The Little Books 1

 In the author's book collection are a number of what might be termed "little books" about St Albans: small format slimlines containing a number of photographs.  Many are loosely themed – the Cathedral, St Peter's Street, churches, shops and so on.  Others are collected as "then and now" so that readers are able to compare scenes over a period of time.  The question to be asked is, how well represented are the eastern districts of the city?  While there exist quantities of subjects taken in the inner city streets, alleys and courts, it is certain that few photographers have ventured further than the distance between two consecutive bus stops in their search for enticing material.  So how to prove that assertion.

This week I took from the shelf Maurice Ferrara's little book St Albans Past & Present, published in 1982 (ISBN0950735221).  At the time of writing six copies are listed for sale under www.abebooks.co.uk.

The front cover has an engaging period pic of the Clock Tower, High Street and Cathedral Tower; a Clock Tower and Market Place monotone drawing also occupied the inner title page.  So that probably sets the tone.  It is not until page 32 that we break out of the 1835 town boundary and experience the first image in the remote yonder: a World War One training camp in London Road's Cunningham lower slopes. The second eastern photo shows the operational prison, but neither join in the book's design intention to show more recent versions of these two locations.

Fleetville's turn comes from page 58 onwards with a pair of images of The Crown (the first with the well-known tree and island), and a  street scene of Hatfield Road between Blandford and Glenferrie roads.  There follows the deceptive comparison between a carless Glenferrie Road and its more modern car tunnel equivalent.  Then there is the sixty years separating versions of Bycullah Terrace, Hatfield Road (including a rare inclusion of the Co-operative Store which replaced the former Ballito Hosiery Mill).

We are also rewarded with then and now pictures of the Nicholson coat factory in Sutton Road, the first including what might be the full contingent of employees at the time, and a little indirect evidence of the field opposite (now Campfield Road) which was still used as a  recreation field before the opening of Fleetville Recreation Ground now called Fleetville Park.

It is rewarding to see once more the often-seen photograph of pedestrians walking along the middle of Hatfield Road down towards the Beaumont Avenue junction – and the empty spaces beyond where houses would shortly be constructed; the modern version is surprisingly quiet at the same location, with no more than four cars visible!

There known to be east least two published images of troops making their way along Hatfield Road towards their training ground at Oaklands, or perhaps to the grounds of Hatfield House.  It is good to discover the version selected for publication is the lesser known of the two.  But its partner is not a more recent version of the same location, but a 1908 photograph of a carcass-hung frontage of Aberdeen House, the butcher shop then managed by Mr Steabben.

One more pair shows one of the most popular shots – in fact the only image of the Camp District in the book – of the Camp Hill hamlet.  Its modern equivalent reminds us just how long ago this little book was published (1982) for the Rubber Works still occupies the opposite site of the road; the Dexter development is still a few years away.

Near the end of this collection are are two pairs of pictures of Sandpit Lane which together demonstrate just how much east end growth has affected streetscapes at Hall Heath and Newgates.  Fortunately the author has found a glorious circus photograph, unfortunately not taken in any of the eastern locations where circuses so often pitched up.  But the circus is, at least, represented as a popular form of entertainment in the first half of the twentieth century.

Finally an open space pair shows scenes within Clarence Park.

Added pages include a sample front page of the Herts Advertiser & St Albans Times, and of a short-lived mid-week paper called the St Albans Clock Tower.  In 1906 there were just 135 telephone subscribers covered the whole of St Albans – just five of them in the eastern districts.  The entire directory fits on a single page of this book!

And that is it.  Nothing from Oaklands, nor Marshalswick.  No farms or detached hamlets were represented.  Either photographers were unadventurous or their work has not survived.

Urban village

A village is generally accepted as being a mainly self-contained settlement, quite distinct from a nearby larger town or city.  Although there is a general acceptance that villages are larger than hamlets, that being the main distinction, there is an understanding that a hamlet would not have a church, whereas a village would.  So, it is not the population but the level of cultural and social infrastructure which distinguishes the two.  So we have large villages, such as Wheathampstead, and tiny Childwick Green.  We all know of settlements where continued growth has defied the accepted description and become what we would accept as a town, although for various social reasons the dwellers prefer to still think of themselves as villagers; Radlett and even Harpenden come to mind.

Fast-growing urban communities and conurbations have surrounded former distinct villages, so although the village retains. an original and historic physical community, it is, in effect, yet
another suburb of a city today.  In St Albans, St Michael's village, while not completely swallowed by the city, nevertheless cannot be said to be completely separated from the urban mix.  Historically, Camp Hill might have once been labelled a hamlet, at least until the late 19th century; St Stephen's became completely enveloped between the two wars, and I've not heard anyone label it a village.

There are other specific uses of the term, such as an Olympic Village, where competitors at the Games stay for the duration of the event; and even a changing village at the local swimming pool!

Kingshill Avenue

So, what do we make of the production company (Sidney Street), making an introductory reference to Marshalswick Village in one of its recent television programmes in a series titled Best House in Town?  Those of us who were watching would have picked up on that term for the neighbourhood straightaway.  We may have offered a throw-away comment about it being "estate agent terminology".  But perhaps we should not dismiss the label without further consideration.

In what way could we describe Marshalswick as a village?  Does the settlement  have a historical connection with the land on which it sits?  Well, yes and no.  Yes in the sense that the land for both old (pre WW2) and new (what began as the Nash estate)  Marshalswick was previously and entirely owned by the Marten/Martin families.

Can we trace any part of the built community over an extended period of time and therefore define its growth patterns?  Apart from sparse visible trace remains from Marshalswick House, the answer is no, and no archaeology either from any former hamlet near the house has been undertaken.  Certainly no extant buildings before the 1930s, other than the two lodges.

Marshals Drive

What about the status of service provision?  Covenants precluded the inclusion of shops or offices in Old Marshalswick, laid out from the 1930s – no schools either, just houses.  As for postwar Marshalswick, original plans included a cinema, a range of shops, flats, community centre, youth club, churches, schools, library and blocks of apartments.  The older development would therefore come to rely on the newer community for a range of useful services.  Marshalswick is also intersected by a ring road and is now completely enveloped by other developments. 

Finally, we might test the local vocabulary in social conversations to discover whether or not there is frequent reference to the term Marshalswick Village in everyday language, in newspaper, magazine or online advertising.  None, I'm afraid.  But lest we think this is a clever marketing campaign by local estate agents, just try Googling "Marshalswick Village".  This is the kind of lazy researching the programme production company apparently undertook.  They probably Googled Marshalswick and on a Wikipedia page they discovered a brief summary page for the neighbourhood, and under History you will find the following introductory statement:

"The village of Marshalswick boasts a history dating back to the thirteenth century, and retains a unique Hertfordshire village feel."

Does that sound like the place you know?