Articles and news related to local history of Oxhey Hall

Oxhey Place and Oxhey Chapel

The Saxon name for Oxhey meant a place where oxen were kept. The Oxhey estate was one of three given by the powerful King Offa of Mercia to the monks of St. Albans. According to legend Offa was moved to donate the estates and found the monastery as an act of atonement for killing Ethelbert, King of East Anglia, in AD 757. In 1529 Oxhey was among the first minor monasteries to be demolished by Henry VIII.

In 1604, Sir James Altham, Baron of the Exchequer under Elizabeth I and James I, bought the Manor of Oxhey. Sir James built Oxhey Place on the monastic site adding the family chapel in 1612 on the foundations of the monastic church.

In 1877 Oxhey Estate was sold in building lots and the area around Oxhey Place and the chapel being bought by Thomas F. Blackwell, of Crosse and Blackwell.

Photo – Our Oxhey*

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Within the chapel the font, reredos (an ornamental screen covering the wall at the back of an altar), west doorway, roof, communion rails, chancel paving plus the Altham monument are all from the Seventeenth Century. The seating arrangements and other furnishings date from a restoration in 1897 but complement the earlier work maintaining its Jacobean atmosphere.

In 1704 the chapel was given a hipped roof and tiled along with a bellcote, which is a shelter for a bell. More work took place in 1712, when the reredos was painted white. From about 1799 no services were held, and the chapel used for storage. During 1852 Oxhey Chapel was restored as a church by Thomas Blackwell for the use of the inhabitants of Oxhey.

By the 1960’s the chapel was verging on dereliction. An appeal raised the equivalent of £126,000 and it was rescued. Restoration work changed the outward appearance, but the new roof is entirely in keeping with the old building.

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The chapel was declared redundant in 1977. Fortunately, it was considered to be of sufficient historical and architectural value to be vested in the Churches Conservation Trust and its future is now secure.

Information from the Churches Conservation Trust and Wikipedia

*See Our Oxhey – www.ouroxhey.org.uk for further local historical Hertfordshire archives

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A brief history of Oxhey Hall

 

 

Development on Brookdene Avenue

It is believed that Oxhey Hall Estate takes its name from the Grade II house which dates from the 16th century. It is known to have been the hunting lodge of Henry VIII. The house is situated at the end of a lane off Hampermill Lane.  Oxhey Hall is a moated site, and the moat, now dry, is a Scheduled Monument.

Oxhey Hall Estate was built on land which was formerly part of the Oxhey Estate of the late Thomas Blackwell, the father of S.J. Blackwell, (Cross & Blackwell family) having been purchased by him from the Rt. Hon. William Henry Smith in or about the year 1877 (W.H. Smith).

In 1930 brothers R.H. and E.H. Harland purchased land for development.  Other developers were also involved in building in the Oxhey Hall.

Oxhey Hall was a freehold estate extending to upwards of 130 acres. Plots of land were offered for sale in 1930 by the Sole Agents Lawton & Wright of High Street, Watford. Plots of Freehold Land, either singly or in quantities could be purchased for £4 to £5 5s 0d. per foot, according to the position.

The Estate was described as “being carefully developed for medium-sized residences” and came under Bushey and Watford Rural Town Planning Scheme and only 4, 6 or 8 houses per acre (according to position) were allowed.

The estate was advertised as having “an excellent service of trains, both steam and electric into London”.  A 3rd Class season ticket to Euston cost £1 10s 9d a month!

Gas supply was from Watford and St. Albans Gas Co. @10d. per therm and Watford Rural rates approx. 4 shillings in the pound for the half year.

When the Metropolitan Railway was built in the late 1880’s the areas served by the railway was known as “Metroland”.  Houses within Oxhey Hall include good examples of 1930’s “Metroland” architecture.

It appears work on the Estate was put on hold during WWII.  A section along Oaklands Avenue was finally completed in or around 1956.  It is believed that the land was being used as allotments before the houses Nos.  62 to 86A were built.

Interestingly, during the war a bomb landed in Brookdene Avenue.  There was a crater in the road and some windows blown out but, luckily no significant damage.  I am told local children made a ‘bee-line’ to Brookdene and collected shrapnel.

In the early years of the 2000’s property developers were making concerted efforts to buy parts of the large back gardens enjoyed by Oxhey Hall Residents.  To try and protect our rural estate, Conservation Area Status was sought from Three Rivers District Council and it was finally granted in March 2006.  Oxhey Hall was designated as “An area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance.”

– With grateful thanks to Pauline Tollady for her wealth of local knowledge.

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The Pavilion – A glimpse of the past of Oxhey Golf Club

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We are all used to seeing the currently unused Pavilion building at the playing fields and here is a glimpse of its more illustrious past. Let’s hope that the current leaseholders and the various authorities can get an agreement in place and see this open and thriving again for the benefit of all local organisations and residents.

Read all about the Pavilion here.

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