown on the 1898 map.

As with previous absent photos, the toll house was as much about people as its structure.  In 1851 married couple William and Elizabeth Berry lived here and were responsible for collecting the payments.  No doubt they both engaged in casual work in the hamlet even though it is likely to have been a busy spot, especially as a public house, farrier and rooms were nearby.

An earlier generation photo which shows the Hatfield Road elevation of the toll
house.  The building beyond is the Four Horseshoes Beer House which was eventually
demolished in the same road widening operation.  Today's bus lay-by is behind here.
COURTESY SMALLFORD STATION & ALBAN WAY HERITAGE SOCIETY

John and Rebecca Simpkins had replaced the Berrys by 1861, and they remained at least to the 1871 census; but by 1881 the house was empty – this was the first full year after the turnpike had closed.  No job, so no home.  A family needs to move on; fortunately John was able to take casual work and Rebecca transferred her labour to the Three Horseshoes public house across the road.  So, for these, and maybe other families and boarders, the toll house had been a home, but became an empty building of memories for them.

If we were searching piles of pictures, hoping to discover a further – and better – photograph of the Smallford tollhouse, we could be assured of identifying a building a distinctive design. Just look at it! Might we be successful?  Who knows, but at least we can try.

Absent photo: Brickworks Cottages

Ashley Road crosses between Hatfield Road and Camp Road (left to right).  Brick Knoll Park is
the industrial estate occupying the majority of the photo on the site of the former brickworks.
Cambridge Road meets Ashley Road in the lower part of the image.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

This week we are travelling southwards from Hatfield Road along Ashley Road.  It is a busy highway, a section of the formerly named ring road, and that part of it as far as the bridge was laid out in the 1930s, intended to connect the homes of the Willow estate.  However, the entirety of the route from Hatfield Road to Camp Road had previously been part of a private farm track, with certain permissive rights from 1899 when parts of Beaumonts Farm was sold.  It was known locally by some as the Cinder Track and by others as the Ashpath.  The bridge referred to above, though not the same structure as exists today, was an occupation bridge carrying the farm track over the Hatfield & St Albans Railway (now Alban Way).

Land to the east of the track was believed to have been dug in the late 19th century on a small scale for its clay and used for making bricks.  When the wider area was sold in 1899 this field was specifically marketed for its brick making opportunities.  The brickmaking firm of Fenwick Owen, with existing interests at sites in Welwyn, acquired the field along this track, which today is an industrial estate.  Two parallel roads on the west side of the track, Hedley Road and Cambridge Road, were being developed in the early 1900s although a narrow band of land close to the track was also dug, its clay being taken across to the main works on narrow gauge rail wagons.

Early postwar aerial photograph viewed from above Hill End Hospital towards north-west.
HR = Hatfield Road; CR = Cambridge Road; AR = Ashley Road; HEL = Hill End Lane
red broken line = former Ashpath/Cinder Track; yellow circle = former hump back bridge
green circle = Brickworks Cottages

The major brick making focus grew on the east side; the kilns sited close to the railway leading to a small loading area for the finished products to be removed by train. But the larger area was gradually dug for the clay.  The temporary wagon tracks laid on both sides of the Ashpath transported the raw material to the brick shaping shop  and then to the kilns.  All bricks output from this site were impressed with the letters OSTA (Owen St Albans).

In 1899 when the site was set up this was very much a rural business, with the nearest residential development at The Crown in one direction and a few homes at The Horseshoes in the other.  North and south was open country other than isolated farm houses.  Owen's therefore took the decision to build a group of three cottages at the works for resident employees.  

Top: 1937 OS map; eastern end of Cambridge Road meeting Ashpath/Cinder Track. Brickworks
Cottages circled green.  Below: aerial image of the same map view.  The former Brickworks
Cottages site now under industrial estate car park and outlined in red.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND and GOOGLE EARTH

Of course it took only a few years before housing encroached nearer to the brickmaking, thus benefiting its business.  The cottages, generally known as the Brickworks Cottages, survived until around 1960 although they may not have been occupied during the post-war period.  The works lay dormant during hostilities and a brief revival proved unsuccessful.  The pits were used by St Albans Corporation for tipping refuse during the 1950s, while plant machinery and concrete batching operations leased parts of the southern end.  During the 1960s the Council developed a plan for industrial estates in outer parts of the city, of which this, Brick Knoll Park, was one.

So ended the life of the three brickworks cottages.  Stand at the end of Cambridge Road and look across Ashley Road.  To your right is the road access to Brick Knoll Park industrial estate.  The cottages were located directly opposite and to the left of Brick Knoll Park; they lasted just sixty years.  Given their remoteness they may have been oil lit for a while although it is not clear when or even if mains services were installed.

Brickworks Cottages was one domestic building divided into three cottages and in a remote and unlit part of St Albans well beyond the houses.  So, few people would have taken much notice and most would have been unaware of them.  Does it matter that we have no visual record of them?  Well, a successful company built them (probably using its own bricks) and employed men to produce its output for over fifty years.  Three of those employees were fortunate in living in these dwellings in spite of any discomforts.  

1911 census entry for the Sida family living in the first cottage.
COURTESY THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

The 1911 census does inform us of three of the early households. Clay miner Edward Sida occupied number 1 with his wife and 7 children, the two oldest also working as clay miners on the site. Number 2 was occupied by James Street, his wife and two school aged children.  James is described as a brickfield labourer.  In the third house was Charles Charge, his wife, two school aged children and the parents of Mrs Charge.  Charles was a brick maker. So, in those three rather isolated dwellings, lived a total of 19 individuals.

Though we may have little idea who they or their families were, nevertheless their lives and their homes deserve to be remembered, and their endeavours remain in many of the houses which others built  in the surrounding streets.

Searches of photographs showing the track from the bridge to Camp Lane (as it was then named) have resulted in a complete blank – so far.  The call therefore goes out: has anyone seen, or owns an image of this section of track and especially Brickworks Cottages?  Until then this little part of St Albans lacks a visual record of its past from 1899 to 1960.

Absent Photo: Original Rats' Castle

 The first in our series of absent buildings which have left no known visual trace occupied a well-known plot in Fleetville.  Mention the Rats' Castle to anyone who has ever lived in our around Fleetville and they will identify with the corner of Hatfield Road and Sutton Road.  The Rats' Castle (inevitably printed without the apostrophe) public house has been a landmark here since 1927; and there is a reason why the building sits at this spot.

The latest of three buildings which have occupied this corner of Hatfield Road and Sutton Road.
The Rats' Castle PH opened in 1927.

When we pull out photographs of this corner we are inevitably shown a view of the current structure designed for Benskin's by architect Percival Cherry Blow and opened in 1927.  Many versions have been taken: with or without floral displays, and with one or another of several hanging signs interpreting the name of the pub using the artist's imagination.  We'll return to the name shortly.

Primrose Cottage was first a dwelling but was subsequently partly converted into a shop.  It seems
that the windowless rear extension was added at this time, with a boundary wall against the
recently converted track into Sutton Road.  Part of either 1 or 3 Castle Road can just be seen on
the extreme right.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

Alternatively, a fine monochrome print of the building which the public house replaced, Primrose Cottage, completed c1895.  The title suggests it was constructed as a detached dwelling, but within two years construction work began on a large printing factory, the Fleet Works, and nearby workers' homes which were given the collective title Fleet Ville.  Until that moment Primrose Cottage was alone in the countryside, the nearest dwelling over a quarter mile away.  No time was therefore lost in converting part of the ground floor into a general store, and, as far as we know was first photographed c1903 after shop conversion under the management of Percy H Stone.

If you compare Primrose Cottage and its shop with the later public house it is possible to spot similarities in some of the design elements. There is just one known image of Primrose Cottage and shop, but I wonder whether, during its thirty year life span other views existed – still exist.

A section of the 1879 Ordnance Survey map shows the Hatfield Road (in brown) and the turnpike toll house (in red).  At the bottom of the extract is the low embankment of the Hatfield & St Albans
branch railway.  The former track, later renamed Sutton Road, then tree-lined, is between.
COURTESY HERTFORDSHIRE ARCHIVES & LOCAL STUDIES

Before either of the above buildings had existed a far more basic structure had been erected on the same footprint.  Although there is no proof of the wall materials – probably brick – we do know from recorded recollections that the roof was thatched and that it was a "little square" in floor area.  Its function was to house a turnpike toll collector (the road between Hatfield and St Albans was part of the Reading & Hatfield Turnpike Trust).  The track beside the little building later became Sutton Road and was on the edge of Beaumonts Farm owned by Thomas Kinder who also happened to be a trustee of the Turnpike Trust.  He gave the land on which the toll house was to be built and which enabled tolls to be collected before travellers set foot, wheel or hoof on the turnpike.  The track belonged to Mr Kinder and so he had a double interest in benefiting financially.  We know the toll house was erected before 1879 as the Ordnance Survey map of that year informs us, but the only known earlier record is the 1840 tithe map which is absent on the matter.

The rest of Broad Field was sold for development in 1899.  By then it was known locally as
Rats' Castle Field.  This photograph shows the upper end of Castle Road.
COURTESY HERTFORDSHIRE ARCHIVES & LOCAL STUDIES

Formally called the Hatfield Road toll house it was given up by the Turnpike Trust and continued to be occupied for a time before being abandoned by 1890.  It became rat infested, the rodents making their  homes in the straw roof.  Passers by had already given it a nickname by the time of the 1891 census: "the rats' castle". The building was identified as such in the 1891 census, and the field in which it stood, previously known as Broad Field, was known as Rats' Castle Field.  When in c1899 houses were built on part of the field the road was named Castle Road.

While we have been able to build a story based on those facts available to us no-one has brought forward a photographic image or a reasonably accurate pencil drawing or water colour painting.  We know where it was located from map evidence but we are badly in need of a photograph or drawing.  Let's get searching.

For further details of the above buildings on this site:

http://stalbansowneastend.org.uk/topic-selection/rats-castle/

The Quadrant Local Shops

 

The coloured base map shows the area covered by The Quadrant (in red).  The black overlay is the
former site of Marshalswick Farm (which had previously been known as Wheeler's Farm).
Marshalswick Lane is the curved road lower left; Sherwood Avenue (previously called
Woodlands Avenue) branches almost northwards from Marshalswick Lane.
COURTESY OPEN STREET MAP CONTRIBUTORS and NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

A quiet period at The Quadrant recently.  Marshalswick Lane curves across the bottom of the image.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

A mid 1930s proposed plan of part of the New Marshalswick estate. The red circled area is labelled
"School site - at present Marshalswick Farm". This would later become the site of The Quadrant
instead.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

We can forget a cluster of four or five retail units round the corner or along the street, such as we've explored recently.  This week we've come to explore the daddy of them all, standing back proudly behind its own bend along what was known as the ring road – Marshalswick Lane – with its own pair of roundabouts.  This is The Quadrant, sporting its own definitive Article built into the title.  While intended to serve both old and new Marshalswick, today it is more widely signposted as a destination.  If the definition of Local Shops is a location you could walk to, in the case of The Quadrant it rather depends on how fit you are. While the centre's car parks (plural) have always been busy their main function today appear to serve more distant visitors.  As for bus services, if you live halfway along Charmouth Road, or anywhere else in Old Marshalswick for that matter, you are effectively as far from local shops as the city centre.

A view of the centre block at the front of The Quadrant in 1959.  There are as yet unoccupied
premises and an almost empty car park.
COURTESY CHRIS CARR

The developer placed an advertisement for potential tenants in the Herts Advertiser. Twenty-one of
31 shops in phase one were currently let.
COURTESY HERTS ADVERTISER

The Quadrant's gestation goes back to the mid-thirties when Marshalswick Farm was sold for housing following the eventual sale of Marshalswick House. T F Nash, a north London developer, published its initial plan for "the estate" meaning new Marshalswick, for old Marshalswick was already in build.  The road now known as Sherwood Avenue was to be a shopping street with units on both sides, and a cinema – possibly a multi-purpose hall.

But the style of the 1930s, replicated in dozens of north London residential estates alongside or spanning major roads, did not suit post-war retail layouts.  Instead a large swathe of the new estate was classified as a high density zone for flats, schools, shops and other services.  The former farm was still standing together with its barns, ponds and wooded surroundings, and in 1957 work began on clearing the site and creating phase one of the shops.

In a blog of this size it is not possible to plot the many changes which have taken place in the past sixty years, but a second phase was added from the mid-sixties, with an additional five shop units to lengthen both wings, although a sixth unit was created on the south  side by the expedient of dividing one full unit into two halves (the first iteration of Marshalswick Carpet Company, and Terry Watts, hairdresser).

The early days of the north wing, part of which was developed later, included a Chinese food outlet, Neighbourette laundrette, Wright's grocery, Kristian ladies' hairdresser, Norbury greengrocer, and the double-fronted corner shop was held by Victoria Wine.

Phase two of the southern wing showing a double unit occupied by Barclays Bank, which went
on to be joined by Lloyds Bank in the same block. Both have now left.
COURTESY BARCLAYS ARCHIVE

Phase one and phase two blocks on the south side taken c2012.  Opposite are the branch library,
community centre, M&S Food Hall (formerly The Baton PH) and Sainsbury's Local.

The south wing's double fronted unit launched with Giffen's Electrical (although this was soon followed by Darby's Radio and then Sherriff's Garden Shop).  The rest of the lineup included Micheline de Paris ladies' hairdresser, Drummonds toys and sports, Martin's newsagent and Post Office, Allen's hardware, Marshalswick Motors, Marshalswick Carpets, and Terry Watts men's hairdresser.  This side also features branches of Barclays and Lloyds banks, and the estate office of T F Nash, later McGlashan & Co.

The long sweep of the front road began with a double unit in the centre: Marshalswick Car Sales, although this seemed to be a temporary arrangement as the company moved to a separate building fronting Marshalswick Lane where today's Sainsbury's Local and petrol forecourt is.  Bishops Stores nestled into the double unit by c1965.

A full page advertisement placed in the Herts Advertiser by the DIY shop
Edward Carter, who also had a shop in the parade at Beech Road.
COURTESY HERTS ADVERTISER

From left to right the early shops included R J Blindell, shoes; Josephine, newsagent; C J Martin, chemist; Edward Carter, hardware (today we would called it DIY); The Woolshop; Notts bakers; E Butler, butcher; Pearks Dairies; Gerrard, fruiters; Kingston butchers; E Wright, watch maker and repairer; Longman's baby shop; Alicia, drapers; Andrews, outfitters; Eastman, dry cleaners; Marshalswick Furnishing (although a cycle shop existed here for a short time).

The frontage view of The Quadrant seen from Marshalswick Lane.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

That's quite a range for everyday as well as more specialist  requirements. But how have our apparent needs of yesteryear become our apparent needs for today?  As in many places the hardware/ironmongery shops have disappeared to more distant warehouses on retail parks.  Our groceries have become more diverse – the size of Budgens is identical to earlier Bishops, although next door's McColls may, by the time you read this, have morphed into a Morrison's Daily, but Sainsbury, which once wanted to make a sizeable appearance at Jersey Farm, now occupies a prominent location close to another even more prominent position at M&S Food – for readers who have moved away from the district in recent years the Baton PH was located here.

If the definition of Local Shops is a location you could walk to, in the case of The Quadrant it rather depends on how fit you are. While the centre's car parks (plural) have always been busy the main function today appear to serve more distant visitors.  As for bus services, if you live halfway along Charmouth Road, or anywhere else in Old Marshalswick for that matter, you are effectively as far from local shops as the city centre.

We now appear to crave more food on the go, and although Fish and Chips had made an appearance from the earliest days, Subway and Greggs have been added to the list.  Not to mention a Chinese,  Italian, kebab, KFC and Molen's cafe.

Not surprisingly I suppose, the banks, of which there were two, are now absent.  On the other hand, no-one felt the need for an estate agent, but now there are four.  There are also three charity shops and a kitchen design service for the five thousand homes which are apparently looking more old fashioned since the 1960s.  

Whatever the mix there is bound to be plenty of variety and competition among over forty shops, much as there has been since this retail adventure launched in 1959, gradually replacing the ad-hoc trade provided by a small number of mobile shops and delivery vans.