Shirley Road

 Shirley Road, a cut-de-sac, was recently included in my blog about pocket spaces in the public realm, for the grassed area between its two rows of homes.  Today I am taking a more detailed look at how Shirley Road came about, which includes an area of land considerably beyond the road itself, and is connected with the acquisition of land for the Midland Railway and the purchase of nearby land for the County Gaol. It is not surprising most residents have little idea of the road and its location, although more of us sweep past it, probably without realising, as we take a short cut from Victoria Street bridge onto Grimston Road, en route to Camp Road via Breakspear Avenue or Flora Grove.

And, as you will notice, no map shows the structure of the prison within the boundary walls.  It was a security issue!

The site of the former prison hugs the Midland Railway at St Albans City Station.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

The acquisition of land for the prison by the authority prompted the eventual development of a much large area, a neat line having been separated for a second railway line.  The 1878 map illustrates the issue; the sloping boundary extends to Camp Road and the land holding had already been intersected on its eastern boundary for the laying of the Hatfield & St Albans Railway.  Post-sale the remaining acreage, which, by then may have been a single field, was known as Gaol Field, the north-east (Camp Road) section acquired first of all by orchid king Frederick Sander and then sold on for housing – the Breakspear estate – in the 1930s.  The field section adjacent to the then-new Midland Railway soon became the property of the Corporation, although the prison may have retained ownership initially, possibly until the closure of the gaol c1915.

The same location in 1898
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

The same location in 1924
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

Thew same location in 1937
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

By 1922 when an updated edition of the OS map was surveyed the new owner, presumed to be the corporation,  divided its apportionment into two blocks; the south-west block became a nursery, preparing plants for transfer to public spaces including Clarence Park.  The north-east block helped to expand the city's estate of allotments.   A separate block of allotments was developed adjacent to the Midland railway and possibly the residual land belonging to it.  Today this is part of the Charington Place multi-storey car park and flats.

With private enterprise housebuilding came the development the Breakspear estate; the city council created a small number of semi-detached homes of its own in the 1930s, using the former nursery and allotments.  Remains of the former layout was carefully preserved as a narrow strip of allotment gardens, today called the Shirley Road allotments which lies between Shirley Road and Flora Grove.

If we compare the 1937 OS map and today's aerial photo it appears clear that the Shirley Road estate was not quite completed; left vacant is a space on the south-west side where up to ten homes were never built; possibly a shortage of council funds or termination of building at the beginning of World War 2.

The Shirley Road Civic Restaurant after closure c1955.  I have discover no further image of
this building.
COURTESY THE HERTS ADVERTISER

Shirley Road car park.  In the background are the modern buildings which have replaced the
prison cell blocks not shown on the OS maps.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Today a car park and a re-alignment of Shirley Road occupies the unused space.  For a few years at the end of World War 2 a temporary building was placed here and used as a civic restaurant, augmenting the service offered at the former Civic Hall (formerly called Market Hall) behind St Peter's Street at the former Cattle Market.  A lot of buildings no longer extant!

The Shirley Road Civic Restaurant continued as a useful community building and was rented by the County Council for the preparation of school meals until 1955. The restaurant undoubtedly served parts of the Camp and Fleetville district well, with its subsidised meals for factory employees.

Midland Railway skirts the left edge.  The empty Shirley Road car park sits diagonally in the
lower left of the view and Shirley Road is to its right, with a loop at the south-eastern end, looking much like a needle.
Victoria Street bridge and the rail station are in the top left corner.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

So, who was Shirley, to be commemorated or recognised in the name of one of the city's roads?  James Shirley was a 17th century playwright and poet, and was a Master of St Albans School. 

Next time I'll explore what came to be known as the Electric Estate.