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.
COURTESY ST ALBANS MUSEUMS

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,
COURTESY HERTFORDSHIRE ARCHIVES & LOCAL STUDIES

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.
COURTESY HERTFORDSHIRE ARCHIVES & LOCAL STUDIES

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.
COURTESY GOOGLE STREETVIEW

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.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

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.
COURTESY GOOGLE EARTH

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.