Park View

 In the previous post we virtually walked along Granville Road, one of the three roads which formed the 1880s residential development of Hatfield Road field.  At the Hatfield Road end of this road the residents had been given the benefit of their own entrance to Clarence Park once that had opened in 1894.  That gate is now blocked off, but from the perimeter path in the park it is still possible to to see where it was.  And that would have been quite a steep ramp from Hatfield Road.

Hidden behind the foliage is the former gate opposite Granville Road.  Today the old ramp has been
made steeper than the old path.

Where the Hatfield Road Bridge park entrance is the maximum height of the embanked road, and the timber zig-zag pathway before it was replaced recently.

Keep walking along the perimeter path towards the Midland railway and the surface of Hatfield Road on your left keeps climbing towards the bridge.  That helps us to understand how several of the Clarence Villas were built.  There had been little difference in the elevation of the land in what would later become the park – still the fete field in the 1860s – and that in the Hatfield Road field; just a gentle gradient.

In fact gradients play a key part in The Crown corner. Hatfield Road drops down from Cavendish Road to the Crown junction.  Turn left and there is a further fall through the entrance into Camp Road; turning right into Stanhope Road and the gradient increases, only levelling out beyond the Stanhope Road shops.  If you had walked along Hatfield Road from The Crown towards the city before the mid 1860s the ground would have been quite level until you reached the beginning of the city hill, where is the original Loreto College building.  Undertaking the same walk today would be very different, with a long steady climb to the bridge and then down again westwards past Lemsford Road; notice too the steep gradient turning left into Beaconsfield Road.  All of our route would be on made-up ground.

Just five years after the railway opening the embanked Hatfield Road (where the number 412.092 is on one side and the blue lake on the other) shows where the subsoil was placed. Beaconsfield Road is where the line of trees is drawn on the map.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

Hatfield Road between the bridge and The Crown junction with the embanked road on both
sides.  It is presumed the Nursery was to stabilise the ground before the villas were built.
The road leading towards the Goods Shed is today's Station Way.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

Much heavy manual work was undertaken in removing subsoil from the railway cutting and creating an embankment on both sides of the railway in Hatfield Road to enable traffic to pass over the bridge; it is that embankment we noticed when we took the perimeter path in the park.

Two views of the upper row of villas. To the right of the top view it is possible to spot the rear garden space is below road level.
Top view: COURTESY GOOGLE STREET VIEW

So, what has this to do with the Clarence Villas in Hatfield Road?  Look carefully and the architect has taken a design opportunity with those villas west of Granville Road. They were built with a lower ground floor – the original ground level – with a short flight of steps up to the front entry at first floor level above the new street level.  Although the front view from the lower floor would have been limited to the the embankment itself, the rear garden would have opened directly from the rear living space.  Extra living space without the expense of excavating deeper foundations.

The OS map of 1898 with the undeveloped plot (orange) in the middle of the
lower group of villas. A track from Hatfield Road leads to a narrow building 
against the rear boundary.  In a few years this would become the first site of
W O Peake Ltd, the coat manufacturer.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

Between The Crown junction and Granville Road building development had been slower and the infill from the railway had been levelled out, providing for much easier house building.  Today we only have map evidence as none of the original homes survive.  But you will notice there is a large plot in the middle with a path leading from the road to a narrow building against the rear of the plot, much as we find in other occasional unfinished streets.  If anyone has an idea about the function of these narrow boundary buildings the author would be pleased to know.

In the same location as the 1898 map above, the Peake's factory has consumed the whole of
the Hatfield Road frontage and has built deep into Granville Road.  This is the OS 1963 map.
COURTESY ORDNANCE SURVEY OLD OS MAPS

In 1911 Mr William Peake moved onto the middle plot with the intention of making coats.  And the rest, as they say, is history; a history which came to dominate this part of Hatfield Road, and St Albans itself. Too detailed for this post and definitely requiring a blog all to itself.

New Home in Hatfield Road

Last week we discovered the laurel shrubbery behind St Peter's Farm and the consequent naming of the short cut-de-sac.  This week we will find out what filled the space between Laurel Road and Clarence (Park) Road as the development estate got under way From 1899.

Alexandra House on The Crown corner.

Corner plots with a commanding presence often attract a premium price.  In this case the corner plot, with a view across the wide Crown junction and its new commuter houses in Stanhope Road, was snapped up by land agent Dorant and left as an open space for another ten years before becoming a residence, a shop and the district's first bank.  It was named Alexandra House.  Its boundary was where today's bus stop is located. But to start with the farm house and its cottage retained a view from its slightly elevated position over the Crown junction.  There was an open green with a path from the front door leading down past a pond towards Hatfield Road.

The green was now potential development land and the first block to be built on the green was an impressive terrace of four houses, with first floor hung tiles. This was Clarence Villas. The end homes had recessed front doors while the centre houses opened onto a minuscule front garden, still visible as the tarmac covering behind the footpath.  For the first decade there appeared to be no attraction in converting these cottages into shops.  After all, there were already established shops opposite, purpose-built retail premises newly opened in Stanhope Road, and the prospect of a post office and grocers replacing the former toll building.

Clarence Villas converted to shops

But the increasing popularity of this corner eventually led to  conversion of Clarence Villas to shops.  From west to east, the first was a garden produce shop (which might have meant a greengrocer), then a tailor, and for much of its life a cleaners. The second began as a jeweller but was well known as a greengrocer for much of its life. The third premises was a confectioner for all of its 20th century life, except for its first year when it sported the name many St Albans people were familiar with, Saxby Bros, a delicatessen.  The fourth house became another well-known name. Goody's (then taken on by Bugler's), the baker's and caterer's.  It was probably Clarence Villas  which established Hatfield Road as a shopping street, but it was beaten to change by the next block.

Three converted houses on the hill

It is believed the remainder of the green was also to have been built on straightaway, but the agents took a further three years to negotiate a sale agreement for the second block; these three properties were to be constructed on the hill itself.  They also began their lives as houses with bay windows, but were successful in conversion to shops before those at Clarence Villas – quite a coup for the time.  First was another confectionery, later becoming a hairdressing salon, then Mack's Store and finally a laundry.  Frederick Butler, a son of Ephraim Butler the butcher in St Peter's Street opened in the third premises in 1906, remaining there until the mid-seventies.

Showing the frontage as intended

To gain an insight into how the early houses were shown to the street, we can walk to the block after the entrance drive to the farmhouse, now the Conservative Club. The first two of three have remained a dentist and a doctor, and the slightly higher paving still in place was the original front garden.  The third property, now the Chicken Shop, originally the third of the trio, would also have had a ground floor bay window.  As a shop it began as Lupton's grocery  before becoming a picture framer and art shop – there are still many people who recall Mrs Young who ran the shop, having taken over from Harry Giddings.

Enamelled streetplate from 1906

Before moving on we may spot an original blue street plate fixed to the front wall of the dentist, although tree foliage hides it in season.  These plate were made by St Peter's Rural Council and reveals where the city boundary used to be until 1913, otherwise a street plate would have been installed on a property at the foot of the hill.

We have now reached the corner plot with Laurel Road, constructed in two parts, firstly the residential section for the corner shop owner, which was only converted to a fruiterer's shop in the 1930s, and the corner shop itself.  This was Arthur Hitchcock's cycle maker's until the mid-thirties, and then Mr Henderson's secondhand shop until conversion to Thresher's wine shop in around 1960.

From Laurel Road corner looking westwards

So that we don't lose our way, today the first block (Clarence Villas) are Ace Balloons, Menspire, The Carpet Store and Nino's.  The second block are Grill 'n' Fry, Launderette, and Madina General Stores. At the top of the hill are St Albans Dental Clinic, Doctors' Surgery, The Chicken Shop, Clarity Yoga Shala, and Thai Massage.