Next Generation of ...

 In the early years of post-war St Albans three areas of land were being prepared for new purposes so that small industrial plots in the city centre could be cleared from their small back-street plots homes.  Two of the three new sites would be out in the fresh air of our East End and the third just beyond the railway tracks at what we came to know as Porters Wood, previously slated to become a cemetery.  The remaining two were  both along or very close to Hatfield Road; the previous Butterwick Wood and farm would variously become known as Lyon Way, Acrewood Way and Alban Park. The third location has become Brick Knoll Park, although the early signposts labelled it Ashley Road.

In all three cases the intention was to remove large industrial vehicles from the narrow city streets and provide greater breathing space for shops, offices and homes.  The dedicated sites in outer locations would provide plenty of room for expansion.

The roots of Brick Knoll Park can be traced to the later years of the 19th century.  A large Beaumonts Farm field close to a spring line was a challenge to work, heavy to manage and was eventually left fallow.  When a major portion of the farm was sold for development in 1899, Hither Bridge Field was offered for use as a brickworks.  After all, development meant houses and factories, and they all required bricks. Bricks were expensive to transport long distances in those early days of motorised vehicles, one reason why brickfields were localised.

Part of the Owen brickworks c1930. See the first map below.  The treeline behind follows the top
of the railway embankment.  Owens had also taken over operation of Hill End Brickworks
where, in 1939, Marconi Electronics began to lay out its own buildings. 
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The result became over forty years of occupation by the Owen family who already owned other brick manufacturing interests in Wheathampstead and Welwyn.  For much of Owen's early period their access to the site was limited to what is now Ashley Road, but then  was a muddy track from Hatfield Road to their site on the south side of a branch railway. Clay was dug from both sides of the track while a right of access track led onwards and through to Hill End Lane and its mental asylum and London Road.    

OS map surveyed 1922.  The branch railway crosses the top of the map.  The road
which is now Ashley Road curves from the top to bottom right.  The three
brickworks cottages next to the gravel pit, and the little railway carrying dug clay
towards the kilns top right.
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Although brickmaking continued by the same family for a short period from 1946 the City Council, periodically in search of holes in the ground to dump the city's waste from the bin day collections, made an agreement with Owen's and acquired its site.  The council continued to occupy the site until all pits were filled and capped, although this did not stop early industrial concrete and road plant businesses from leasing the Station Road end.  However, General Post Office (GPO) Telephones built their own local headquarters on the site of the previous brick kilns by the railway bridge. This is now another vehicle showroom business, Gates of St Albans.  The bridge at that time was  the original narrow hump back occupation structure; the current bridge was created as part of the ring road project in the 1960s.

The former cinder path trackway is now Ashley Road and all references to the brickworks,
including the cottages, have disappeared.  The first post-war businesses have arrived,
including the GPO Telephones local HQ and the Concrete Works.
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The former GPO has moved on and the building on stilts became a Ford car showroom
business.

The Vauxhall car showrooms and servicing have now moved on as well, signifying
a building awaiting a new lease of life.

The three cottages nearly opposite the end of Cambridge Road were demolished as a new access road, Brick Knoll Park, was laid onto the newly planned industrial estate, with vehicle servicing, car showrooms and distribution businesses soon occupying much of the estate, including the Royal Mail postal sorting building.  Development encompassed the entire site, and on the smaller part of the brickworks on the opposite side of Ashley Road.  

The boundary screen shields the empty car business which was behind and last there is some
evidence of progress.

Nothing in the commercial building world appears to stand still for very long, and as many residents have noted an extensive frontage plot, formerly car showrooms and servicing, has been fenced off for some time.  Recently extensive marketing has appeared for a replacement set of structures named Trade City.  This is a brand name for fully serviced walk-in buildings which are ready-to-go businesses, and the owner behind it, Kier Properties, has several Trade City sites across the country.

It reminds us of Ronnie Lyon's original post-war scheme to construct serviced structures in a suite of sizes to attract old town centre factories to better connected locations.  One of Lyon's sites appeared at Butterwick Wood nearby in Hatfield Road.  And the pattern has been widely replicated in recent decades to become the norm.

St Albans Trade City won't be hidden away at the back of Brick Knoll Park; it will rise from the ground and turn heads in full view of passing traffic.  And one of the features?  Naturally, electric vehicle recharging points!  Now, Ronnie Lyon didn't think of that, although he may have ensured there was a petrol filling station nearby where possible.

Kier Property has recently announced its arrival and intention to re-develop the former Vauxhall site
shown within the red line.  This is one of a series of concept images of the anticipated
10-unit premises planned and to be known as St Albans Trade City
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This concept image shows the two buildings from Brick Knoll Park.  The units are
expected to be available from 2026.
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A wide-ranging list of environmental conditions have been met in respect of materials, energy, solar PV panels, full-life recycling, cycle storage and electric vehicle re-charging.  Gosh, we can't even mandate house builders to include any of these when they are developing their latest homes for people!  In marketing the site's location a few of the target bullet point include ability to reach local(ish) routes which may be a little wide of the mark – which suggests they were road tested in the middle of the night: Ashley Road to the A1(M) in 8 minutes could be a little tight, as could the anticipated  12 minutes to reach M25 junction 21, both of which are heavily dependant on a free-flowing North Orbital.

Open back council rubbish trucks negotiating the Cinder Track may be a distant memory, as are the long-gone Brick Kiln cottages, but a fresh appearance and business opportunity for what was once called the Ashley Road Industrial Estate will be welcome, and hugely better than the long row of blue site panels.

Street Plates 9

 This month we'll kick off with one obvious road name and one hidden example.  A very long road – between St Peter's Street and Popefield Farm carving its way through our East End and which has, for centuries, been known as the Hatfield road, now just Hatfield Road.  It almost seems too obvious, but as one of the oldest of our roads we have to discount the reference solely to Hatfield town, for that refers to the 1950s New Town, often referred to at the time of its development as Hatfield New Town, naturally.  There had been a settlement in existence long before then, called Hatfield, the newest development having been created astride St Albans Road and named Newtown (obviously!).

The Dury & Andrews (1766) map: the road to Hatfield from locally named Cock Lane from
St Albans, top left, through the future Fleetville, Beaumonts and Winches, leaving the map lower
right.  A typical surface of the period below.

However, a settlement far old than either of these grew at the foot of a hill along the North Road close to the location of the Palace belonging to the Bishops of Ely.  Naturally the usual trades to service such a palace grew around it, and this little settlement became known as Bishops Hatfield; it is understood it also became known as Kings Hatfield.  As the number of travellers along the North Road grew in the "age of travel" Bishops Hatfield was also the natural stopping and resting stage for passengers, their drivers and horses, inns and hotels grew astride the road.

So, Hatfield on the street plates have in mind different places through the centuries.  And this includes passing though the toll gates en-route towards what we now refer to as Hatfield House and the nearby Old Fiddle toll point.  Of course, the road we name Hatfield Road only takes us halfway there; roads being two-way mean travellers from Hatfield also use the same road to reach St Albans.  Hence from New/Old/Even Older Hatfield the road as far as Smallford is named St Albans Road West.

Driving, cycling or travelling on the uno bus along the above named Hatfield Road with the Butterwick industrial and retail area on our right, we eventually arrive at what was once referred to as Smallford Cross Roads (now a roundabout anyway), we'll notice Glinwell Nurseries.  But the road on the left, opposite Station Road, has a fairly recent naming: Oaklands Lane. Until the early post-war period the road was far from straight to the west of Smallford hamlet.  Unlit at night and close to one of the exits (East Lodge) from the Agricultural College, previously the Agricultural Institute. It was considered important to simplify the road layout and straighten the roadway, and widen the carriageway at the same time. 

Oaklands Lane, formerly Sandpit Lane, from top left to bottom right, but before the 1960s
the lower part of the current triangle did not exist.  All traffic turned left, then right before
making its way towards Hatfield Road.
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A section of the former road as it passed where glasshouse once shone in the sunshine.
A modern two-way road needed to be significantly wider than this!

This, of course did nothing for the name of the road, although it was possibly an opportunistic moment for "cutting a ribbon" on the widening and straightening project.  For centuries the name (although  no street plate was probably ever used) was Sandpit Lane.  Yes, the same Sandpit Lane which begins at Stonecross, the one-time town's boundary.

Sandpit Lane in the mid 20th century, therefore suddenly lost about a mile of its traditional length, finishing at its junction with Coopers Green Lane.  Between there and Hatfield Road it received a new label, signifying a new world for the County Council's newly named  agricultural establishment; Oaklands Agricultural College – though you would probably never realise it.

You will come across Starlight Way if you are spending some time in Highfield and its relaxing park and woodlands.  And you will discover that much of the site which was Cell Barnes Hospital is now modern housing with road names celebrating former members of staff and wards.  After all, any hospital fails miserably without dedicated people within its medical and caring departments, who are occasionally celebrated.

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But if that is all a hospital – of any type – aspires to be it fails to address the needs of the human condition of all who are part of that community, including its need for patients and staff alike to relax.  The benefits of meeting on different terms, crossing the formal staff and patient boundaries.  In the heart of Cell Barnes was a recreation hall.  It was just a straightforward multi-activity space, for parties, entertainments, concerts, dances, competitions, films.  Next door was a canteen to extend further its range of uses, originally simply named the Recreation Hall.  On the retirement of Cell Barnes first Medical Superintendent, Noel Burke, the hall received a change of name.

A welcoming entry into Highfield from Highfield Lane. Walk right towards Puddingstone
Drive and Church Croft.

However, it was the growth and success of the staff Starlight Club, which prompted the location's more unusual nickname.  How could Highfield's eventual housing developer therefore not recognise the most amazing meeting place within the hospital.  Hence the key entry road from Highfield Lane leads us to the erstwhile centre of friendship and fun.  This is Starlight Way.

We might initially be reminded of Oliver Goldsmith, one-time poet and writer.  But this particular Goldsmith played a key role in the life of de Havilland Aircraft Company: Walter Goldsmith.  He didn't design or build aircraft, nor was he an employee of the Company, but he and his wife did find themselves in the right place at the right time.

Artist Walter Goldsmith can even claim one of the more insignificant references in Sir Geoffrey de Havilland's autobiographical Sky Fever.  After much intense activity during the company's occupation of the historic Salisbury Hall from 1939 much work would be needed to restore the building.  Mr and Mrs Goldsmith arrived, took a liking to the Hall, purchased it from de Havilland's in 1947, and moved in.

We need to remind ourselves that all of the early development work and the prototype Mosquito aircraft had been undertaken in great secret in the rooms of the Hall and in its outbuildings (which incidentally, no longer exist, being replaced by the current hangers of the Mosquito Museum.  In the busyness of wartime and the advancement of the Mosquito's family of models at the company's  Hatfield buildings, the significance of the Mosquito's beginning and  was fading in the late forties.  The intensity of work had such a draining effect after six years of war.

Walter knew nothing of the previous owners, and as part of his attempts to renovate the Hall he had purchased he met William Baird of De H and slowly the wartime story of the Hall was revealed.  Baird had, it seems gone against company policy instructing the burning of the developmental aircraft and instead arranged for its secret removal into hiding nearby in Hatfield.  The two men worked well together and Goldsmith agreed to home the prototype Mosquito back at his home, Salisbury Hall, effectively saving the prototype aircraft from material oblivion.  For this, he has a road named after him, the roadway which had been the main entrance to the company's premises, past the art-deco style gatehouse – and to the right today the police headquarters. Goldsmith Way services many of today's buildings, especially those lining Comet Way, just as it had done when de Havilland's had occupied the site.  

Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate a road named after Bill Baird! So I guess the road-naming honour can be shared between these two enterprising men of the Peace period.  Why not BAIRD-GOLDSMITH WAY!

Brampton as it was

"The Alley" is still used, though less so in recent decades, from the eastern end at the 
Beechwood/Beaumont junction with Hatfield Road.  It had been a popular children's
route to Fleetville School.
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Of course, none of us has a personal memory of today's Brampton Road as we might have walked along it just as Fleetville was beginning.  From the junction of Beachwood Avenue and Hatfield Road there remains a footpath with no formal name – used to be given the local name "The Alley" although until the 1890s the path was effectively an open way across the corner of a Beaumonts farm field and onto land belonging to Earl Spencer. It was, however, a direct path to St Peter's Church.  

Emerging at the new homes being planned along Burnham Road, the St Albans Council was asked by the house builder for permission to alter the line of the path to ensure the new proposed roads and gardens could be tidily laid out.  Between Tess Road (now Woodstock Road South) and Brampton Road consent was given to alter the route of the trackway via Princes Road (now also Woodstock Road South) and the lower part of Brampton Road.  A section of the former track edge is still visible as the very much not straight northern boundary of Fleetville Infants School's playground.

Fortunately, the trackway between here and the Midland Railway, including York Road and, of course the occupation bridge, still present as York Road bridge (as many football regulars can attest), was quite straight.  The function of the pathway or track was, until the houses arrived, for agricultural use, and its ultimate destination for many parishioners, St Peter's Church.  So, apart from "The Alley", the school boundary and York Road Bridge, there is little remaining of the former trackway.  The first homes on Brampton's south side. built on the Slade building estate, were between Sandfield and Harlesden roads, gradually spilling eastwards towards towards Princes Road.  Unlike many paths and lanes this track often aims for the corners of adjoining fields. 

The road near the right edge are the two Woodstock Roads; the parallel roads are Brampton
Road (top) and Burnham Road (lower); Harlesden Road at the left edge. The Alley emerge
onto Woodstock Road South bottom right.  From then until the orange line follows 
Brampton Road, the trackway is hidden beneath the homes built in the first decade of the
twentieth century.
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If you had wondered why the high-numbered houses on the south side of Burnham Road are of widely different ages this is the point where the track approaches it from the west side of Tess Road.  It continued across to the north side of Burnham Road, aiming diagonally in a straight line towards Brampton Road turning westwards close to Harlesden Road.

A view southwards from the Ninefields towards Brampton Road in c1916.  Senior children from
local schools maintained allotments here where today is Verulam School.
Though not very clear the field hedge can be seen, together with a few trees – one hundred
years ago!
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Brampton Road looking towards Clarence Road from the Harlesden Road junction c1920.
The nest junction is Sandfield Road where the entrance to Verulam School now is.
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The same view today.
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A photograph taken from this junction c1920 and looking west shows a fully mature tree on the north side of the road.  Within another five years the Spencer estate will have been laid out, and the tree, which is been Sandfield and Harlesden roads will have made way for School House.  It is sometimes difficult to be exact as modern camera lenses have different focal lengths.

If we focus next on the Clarence Road end of Brampton Road, and on the north side, one aspect of the street scene becomes obvious: the size of the fully mature trees in the front gardens – these are not street trees but have effectively become street trees.  The corner house – actually in Clarence Road – was only one of five houses on Brampton's north side until the 1920s.  A semi-detached pair 1 and 3, and St Paul's Church Vicarage.  The fifth, opposite Glenferrie Road, on a wide plot has been demolished in the modern era to insert three replacements.

In number 1 lived retailer Luke Pelly in 1922, and Mr and Mrs Garrett moved into number 3 in the same year; a semi-detached pair.  But there is a delightfully designed corner house at the Clarence Road junction, with views both along Clarence Road to the south and along York Road.  More recently part of its rear garden was released for two additional detached houses.  The Garratts at number 3 were associated with  the former Trinity Church in Beaconsfield Road and they invited members of the church Women's group to their house for a social event.  A photograph appeared in the Herts Advertiser to illustrate just what one hundred people might look like, the number estimated to be present.  Mindful of the size of the house – and assuming the weather was kind enough to meet out of doors – there were two vacant plots to the right of number 3; with or without specific permission this event must surely have taken place at least partly on the additional land!  The next occupied house at the time was the Vicarage at number 9.

The first two houses are modern garden plots, followed by numbers 1 and 3, and 
likely hedgerow trees from the former track.

Numbers 1 and 3.  In 1925 the space occupied by the house on the right was an vacant
area of land.  It was undoubtedly this which enabled such a large gathering (see below).

A group of around one hundred people gathered, all from Trinity Church, at the home of 
their host at number three, and undoubtedly at the future garden next door!
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For the length of the majority of the street Brampton Road was laid directly on the track.  The few ancient trees surviving are all hedgerow trees on the Spencer estate.  If there had been trees on the Slade estate side it is inevitable these would have been offered for sale as standing timber in advance of development in order to benefit the development costs.

A majestic hedgerow tree in a post hedgerow era.

It is therefore still possible to walk the original trackway for almost the full distance, except for that short street diversion along Burnham Road and part of and Harlesden Road, as shown on the aerial photograph.  And once you have reached the railway the council have even thoughtfully provided a pedestrian crossing to walk Manor Road and a short distance of St Peter's Road where a handy footpath – undoubtedly also the original trackway – to reach the churchyard of St Peter's Church.  So there's more to The Alley than we possibly realised.

What a Waste

 You have probably driven eastwards along a road from St Albans and considered its straightness; not absolutely straight as in a ruler, but as good as straight gets in these days and times.  We associate such straightness with roadways created by the Romans.  I'm not sure whether it is possible to proved this latter point – indeed its age may even extend even further back in time.  But for the purpose of this post we will assume "'tis olde!"  This is Sandpit Lane. As with Sandridge Road there has been an oddity about the ownership of land along at least some sections of Sandpit Lane.  On the south side of the lane between Stone Cross and the railway bridge; and eastwards of the bridge on both sides of the lane there are still "wastes", the name  given to the ultra wide verges behind the kerb line.

Don't look too closely if you're driving, but in sections of Sandpit Lane there are wide and 
lengthy distances of open space alongside the road.  In former centuries you may have found these 
useful en-route to St Albans.  Once open grazing they are now mainly wooded.

The Wastes, as they are known, are important to the Council, 
for they belong to us all, as confirmed by a reminder notice issued
in 1914 in response to mis-use at the time.
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For as long as has been recorded these roadside wastes have existed under common law for the use of drove animals being moved from one place to another, including to market, and to protect their legal status a local by-law under the Commons Act, 1899, was created in advance of expected twentieth century developments for such roadside strips of land which lay beyond fenced farmland.

Until 1898 the land south of Sandpit Lane was part of Earl Spencer's St Peter's Farm, after which
a number of wealthy individuals gradually acquired plots of various widths.  On the north side of 
the lane the estate of the Marten family was eventually sold in c1926 and housing development
on the land was handled by agents Simpson Lock and Vince. This OS map is dated 1922 and is
therefore still grazing up to the hedge line,
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By the next map revision, 1939, one or two more homes have appeared to the south – two more 
side roads from Earl Spencer's own housing estate had appeared.  But how did he manage to
obtain permission to cross the Wastes?  Meanwhile to the north, the same issue was partly
solved in a rather different way.
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In particular, the Council probably had in mind the section of Sandpit Lane between the railway and the hill approaching Hall Heath.  In the photograph below, facing eastwards, the northern limit of St Peter's Farm on the right, which was offered to the market in c1898.  On the left was the "back door" of Marshalls Wick House and its grounds, also about to go the same development way, even though a sale of the estate did not proceed for a further twenty-five years.  Nevertheless, it was anticipated both sides of Sandpit Lane would eventually be lined with impressive houses, and because of the value of the land the properties built would also attract substantial values.  

The issue for the council did not appear to be the appearance of homes themselves, but how to access them.  The plots, and therefore the homes built on them, would stand behind the wastes.  In order to bring vehicles from Sandpit Lane to each plot, builders, and subsequently the owners themselves, would need to cross the adjacent waste which neither had the legal right to do.  

To the south of the lane the waste finished at the foot of Hall Heath hill, but they were deeper on that side.  On the north side one group of homes benefitted from a common access drive.  Nevertheless, unless the wastes were discontinuous at this point the common access left and re-entered Sandpit Lane to enable legal access to each home in the group.  The legality of "jumping the gap" from a public road to a house owner's acquired building plot took time to resolve.

Sandpit Crescent was a solution for a number of adjacent property owners, where they
jointly created their own private driveway at the front of their plots.  However, it is not
certain how they gained permission to join their drive to the lane at each lane.
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Sunderland Avenue joined the lane from the south, and the Spencer Estate made the connection
through the Wastes – presumably with permission.

On the former St Peter's Farm, owner Earl Spencer was anxious to connect his roads northwards of Brampton Road to Sandpit Lane.  First connecting Clarence Park Road and Sandpit Lane with a new Upper Clarence Road, and then reserving two strips to ensure his future estate could also connect with Sandpit Lane.  These strips would become Sunderland Avenue and Churchill Road.  It seems that Earl Spencer was able to ensure his roads crossed the wastes legally, presumably because, when completed, his roads would be dedicated as public highways.  Now heavily wooded the open ground would traditionally have been regularly cropped by grazing animals.  The land was at its widest between Clarence Road and Churchill Road, before swiftly giving out to enable the plot boundaries to reach the back of the footpath. 

On the north side of the lane the wastes continue further east and finally give out opposite The Dell, although before development this was was the location of Home Wood which further delayed building until the final full stop at Wick Wood.  

Simpson Lock & Vince agency handled the development of the Marshalls Wick estate with new homes in Marshals Drive from 1932 and the north side of Sandpit Lane from 1936.  

Them the air the lines and groups of trees behind the kerb are part of the historic Sandpit Lane
Wastes.
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Some of the plots to the south have since been sub-divided, in particular at The Dell (the
grey C-shaped block) and in the area of Monks Horton Way.  To the north several homes have
been extended on their original plots, although there has been an occasional additional house,
especially near Homewood Road.
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On the south side it took five years for the first property, The Dell, to be occupied and to appear in the next Kelly's Directory in 1903.  The Dell was under the ownership of Thomas Grimwood. On the farm boundary the next three adjacent houses between Clarence Road and the future Sunderland Avenue were first occupied in 1908.  Store owner William Page moved into his new home, Monks Horton in 1914.  It took until 1956 and 1960 for the next homes to appear on either side of Churchill Road.  And the two major developments were latest of all at The Dell and Monks Horton Way.  So residential growth had taken around eighty years before we began to discover them as we know them today.

Street Plates 8

 More interesting details about some of the roads and streets around the residential and often quieter byways of eastern St Albans  But let's begin with an example which isn't in St Albans at all, although the parish of St Peter would have taken it right out to the ancient Harpsfield Hall – which along the way Hatfield's Harpsfield Way received its name.

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Built on acres which had been Harpsfield Hall Farm was de Havilland Aircraft Company; busily occupying thousands of employees during its busiest period through the 1930s to the 1950s, before merging with Hawket Siddeley and then British Aerospace.  Major developments have taken place in recent years on the former airfield site, and some of them include access roads and residential courts whose names celebrate well-known aircraft types from the de Havilland years.

One of the most celebrated marques was Tiger Moth, the name of which was given to a nearby street.  There had been at least two series of Moth aircraft, both bi-wing types, and very popular.  Probably over three thousand were manufactured during the 30s and 40s, to over 24 air forces and countless private operators. However, a derivative type was Queen Bee – clearly Geoffrey de Havilland's fascination for the insect world spilled over to his business world.  Queen Bee was a pilotless craft use for training and could be flown, drone-like by radio control.  In fact the current use of the word drone comes from a bee's style of flight.

In the exploratory world of the appliance of electricity for powering devices and lighting spaces this energy source was in its infancy at the dawn of the twentieth century.  Experimental installations were mainly restricted to small or relatively small buildings as controls and connectors (switches and sockets) had to be laid mainly on the surface of walls and ceilings, and the large bulky protectors (fuse cabinets) hidden away in out-houses and cupboards.  It was a disruptive task but a number of houses were constructed in which cabling was built in and hidden.

Bold plans for statement buildings, like office buildings, stores and hospitals saw the benefits of installing, mainly electricity for lighting.  The economics and efficiencies worked.  And so it was that Thomas Edison not only designed the installation for Hill End Mental Asylum, the building on the ground from 1899 onwards, but also designed and perfected electric light units – lighting bulbs to you and me.

Among the most difficult road names to explain are those selected by private developers on whims of fancy or places which have a meaning for their families.  In the case of Thirlmere Close it all began with Charles Hart's naming of three short roads on his New Camp Estate, one of which was Windermere Avenue, and it was this road which was later extended into what became known as the London Road estate.

So, not only did Windermere Avenue become triple its original length into the former allotment gardens but it gave a direct connection to Cell Barnes Lane and Drakes Drive.  Given the narrowness of the original road it was decided later to close off Windermere from Thirlmere for vehicles, reducing the former to its original length once more. But if you wish to wallow in thoughts and personal memories of England's Lake District there are other Lake District roads nearby too.

Another badged area of our country is Cambridgeshire. The developer, Arthur Ekins, of the Camp estate – formerly part of Beaumonts Farm until the 1890s – named roads he was then laying out, after features of the county of his birth.  Apart from the rather obvious Cambridge Road Mr Ekins also honoured the town, Royston, which lay astride the road which joins Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.  The road was, and still is, not any old highway but the strategically important Roman road linking London with York, Ermine Street. 

But more strategic than that and not content with one Roman road the town is at the crossroads of a second, Icknield Way.  So our Royston Road is not just a straight side road between Camp and Cambridge roads; it recognises a major Roman junction, which is just as important today, given that to ease the crossroad congestion the modern Icknield Way now steers north of Royston.  Did Roman roads have bypasses?  Well, they do now!

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 There is a little estate of roads which remains rather hidden from the busy life along London Road.  To discover it pass south-eastwards first under the impressive London Road railway bridge, and if, on the left, you come to Cunningham Avenue you travelled too far (start signalling when you reach the bridge).  This tucked away residential estate consists of the main feeder Colindale Avenue linking three short spurs, Kenton Gardens, Hordle Gardens and Orchard Close.  It might have become an extension of Dellfield, but didn't.  Instead it placed its face towards London Road.  Its developer was George Collins, whose business focus was in the suburbs of North London, hence, we suppose, the naming of Colindale and Kenton.  Perhaps we need to delve a little deeper for the naming of Hordle and Orchard, which will wait for another occasion.

Behind the Barrier

 It is always of interest walking or driving along Hatfield Road from Smallford towards and beyond Oaklands.  We have become used to the wide range of house types which have gradually appeared, most of them dating from before World War 2, and several infills in the post-war years.  Most have been good sized houses, and there have also been a fair sprinkling of bungalows – fewer today in the new century as redevelopments have taken place to maximise the floor area available.

Passing field-edge trees as we approach Colney Heath Lane from Smallford there are 
already a number of replaced modern homes – often two or three replacing a former single
property.
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Hatfield Road at the top, Colney Heath Lane to the left and St Yon Court offering access to
new housing on the shortened main road properties.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

This lengthy extension to Hatfield Road had come about when Hill End Farm was acquired for the building of what was then known as Hill End Asylum 125 years ago.  Some of the farm's northern acres were surplus to the hospital's requirements and in 1920 a strip was made available from the then eastern boundary of Beaumonts Farm all the way to Butterwick Farm.  And the latter also became available post war when that Farm was torn down for St Albans Sand & Gravel Company – St Albans Council taking the opportunity to expand the space for factories and warehouses nearer to Hatfield Road.

Although the pre-war house plots differed in their widths eventually some 90 varied properties were added to the street between near Ashley Road all the way to Ryecroft Court, named after the field on which those properties were built.

Small homes in St Yon Court occupying the edge of former Hill End Farm

For the past fifty years there have been several attempts at redevelopment by some of the earlier occupiers, especially of old-style bungalows, and by external developers attempting to make economic use of backlands which included portions of the extremely long rear gardens which are generally not required for private use today.  Pinewood Close, Cedarwood Close, Gresham Close and St Yeo Court are among the newer residential "conversion" layouts.  

The latest "look what we're building for you" panels to fence off the Hatfield Road frontage are at 480 and 482 where proposed building has received planning consent in the box enclosed by Hathaway Court, Hatfield Road, Colney Heath Lane and St Yon Court.

Of course much of this land has already been used up, but by modernising one existing property and demolishing another, four new houses will be added to the street scene; and improvements to the quieter street scene within St Yon Court are promised for its residents.

Since the late 1930s housing developments have also gobbled up the backlands, starting with Goodwin & Hart's Firwood estate which  removed much of the remaining Hut Wood to the east of Colney Heath Lane.  Most of the long rear Hatfield Road gardens nearby have been shortened to provide new housing opportunities from various access points, including Sewell Close, Rowan Close, Merryfields and St Yon Court. This block, which initially extended down to the former branch railway (now Alban Way) offers only increasingly limited new land for more residences.

Remember the impressive five-bar white gate?

More recently the gate becomes enveloped by its surrounding greenery.

The yet-to-be refreshed garden space from St Yon Court.
ABOVE THREE IMAGES COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Hence owners and developers looking at numbers 480 and 482 had two detached properties to shape into their new plans.  You will identify the location because as you approach Colney Heath Lane from  the industrial buildings and stores there has long been a white five-bar gate, now virtually permanently in an open position.  At this point you will have reached and passed Hathaway Court, not itself a route to backland development, merely a driveway to the rear parking for the flats at Hathaway Court itself.  

Number 480 Hatfield Road, the house with the white gate, lost most of its rear garden when St Yon Court homes came along, although the house itself is interesting in not simply being a square box.  And its neighbour at 482 is an equally interesting brick structure with architectural detailing.  

The temporary street scene showing the retained 482 and the now demolished 480.
COURTESY VIC FOSTER

The lower illustration shows the existing view, with the working site centred on the two
middle properties.  In the upper illustration number 482 is retained and three new 5-bedroomed
detached homes are now in build.  The extreme left property is next to Hathaway Court
and is not part of the development.
COURTESY WESTFIELDS DEVELOPMENTS

During the past few years the two houses together with their drives and side gardens have gradually disappeared behind the frontage greenery of trees and shrubs.  So much so that we were beginning to forget what remained behind.  Until, that is, the colourful panelling announced something was going on behind.  In time these few metres of narrow footpath and the bus stop nearby, will suddenly be revealed as a clean and more striking frontage.  Perhaps by the end of next year.