Jersey Farm Local Shops

 You will have noticed no reference yet to the largest centre of local shops – The Quadrant.  We will, naturally, get round to it, but it does seem right to reference The Quadrant during the planning period for its much smaller neighbourhood and rival at Jersey Farm.

Jersey Farm homestead closed up and ready for redevelopment in  the 1970s, but consumed
by fire before enjoying its new lease of life as a community facility.
COURTESY TREVOR PARSONS

Jersey Farm residential area had barely been conceived when its larger neighbour was already maturely complete with its retail offering open to the world.  In fact, much of the 1970s seemed to be occupied by arguments about whether or not there should be any houses at all at Jersey Farm; the original plans for the estate (or mini-town as it was referred to) included a northern bypass and two schools, but all were ditched as was a proportion of the housing stock, on the pretext of – well, that's another story!

The range of shops and the Blackberry Jack PH at and around The Harvesters (not, as shown, Harvest Court).  Aim for St Brelade's Place to park the car.
COURTESY OPEN STREET MAP CONTRIBUTORS

The site for services and shops was to be around an upgraded farm house at newly named St Brelade's Place, a reference to the island and its cattle breed raised and maintained at the former farm.  However, a serious fire at the farm house scuppered the plan before it was even begun.  And so the services available to residents today were all new-build.  Today, if you drive along Sandringham Crescent, the main spine road, two other names will stand out before you ever see the word St Brelade's Place, which is a short connecting street round the back of the shops.  The first is the side road joining the main spine, which was given the name Harvesters; the second is the community and family pub on the corner, named Blackberry Jack, referencing a local legend.  The Blackberry Jack is the only public house which is part of a local shopping hub in this series.  Quite an accolade!

The Blackberry Jack community public house, operating under the "Sizzling" brand.

Another boost is the provision of doctor, dentist, pharmacy and post office services.  The local grocery is in the form of a Tesco Express – and without a grocery anchor any local shopping parade would become unstable.  It is supported by three other eating options; Chinese, Indian and a traditional fish 'n' chips.  And to complete a useful collection St Albans Cycles has a bicycle shop, which is brilliant now that we are all being encouraged to revert to two wheels and leave the car at home (or sell it).

Residents of the wider district or Jersey Farm itself will know there is more to the retail back story than is described above. With the early developments already progressing in the mid 1970s, the intended "supermarket" provider was slated to be Key Markets.  Which is when the backlash from a few of the Quadrant traders began.  Key's intention was to service both JF and Marshalswick with one large store – hence the term supermarket we suppose.  In time this brought Sainsbury into the fray, which proposed a larger footprint than Key had proposed or the developer was offering.  The City Council, as the planning authority, urged Sainsbury not to push so hard as there would be no increase in the number of homes at JF.  The term "mini-town" had had its day, St Brelade's Place would be an appropriately sized hub of local shops, expecting common sense to prevail.  As it still does.

Hanged at the Prison 2

 The County Prison in Grimston Road was completed and opened shortly before the railway station next door.  The field in which it was built was considerably larger than the boundary wall of the prison, and was known thereafter as the Gaol Field.  Subsequently purchased by Frederick Sander, the orchid breeder, Gaol Field was sold on for residential development following Sander's death.  The roads are now Edward Close, Breakspear Road, Flora Grove and Vanda Crescent, and more recently Ulverston Close.

The yellow road at the top of the map is Victoria Street over the railway, leading to Grimston
Road and the prison Gatehouse (in pink).  The perimeter wall is shown as a black line, but
none of the buildings within is marked.  OS 1872 map.
COURTESY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF SCOTLAND

The first housing, however, took advantage of the nearby railway station location, many of their residents being the among line's first commuters.  When you research an Ordnance Survey map dating from the period when the prison was open, you will find the boundary wall and gatehouse drawn but a blank space within the wall.  In the interests of security the cell blocks and other buildings within the perimeter wall were not published.

The original perimeter wall at the south-east corner remains, but buildings occupying the inside space are replacements for modern use.

The prison's first capital prisoner was recorded in 1880, and as with Charles Coleman (previous post) Thomas Wheeler had received a string of convictions prior to the crime for which he was hung.  Possibly to demonstrate the rarity of successful capital offences the county prison was designed without a specific cell for prisoners whose lives had been condemned.  Nor was there any physical method by which a hanging could be carried out – the apparatus itself.  This equipment would presumably have been taken to the prison from the nearest alternative jail which was so equipped.

The 1841 census shows Ellen Wheeler living at Gustard Wood with her four children including 6 year old Thomas.  So he was from a local family and undoubtedly grew up acutely familiar with the villages and countryside around him.

Once again we are provided with trial documents from newspapers; further, we were able to discover more about the prisoner's character, possibly because Wheeler attracted the attention of the Press and in the days before press photography a good journalist was able to pencil a character sketch in words.  Wheeler, we are informed was five foot and one inch tall and in his mid forties.  His hair was light brown, already turning grey, and he sported a moustache.  At the trial he wore a bowler hat, which, at the time was generally known as a billycock. A short brown jacket and brown corded trousers completed his description.  Other features were often not referred to, although one witness had observed that Wheeler's voice was "extremely peculiar".  This, on its own, does not tell us much, but the witness might have been hearing a stammer, damaged vocal chords or a hair lip.  We don't know.

Wheeler was born in Wheathampstead but had spent an extended period of time in London, where he had, the court was informed, a considerable amount of money taken from him and was determined to recover it.  Of course, the use of the word "taken" instead of stolen might lead us to believe that the money may not have been his to begin with.

In returning to his home patch, Wheeler had visited a number of farms near St Albans, perhaps because of the remoteness of the buildings, at each of which he had broken in and stolen cash or other property.  A pattern of behaviour had been established about which  the police had been aware.

A pencilled sketch of Marshalswick Farm, previously known as Wheeler's Farm. Drawn by
Jane Marten c 1826.  The farm lay behind today's The Quadrant shops.
COURTESY HISTORIC ENGLAND

One summer Saturday it appeared to be the turn of Marshalswick Farm – coincidentally previously named Wheeler's Farm after an earlier tenant farmer.  Now, however, in this summer of 1880 the tenant was Edward Anstee.  Wheeler managed to gain access via an upstairs window, probably the warm summer weather encouraged the occupiers to leave one or more windows open for ventilation.

Wheeler's arrival on the upper floor attracted Anstee's attention.  Certainly, if previous activity was anything to go by, Wheeler was intent on acquiring money and or possessions, but he was willing and prepared to take a life, or lives, if necessary.  We will never know what conversation, if any, took place between the two men, but the result was a total of 37 gunshots in the farmer's body which, the court was informed, greatly disfigured his face.  The violence also frightened two women in the house at the time, but we are not informed of their identities.

Property from Wheeler's visit was later discovered and recognised on Deadwoman's Hill, now known as Sandridge Road (near the Beech Road junction).  Other locations were Evan's Farm (now the former Jersey Farm), and hidden in piles of straw on Ninefields.  Today the latter would be just north of Brampton Road.

The front building was St Peter's Farm, now Conservative Club. Beyond is the little house where
Sarah Gray lived in 1880 when she worked at the Chain Bar Toll just down the hill at
The Crown.  Thomas Wheeler called in at the house on the evening of his crime.

After leaving Sarah Gray's cottage Wheeler walked to Catherine Lane (now Catherine Street) and visited this building which, in 1880 was the Pine Apple public house.  He was apprehended here by
the police.

One of the witnesses was identified as Sarah Grey who lived in the cottage next to St Peter's Farm – today this is part of the Conservative Club.  Sarah was a toll collector at the Chain Bar Tollhouse, a tiny building at the Crown Junction, where Chilli Raj is today.  Wheeler had called at the cottage, presumably for food.  From there he walked over the new railway towards St Peter's Street and Catherine Lane, now renamed Catherine Street, where he was apprehended at the Pine Apple public house.

The police had called on Thomas Cooper of London Road to take photographs of the crime scene.  His son was Arthur Melbourne Cooper who became well known as an early film maker.  However, Arthur thought the pictures his father had taken didn't reflect the measure of the gruesome scene, and "doctored" some of the negatives accordingly.  Which today would presumably have been referred to as tampering with the evidence, putting him in line to receiving a fine himself!

Wheeler was committed for trial at Chelmsford, was found guilty and executed at the prison in St Albans.  Throughout, he had expressed his innocence – "not me guv, you've got the wrong bloke" may have been his defensive approach; however, he wrote a letter of apology to Mrs Anstee in which he admitted his guilt.  It appears that Edward Anstee's wife was absent from the farmhouse on the night of the attack on her husband. She was, it is thought, visiting a relative and would probably have returned home the following day.

Nick Connell, in his book about Hertfordshire murders adds three footnotes: first, the cost on public funds of the execution was £20.  Second, the traditional tolling of the parish church bell was at St Peter's.  It would be another 20 years before the little church would be open at Stanhope Road and nearly thirty years before the new parish church of St Paul's in Blandford Road.

And finally, it was revealed that Wheeler had a daughter, Mary, who was fourteen at the time of her father's execution.  She was seemingly much affected by the events surrounding her father and attempted to hang herself at a tree in her garden.  Around ten years later she too was executed for the murder of another young woman.  It was reported there had been a jealous relationship battle between them over a mutual male.

Fielding for free

In answer to a question about where to spend a typical summer weekend day, "somewhere exciting" would be the required comment, especially if our group includes children.  An afternoon with a picnic in the park probably doesn't cut it these days.

I was reminded of this yesterday when a friend sent a picture of his family group relaxing near the edge of a field.

His message to me includes "Apparently my family and assorted Uncles and Aunties would travel down to the Barley Mow (no idea how we got there as  nobody had a car) and sit and have fun by the river at the back. I am not sure of  the  details, I am the baby on my mother's lap in the photograph, but it was obviously near the pub as the men are drinking beer. Apparently a good time was had by all and I think we did it quite often in the immediate years after the War. Simple times!"

A family gathering at the field next to the Barley Mow.

I then realised that I had no other photograph which records such field pleasures that you would enjoy frequently.  So, actually seeing the picture is a rare pleasure.  To bring us up to date, the Barley Mow as a pub is no longer open, though the building remains.  More to the point, the field in question is still a field, as shown in the second picture.  The Barley Mow stands at a T junction, although the little lane now goes nowhere, and hasn't since the bypass was dualled.  Before then you could walk to the Colne and Coursers Lane, picking up a drink on the way at the Rainbow filling station.

The river mentioned – actually a small stream which has become even smaller in recent decades – rises, like nearby Butterwick Brook, from within the chalk of these parts and trickles towards the river Colne.

My friend asks: "Was it just my family who indulged in this fun in a field or was it a regular outing for St.Albans folk? I would be interested to hear of any memories people might have of  the Barley Mow at this time."

The field today; courtesy Google.

There were many fields I can recall enjoying myself in, either with my family or my friends, or both.  Regular Sunday walks would find us at Jersey Farm, where we would picnic in a field where we were the guests of a small herd of dairy cattle.  Then there was a rather undulating field – again picnic oriented – where St Luke's School was then built at the top of Hixberry Lane.  Possibly not a field exactly, but very popular was the river bank in London Colney, and the spaces around the gravel pits at Frogmore, Park Street.  We took our food with us, so no need for snack bars or restaurants; we cycled or walked so needed no lifts or driving licences,  and as long as we had a cricket bat and ball we were happy.  Such days out therefore cost us nothing.  Just as well.

Today there is an expectation that we have to pay to be made happy.  There is a national sport which grew from a field and where most of the time most of the participants are fielding; it may have been cricket – or not – but it was free fun.

Incidentally, the Barley Mow had been well known as a cyclists' watering hole.