Piping a supply

This blog is all about Oaklands which these days is a very busy place, especially in term time as it is one of the homes of Oaklands College.  Most of us know it historically as the home of Oaklands Mansion, but I am sure most residents of the St Albans' east end districts have never seen it, hidden, as it is, by copious numbers of trees.  So, here it is to start off today's post – although it doesn't look like this in 2024.

An early pastoral scene of Oaklands Mansion. much is it would have inspired its first owner,
William Knight.
COURTESY HERTFORDSHIRE ARCHIVES & LOCAL STUDIES

 I was shown a version of a 25 inch map recently, specific to Oaklands, and discovered on it a feature which is not normally found on standard Ordnance Survey maps.  The map was published in 1919, timed to coincide with the sale of Oaklands Park by Hampton & Sons, Land and Property Auctioneers, at the behest of the County Land Agent.  Two elements were additional to the original Ordnance Survey: an area of 315 acres enclosing the Park was treated with a green colour wash, and the feature property, Oaklands Mansion, was highlighted in red.  The other addition was a network of black lines reaching out in several directions from the Mansion and its outbuildings, and labelled "approximate line of water pipe".  This network was limited to the Park area and was therefore self-contained, not connected to a public supply, for example, along Hatfield Road.

Oaklands Mansion (coloured red) and adjacent buildings – including its home farm homestead – 
as shown on the auctioneer's map of 1919.
COURTESY OAKLANDS COLLEGE ARCHIVE

In this section of the map the Home Farm homestead from the first map is now bottom right, 
and the long straight line identifies the "approximate line of water pipe".

Not surprising really for the beginning of the twentieth century, as there were few buildings of any kind eastward of Fleetville whose nearest and most recent homes barely reached where Queen's Court is located today.

In fact, the first owner of the nearest supply of fresh water, William Knight, would have been living on top of his very own well supply in the basement of the Mansion itself; a source which undoubtedly predated its early nineteenth  century construction and served the three dwellings (Threehouses) which had been so close to where the front of the Mansion was intended.  No doubt the structural condition of these three dwellings was poor and generally "got in the way" of the new house.  We can only speculate on the approximate age of the well, and as with many wells was probably deepened on occasions as the water table required.

When the water supply network was probably first laid in the late 19th century it was to better serve the Mansion and nearby kitchen gardens.  Such an improvement may have been in the time of Charles Dymoke Green.  One can imagine how an extension to provide a water supply to one or two of the nearby fields came a little later as the usefulness of a pipeline network became clear.  So, two branches were dug into the ground to the edge of fields east of the Mansion behind the small Hatfield Road fields, and close to the orchard and poultry area north of the kitchen gardens.

The long pipeline from the previous map eventually reaches the highest location of the
Park where a wind pump and tank (reservoir) was sited.  The pipeline was extended
westwards to serve Beaumonts Farm, though not Beaumonts cottages.

These feeds were gravity fed from a long section of pipe to a deep well on the highest point of the Park, where stood a wind pump, although the map labels it as a windmill.  This stood atop a tank, or reservoir – the map uses the latter term, although this was demolished once the house and park were connected to the public supply.

There is some confusion about the terminology: is a windmill or a wind pump?  Mills are often the favoured term, unless it is a mechanism for using wind power to directly lift water from below ground for storage and later consumption.  These are generally simpler mechanisms for use in remote landscapes on farms, often with up to eight blades, as at Oaklands.  Other definitions are available!

To transport the collected water gravity is used but the length of pipe from the pump to the Mansion and eastern fields was considerable.

Beaumonts Farm homestead when the pipeline reached it. The building was located close to the
junction of Woodland Drive north and Central Drive.

Once Mr Fish had acquired Beaumonts and it was realised its farm was still reliant on a well near the homestead – close to the junction of today's Central Drive and Woodland Drive, and the inefficiency of the supply was recognised, Fish had a separate pipeline connected to the hilltop pump.

The new pipe descended east-south-easterly towards the park boundary.  It would have been known in 1919 that Oaklands' interest in Beaumonts Farm was of limited duration; it was already gradually being broken up for development.   So there was no need to inform potential purchasers of the Park what lay below ground beyond the boundary.  Only the Park was for sale. The probable route across Beaumonts land was directed along field boundaries and through woodland tracks, the final leg traversing what is now Central Drive.  It is possible some of the water supply fed existing ponds at the Woodland Drive junction, the site of the former moat.

For most of their very early histories the moated house and manor house were undoubtedly served independently, from the nearby stream at the foot of what is now Eaton Road, and then a well, at least once deepened, near to the homestead where Irene Stebbings House is located.  We are informed that the supply was not of certain quantity to serve the tenant farmhouse, and so was deepened once more.  

A disagreement flared when the land agent arranged to the Beaumonts water supply to be charged for since the farm house and Beaumonts Farm were no longer part of the Oaklands estate and were due to transfer to new ownership, Herts County Council, in 1919.  Tenant Mr Coombs refused to pay for the piped water, and decided instead to call in the professionals who deepened his well once more.  And that is where the matter rested until demolition of the farm house in 1938 for the Beaumont north estate development, the well being permanently capped. 

Yes, Oaklands Grange is now full of houses, but the circled spinney hides the former location 
of the wind pump and its reservoir.  Here is the highest point of the former Park.

The pipeline itself may no longer be visible and the pump contraption is long gone, but we can trace where it had been.  And those who can do so most easily live at Oaklands Grange, on the south side of Sandpit Lane.  Walk up Osprey Drive from Sandpit Lane.  Where its name changes to Eagle Way, turn eastwards to face a shrubbery not cleared for housebuilding.  You may still find pieces from the former tank which stored water pumped by wind from the aquifer below the highest location of the park.  Present residents will be aware of the wind strength near the top of this exposed slope.  That was just the right location for a wind pump!

Been here before

 There have been five public houses within striking distance of the centre of Fleetville during its history: in no particular order, the Rats' Castle, the Bunch of Cherries, the Crown, the Camp and the Baton.  All have had their periods of success; all have struggled at some point to remain viable businesses; all pulled pints under the auspices of more than one owning company in their time, two are no longer trading – the Camp and the Baton, and one succeeded in remaining viable under a change of name; the latter opened for fifty years as the uniquely titled Bunch of Cherries before its new owner, Greene King, rebranded the premises the Speckled Hen.  And the Crown has soldiered on since the 1890s with little controversy, changing its pattern of offering according to the needs of the day.

The Rats' Castle in its Benskins guise on the corner of Hatfield Road and Sutton Road.
Its original design was by St Albans' architect Percival Blow.

In the past few days Star Pubs & Bars Ltd, which is part of the Heineken Group, has announced a rebranding of the Rats' Castle.  It is probably too early to pick up much feedback from the Rats' regular customers, but one aspect of the refresh of probable interest to the wider group of Fleetville residents is a change of name to become the Old Toll House.

Concept image of the building and badged as the Old Toll House
COURTESY STAR PUBS & BARS LTD

We have, of course, been here before.  The Rats' Castle had first opened as a Benskin's house, before its Watford brewery site closed down in the late fifties, although the company continued with its properties division.  The pub was later snapped up by Ind Coope and then absorbed into Allied Breweries.  It is uncommon for incoming owners to respect any local traditions; they usually feel the need to "put their own stamp" on their acquisition.  Alternatively, existing landlords occasionally give their properties a facelift in the expectation of an increased valuation at sale.

One of the hanging sign designs produced by Benskins for its property in Sutton Road.

So, where have we been here before? Under the umbrella of Ind Coope the company adjusted signal name by making it a little snappier.  Down came the hanging sign for the Rats' Castle, to be replaced by The Castle.  Both had pictorials depicting an imagined castle, but the rodents were clearly the problem as they had completely disappeared.  It was an attempt to sanitise the story.  

The short-lived design which replaced rats with a mounted horse and gave dominance to a moated
castle.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

However, many residents felt an attachment to the story as it stood.  In fact, it was not just a fiction or a legend; it was based on fact, even though the account evidence is hard to find, and relates to the structural condition of an abandoned building in which every passer by in the late 19th century apparently became aware of the rodents having made their home in the unattended thatched roof of what had been a former, but short-lived toll house.  The period which had given the sobriquet to the Beaumonts farm field against the future Sutton Road, would soon be growing homes instead of grass; because there were no key buildings of any kind nearby. Rats' Castle was used to identify that little part of Hatfield Road; and when the houses arrived the name Castle Road was selected to access them.

When the time came to name a pub to serve the growing community this name was a given, even though if someone back then had suggested the Castle on the basis there was already a tangible label in place, I wouldn't have been surprised if the Company had selected it.  But this was a period of quirky labels like the Three Headed Pig, the Nobody Inn or the Jolly Taxpayer!  So Rats' Castle it became.

The company's current intentions simply remove the Rats' reference altogether and turn to the actual function of the little building which arrived two building generations earlier: to clarify, the turnpike toll house came first, to be followed by a house named Primrose Cottage, and finally the public house designed by local architect Percival Blow.

It began its life with Whitbread as the Bunch of Cherries; its location
formerly was known for its nearby cherry orchard at Winches Farm.  Under
Greene King the company unashamedly named its acquisition after one
of its branded beers.  In fact, copyright protection prevented its continued
use as the Bunch of Cherries.

You might or might not recognise it, but this is a concept montage of interiors of what will be
the Old Toll House, presently the Rats' Castle.
COURTESY STAR PUBS & BARS LTD

The Old Toll House is a perfectly respectable title for a public house, and it's story is based on fact.  Unique, however, it is not. Up and down the country restaurants and public houses abound with references to the turnpike roads which passed their front doors.  If not Toll House or Old Toll House there are Toll Gates or an abbreviated the Gate or the Turnpike.  Just as the Bunch of Cherries at Oaklands was and remains unique, I have failed to located another Rats' Castle.

The Castle had a very brief existence; the volatility of residents, and I suspect the pub's regulars, were too attached to the given name and the earlier sign resumed its place within a matter of months, although with a new landlord appearing.  Will the Old Toll House have a longer, more permanent life than the Castle?  I suspect there will be locals who will still be referring to "the Rats'" or the "former Rats'" in a generation's time – as long as the business lasts that long.

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

Repeat Performance

 Long-standing residents of the eastern districts of St Albans and who are familiar with the St Albans' Own East End website, may have recalled the section about a little cinema in Fleetville which never got to open; there is also a chapter about the building in the book St Albans' Own East End Volume 1: Outsiders.  You might like to refresh your memory about the events before reading on here.

The main character in the story, which took place during 1912 and 1913, was Russell Edwards who had arrived in St Albans at the time and took residence of a house in Granville Road, now among the houses later replaced by Cotsmoor and W O Peake, manufacturing coat makers.

A version of the "tin church" type of demountable building popular at the start of the 20th
century. To be put together at the corner of Hatfield Road and Tess Road (now
Woodstock Road South), but never completed.
COURTESY HERTFORDSHIRE ARCHIVES & LOCAL STUDIES

Briefly, Edwards took a lease on a site in Fleetville where, since the 1930s was built the Post Office, and still trading as such. His imagination encouraged him to open a little cinema and manage the enterprise – or so he informed everyone – and his intention was to make use of the funds of others in the enterprise.

Edwards had not only acquired the site; possibly a dubious claim, but he advertised in the national press: ""Partnerships – Advertiser requires about £200 to acquire fully equipped picture theatre, now running. Has taken £30 weekly; electric plant, seat 450; expenses nominal; no opposition."

None of the claims was true: this was to be an enterprise based on deceit.  Yes, he had a site, and yes he had acquired a building – a second-hand structure formerly a small meeting hall; but this was in pieces awaiting workmen to put it together.  He had no knowledge of the building's capacity, and from the drawing made by a St Albans' designer and architect there would probably been seating for less than half that which our entrepreneur had claimed.  Of course, if the structure had not yet been erected how could the costs and profits have already been known?

For the deceits which Edwards committed he was brought to court in St Albans, one of many such visits he made on various matters. Even spent time in prison. The court had to decide how various creditors were to be paid what was owed to them. Edwards was committed for trial at the next Assizes on a charge of perjury, given that he had made many false claims about his affairs to the court. 46-year-old Edwards pleaded guilty and was committed to prison for a period of fourteen days.

The completed Palace Theatre, Mill Street, Luton in 1913.
SOURCE UNKNOWN

Residents of Luton would already have been aware Russell Edwards had form, for before he moved to St Albans he had been planning a somewhat larger development project in the centre of Luton, where he aspired to build a "large theatre and place of entertainment" to be called the Palace Theatre, 17 Mill Street, today a road of apartments and hotels near the rail station.  Number 17 was acquired by a mortgage syndicate, led by Managing Agent Russell Edwards as its managing person. The cost was projected to be £20,000

As in St Albans a case of bankruptcy was heard, as well as one of contempt.  The bankruptcy was to be answered, not by Edwards, but by an investor who had been enthusiastic enough to answer an advertisement published by Edwards in the Daily Telegraph, requesting investments of £750 to put into a profitable and successful new place of entertainment. A Mr R G Byers was, possibly, the first and maybe only investor, upon much would be expected, and he would become the unfortunate one in the dock with much of his property now in the hands of the Sherriff.

Edwards, who was expected to produce numerous documents to the court absented himself on occasions, with excuses for being away or ill in bed, eventually being summonsed for contempt of court.  He appeared to be adept at manipulating others to become responsible for payments or documents for which he himself was legally responsible and often benefited.

One end of Cowper Road, Harpenden, where Russell Edwards was building a house for
himself and family, partly using materials taken from the site of a theatre development in
Luton for which Edwards was responsible for managing.  It is also alleged that he returned
some of those materials before he "got found out"!
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

He also appropriated large quantities of building materials from the theatre site after proper delivery had been made and signed for, to be dispatched to a house site in Cowper Road, Harpenden, which he was building for himself and his family.

As to the advertisement's claim of a successful theatre, there was no company, no theatre, not even a site for one; only an option to purchase the site had been agreed.  But one document which did come to light was an apparent agreement between Byers and Edwards stated that, following completion of the place of entertainment, Edwards would take 1000 guineas per annum from the income of the Palace.

At least the theatre was completed, for advertisments began appearing by
mid-1913 in the Luton Reporter newspaper.

Mill Street today, showing where the Palace had been; close to where the photograph
above had been taken. The cream building is a hotel today.  The Palace occupied the
 right half of the cream site.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

How could Edwards have been free to continue his rather dodgy business dealings just one year later and in a different town?  And what was his penance for for sing benefactor Myers into bankruptcy while creating/arranging so many apparently falsely composed documents, while stealing quantities of building materials for his own personal gain?