Ideally located between St Albans and Radlett, Park Street

Nestled alongside How Wood and Frogmore, between the North Orbital Road to the north and the M25 to the south, is the village of Park Street.The surrounding area is host to a number of idyllic lakes and forested nature walks, which are popular with dog walkers.The lakes, once the Moor Mill Pits, located between Park Street and Frogmore, are considered great for fishing. This has led to a great deal of interest among the angling community for their considerable and diverse aquatic wildlife.

Amenities

Park Street’s local shops, a BP petrol station and, more randomly, a gun shop. A small shopping parade can be found within a short walk at How Wood, comprised of a Co Op supermarket,The Cutting Corner hairdressers, Master Cut barbers,Bok & Rose butchers, Simmons bakers,How Wood pharmacy convenience/off licence, Kraft Stationery, Lily Alley florist. Keach Hospice Care charity shop. There is a village hall which opened in 1936 and serves as the polling station of the area, plus Park Street Baptist Church on Penn Road. Park Street is also home to a recreation ground and sports fields, Park Street Village FC and a cricket ground/pavilion.

Transport

Park Street and How Wood Stations are on the Abbey Line, which connects St Albans Abbey with Watford Junction, for easy access to the Thameslink to London Euston.

Schools

There are two schools local to the village, Park Street Church of England Primary School and How Wood Primary School, both of which were rated ‘good’ by Ofsted at their last inspections. The nearest secondary school is the Marlborough Science Academy, which is also rated ‘good’.

History

The Park Street & Frogmore Society was formed to promote interest in local history and nature, covering the three villages of Park Street, Frogmore and Colney Street. Park Street is of late and initially disparate medieval origin. After the Norman Conquest, the area was known as ‘Parke Street’, and formed part of the land grant given to St Albans monastery in 793 AD. The street’s mill - ‘Le Parkmulle’ (Park Street Mill) was first referred to in the 12th Century.

The Milll, which was converted into offices in the 1980s, was once used for grinding flour, and also supplied the Abbey with eels reared and trapped in the surrounding ponds. The mill still forms a very prominent feature in the centre of Park Street, and provides a pleasant backdrop to the war memorial garden to the north of the village. The railway bridge near Sycamore Drive was demolished around 1948 after being damaged by a giant propeller being delivered to the Handley Page aircraft works, whose runway was in use until the mid-1960s for the maintenance and testing of the V bomber fleet.

Property

By the 14th Century, Park Street was home to one of the largest and richest manors in the area, supplying large quantities of corn to the Abbey. There are still many buildings in the area of architectural/historic interest.

The oldest buildings surviving appear to be numbers 61-63 (originally a single early 15th Century late Medieval hall house) and number 68 (a 16th Century timber framed building with the remains of a jettied front). The rest of the area’s architectural heritage traces back to the brick-built early Victorian era - though Toll Cottage on Bury Dell is dated as a 17th Century property.

Today it boasts several side streets from its main thoroughfare, such as Mount Drive, Sycamore Drive and The Beeches. According to Rightmove, the average home sold in Park Street last year changed hands for £508,362.

Pubs and Takeaways

There are two local pubs in the village,The Falcon where you can watch live sport,The Overdraught, which is renunded for serving fantastic food. Whilst Rumbles and Seaworld takeaways are the popular fast food options.

The popular and vibrant Village Chiswell Green

A residential area with a strong suburban feel, Chiswell Green has plenty of good sized homes suitable for the family market.

Transport

With the M1 to the west, the M25 to the south and the A1(M) to the east, Chiswell Green is ideally placed for access to the UK’s major road routes. St Albans City station, with its fast rail link to London St Pancras, is a short drive away, while How Wood or Park Street stations are accessible on foot and will have you in Watford within 15 minutes.

Schools

Younger children are well served by Killigrew Primary and Nursery School on West Avenue and Prae Wood Primary School on King Harry Lane . Both are two-form entry schools and were rated ‘good’ by Ofsted at their last inspections. The closest secondary school is Marlborough Science Academy (‘good’) on Watling Street. A fee-paying alternative is St Columba’s College on King Harry Lane, an independent Roman Catholic school for boys aged between four and 18.

History

The name ‘Chiswell’ is derived from ‘chisel’, used in place names for gravel or shingle. Chiswell Green has been a popular excavation site throughout the centuries and many interesting historic artefacts have been unearthed there.Archeologists are able to paint a picture of ancient Chiswell Green life from various soil formations and organic materials dug up at the site, providing evidence of ancient quarrying methods and our ancestors’ resourcefulness. The hollows in St Julian’s Wood/Greenwood Park are reputedly the remains of this quarry and would have once played a crucial role in building and trade.

Sports & Leisure

Greenwood Park is a popular and picturesque recreation area, with a well-used playground and a community centre consisting of three halls and a licensed bar. The centre is regularly used by locals for celebratory events, charity activities and clubs.

The hall is marked out for badminton, netball, basketball, volleyball and football and is a popular spot for sporting buffs and clubs alike. Greenwood Park County Cricket has two teams, which play throughout the summer in home and away matches.

Chiswell Green Riding School has been teaching all ages and abilities for over 20 years and offers group lessons and private tutoring from novice to experienced riders. They run activities through the school holidays including horse care and stable management, gymkhanas and hacks in the many different countryside locations that surround the area.

If you’re not keen on taking part in sports, why not take a long stroll from Chiswell Green to Bricket Wood, St Albans town or Cottonmill? There are plenty of historic sites to take in and the River Ver offers beautiful scenery and glimpses into Hertfordshire wildlife.

Pubs and Takeaways

In the late 19th century the village had a forge facing onto Watford Road and the surrounding farmland. The old forge and 15th century house eventually became an inn around 1854, which is now known as The Three Hammers.

The Grade II listed pub serves authentic British cooking and real ales in a cosy, characterful setting with period features and welcoming staff. Much of its original beer garden has been converted into a Co-Op store, despite strong opposition from locals.

The Noke is a 110-bedroom hotel with a restaurant, pool, leisure club and six meeting rooms.

Bricket Wood is an idyllic and well-connected village

Situated between St Albans and Watford, Bricket Wood forms part of the parish of St Stephen within St Albans City and District Council.

Amenities

Amenities in Bricket Wood are concentrated primarily in Oakwood Road and the Bricket Wood Parade in Old Watford Road.

There are also two pubs in the village - The Black Boy in Old Watford Road and The Gate in Station Road.The Black Boy was first opened in 1754, and prides itself on its range of real ales and Cask Marque accreditation. In the 1770s, The Black Boy became a stopping off point when the route from St Albans to Watford was incorporated within a toll road, and a turnpike opened nearby.

The Gate is a country pub on the outskirts of Bricket Wood, with a huge garden to the rear and a cosy indoor space for customers to enjoy food and drinks.The pub was winner of the 'Best Marketed Pub' and 'Rising Star' by its parent company, Wells & Co, in their Pub Partner Awards in 2022.

Transport

Bricket Wood is flanked by the M1 and M25, and is just a 15-minute drive from the centre of St Albans to the north and Watford to the south.The village also has a station with rail links to St Albans Abbey and Watford Junction. 

Schools

Mount Pleasant Lane Primary - formerly known as Mount Pleasant Lane Junior Mixed and Infant School and Nursery - takes children aged three to 11 and was rated 'good' by Ofsted at its most recent inspection.There are a number of excellent secondary schools serving the village, including Parmiter's in Garston and St Michael's Catholic High School, both rated 'outstanding'.

History

The area now known as Bricket Wood used to be a scattered rural farming community until the train station was built in the late 1850s.

In 1889, brothers Henry and William Gray bought up land in the area and built Woodside Retreat Fairground. The fairground attracted droves of visitors from London and nearby towns, and led to a small settlement developing around the station.

In 1923, R. B. Christmas built a rival fairground nearby, called Joyland. Although both fairgrounds were closed in 1929, Christmas used his leftover land to build up bungalows with their own water supplies.

During the 1950s, housing estates were built in the area for the employees of aviation company Handley Page, which had a plant nearby at the Radlett Aerodrome.According to St Albans Museums, housing was provided in Hunters Road, Juniper Avenue, Black Boy Wood and Claremont in Bricket Wood.

One of the village's claims to fame is its ties to Gerald Gardner, who is often regarded as the 'father of modern witchcraft'.In 1945, Gardner purchased a plot of land near Bricket Wood, now known as Five Acres.He dismantled a 16th century Wiccan witch cottage in Ledbury, Herefordshire, and reconstructed it at Five Acres as a convening point for his brand of pagan witchcraft.Bricket Wood was also home to a secret Cold War rail centre, which is now a listed building.

The disused Air-Raid Precaution Railway Control Centre was built in Station Road in 1954, as a defence against Soviet aggression.In the event of war, key rail workers from London Euston were to be transferred to the single-storey, reinforced concrete building to keep the trains running.The centre is the only surviving example in England of an air-raid precaution railway control centre constructed from the Cold War period.

Property

One of the village's best-known buildings in Hanstead House, which has a rich and varied history.The house was once owned by the Scottish entrepreneur Sir David Yule, who conducted business with India during the time of the British Empire.

Hanstead House was later used as an Arabian horse stud farm, the UK college campus for American evangelist Herbert W. Armstrong's Radio Church of God movement, and as a corporate training facility. More recently, the house has been transformed into 11 luxury apartments as part of the wider Hanstead Park development of new build homes.

Another notable building in the village is the Grade II-listed Bricket Picture House on School Lane, which architect Frederick Wallen built for himself in around 1890. The upper floor of the front part of the house has a remarkable set of plaster reliefs featuring pictures of popular sporting pursuits from the time, including wrestling, rowing and hunting.

Nature