Watford street histories largely derive from the conservation area guides produced by Watford Borough Council: https://www.watford.gov.uk/downloads/download/90/conservation_areas_-_maps_and_descriptions
BEDFORD STREET
Approximately a mile away from the existing centre of Watford, a new station was completed in 1837 to the west of the road to St Albans. A relatively modest affair, the station buildings were quickly complemented by a cluster of other buildings that related to the railway development. A new road was laid out off the St Albans Road, which was later to be called Bedford Street, and within five years of the station being completed there were a dozen additional properties located nearby. The 1842 Tithe Map shows these developments in the area.
Plots along Bedford Street were starting to be developed with housing – with 1a-4a, 8-18 and 56 Bedford Street already completed by 1842.
CALLOWLAND FARM
The agrarian nature of the area in question can be seen on the Dury and Andrews’ map from 1766, which shows the Nascot area as farmland between the town and Callowland Farm.
CHURCH ROAD
During the 1840s a new road was created that ran parallel with the railway line, but to the south. It did not come to be known as Church Road until the following decade.
However, by 1849 a number of properties had already been constructed.
The earliest of these new buildings was at what is now known as number 1 Church Road, which was built as two cottages between 1847-1848. Other houses constructed at this time include number 3 – 9 and 37.
During the following decade it appears that new development was largely restricted to Church Road, while larger plans for more extensive development in the area were prepared.
Nevertheless, the 1850s saw the building of a number of the most attractive and important buildings on the street.
Between 1853 and 1857 the Church of St Andrews was constructed to designs by the architect Samuel Sanders Teulon.
CLARENDON TAP
As well as the station and railway infrastructure, a new road bridge can be seen along St Albans Road and the ‘U’ shaped building was a hotel with attached stables called the Clarendon Tap.
COPSEWOOD ROAD
To the north of the properties on Bedford Street, a new street has appeared between 1890-1892 called Copsewood Road. The origins of the name are not entirely clear, however, as part of the road’s layout was on land that had formally been woodland, it is possible that the name derived from arboricultural origins. The land had belonged to Merton College, Oxford during part of the nineteenth century, but by the time it came to be developed it had passed to the London and North Western Railway Company.
ESSEX ROAD
The 1842 Tithe Map provides detail on the makeup of land holdings within the area during this period and reveals that land to the west of the railway line was owned by the Earl of Essex, who
resided at the nearby Cassiobury House, while farmland to the north-east of the line was owned by Merton College, Oxford.
Much of the land within this area had been in the ownership of Merton College since the Middle Ages; however, during the nineteenth century, the Earl of Essex moved to acquire the assets for his estate.
The land was farmed by tenants, principally from the nearby Callowland Farm, and was a mixture of arable farmland and meadows.
LEAVESDEN ROAD
At the junction with St Albans Road two further buildings can be seen on the 1842 Tithe Map, which were recently built public houses.
The northernmost was ‘The Stag’, which was owned by the London brewer John Dyson and the southernmost was ‘The Leviathan Steamer’, which was owned by the St Albans’ brewer Henry Parsons. A footpath can be seen heading northwards from this point, which was later to become Leavesden Road.
MALDEN ROAD
The 1871 OS Map reveals that an additional network of new streets has been laid out to the south of Langley Road. The lack of new buildings adjacent to these new streets, with the exception of Nascot Street, suggests that they had only very recently been created. As with other new streets, the land for development was sold from the estate of the Earl of Essex and it is from this source that most of the new street names were derived.
The etymology of ‘Essex Road’ is self explanatory, while ‘Malden Road’ derives from the fact that the Earl of Essex had been created ‘Viscount Malden’ in 1661. He was also appointed Ambassador to the Court of Denmark in 1670 – from where ‘Denmark Street’ may have its origins. ‘Alexandra Road’ probably arises from the marriage in 1863 between a Danish princess called
‘Alexandra’ and the Prince of Wales. The marriage of a princess from Denmark may also be where Denmark Street takes its name from.
During the 1870s and 1880s development progressed, as the new streets became built up and the remaining free plots on the older streets were developed. The newer streets to the south, such as Malden Road, were developed by a large business called the British Land Company. As a result the terraces of houses are more consistent than the varied architecture of other parts of Nascot, which were developed in a more piecemeal fashion.
NASCOT ROAD
In the 1860s, development within the Nascot area accelerated and a number of new streets were set out. This was the period when the bulk of the Earl of Essex’s landholdings between the railway line and the Hempstead Road were being sold off for urban development. Much of this area was called ‘Nascot Park’, which was land belonging to the former Nascot
Farm on Hempstead Road. New roads like Park Road and Nascot Road took their names from this source.
PARK ROAD
Over the course of the 1860s most of the building plots on the eastern portion of Park Road were developed while gaps in Church Road were built on – including much of the northern side, which had previously been clear. A number of small cul-de-sac streets were established on the western side of St Albans Road at this time, including Terrace Gardens, the northern side
of which was completely built during the decade. Most of the remaining plots on the western side of St Albans Road were built on, including the prominent Martindale Terrace (presently numbers 125-135) and Portman Terrace (present day numbers 103-115).
ST ALBANS ROAD
The road to St Albans, which marks the eastern boundary of the present day Conservation Area, is the only major feature that existed in the area during this period. All this was to change with the coming of the railways during the 1830s.
Between 1833 and 1838 the London and Birmingham Railway Company constructed a new line between the aforementioned cities, which passed through the environs of Watford and involved the construction of a new station locally. One of the earliest ever inter-city railway lines, the route through Watford was significantly complicated by opposition from local landowners – most
notably the Earls of Essex and Clarendon. The original route proposed, which followed the valleys of the River Colne and River Gade, had to be abandoned and the route we see today was adopted instead.
STAMFORD ROAD
The most dramatic changes to take place during the 1860s were on the former farmland west of St Albans Road and south of Park Road. It was here that the new streets of Nascot Road, Nascot Place, Stamford Road, Cole Road and Langley Road were created. The latter names were derived from a variety of origins: ‘Stamford’ came from a property on Park Road called ‘Stamford Lodge’; ‘Cole’ came from a well known local building contractor named ‘James Cole’, while ‘Langley’ related to the fact that the new road leads towards Kings Langley.
By 1870 three large villas had been built on the east side of Nascot Road and most of the plots on the west side of Stamford Road had been developed. The latter included the Nascot Arms Public House, which was built on Stamford Road in 1869. In addition, Nascot Place had largely been built and the south side of Cole Road had been developed. A significant proportion of the buildings on Langley Road had also been constructed, which ncluded a diverse mixture of terraced properties towards the eastern end and larger detached houses towards the west. The former included 24 Langley Road, which may have originally been a post office, and the Bedford Arms Public House, which was built in 1869 on Langley Road.
The latter included the grand houses at 49-51 and 76-78, which may have been designed by the distinguished architect John Thomas Christopher – who was a director of their developers: the Watford Villa Company.
STATION ROAD
A significant development that occurred elsewhere during the 1850s was the opening of a new railway station at the eastern end of Station Road in 1858. This impacted on the Nascot area by resulting in the closure of the station on St Albans Road. It also incited a land agent to complain to the railway company about the station move, on the grounds that it would lead to land depreciation for their existing and planned building developments.
STRATFORD ROAD
In 1860 a new school, called St Andrew’s School, was built on Church Road, at the kink in the road westwards from number 61. Two years later, the large site to the west of the school was purchased from the Earl of Essex by ‘The Order of Mystery of Salters of London’, who built a complex of almshouses on the land. Although the development of the Salters’ Almshouses occurred
beyond what is now designated as Nascot Conservation Area, their history is relevant, not least since it is believed the name of Stratford Road comes from a connection with the Salters’ Company. Both Stratford Road and Park Road are shown as existing on a map from 1857 that shows the boundaries of St Andrew’s Parish; however, it appears that building on them did not take place until the 1860s.
WATFORD HIGH STREET
Before the arrival of the railway, development in Watford had been largely limited to the town’s historic core around the High Street.