Park Street, Hertfordshire

Park Street
Hertfordshire
Location
Grid reference:	TL148040
Location:	51°43’19"N, 0°20’20"W
Data
Population:	6,781  (2001)
Post town:	St Albans
Postcode:	AL2
Dialling code:	01727
Local Government
Council:	St Albans
Parliamentary constituency:	St Albans

Park Street is a Hertfordshire village on Watling Street by the River Ver south of St Albans. It is separated from St Albans by a buffer to the north.

Park Street is a practical place, giving a home to a petrol station and several tyre and automotive services businesses, but for its thousand or so residents it has two public houses. The village has the penultimate railway station on the Abbey Line from Watford Junction, which opened in 1858.

The parish church, Holy Trinity, was built as a chapel of ease within the parish of St Stephen, in 1841-2. It is not in Park Street in fact but in the heart of Frogmore. English Heritage report that it was built to serve the more than 2000 scattered parishioners of the 4 miles by 5 miles parish of St Stephen, St Albans, as at the time only 3 poor outlying cottages were within one mile of St Stephens. St Stephens has grown greatly since then into a close suburb of St Albans.

People and places

Park Street station

Park Street is approximately 2½ miles in travel from St Albans by following Watling Street (the old Roman road from London to Chester).

The area falls within the Metropolitan Green Belt. Residents' employment is mainly to St Albans, Watford and London though to the east of the street in Frogmore is a substantial business centre and light industrial estate.

Park Street is not directly on a major road apart from Watling Street (which, though bypassed, is still a an important link between local towns) but it is very close to the dual carriageways which carve their way across the Hertfordshire countryside hereabouts and to a spur to the M25 motorway (Junction 21A) and Watford, the A405.

To the east and south-east of the village lies the disused Handley Page aerodrome. This was being exploited for gravel extraction. The land is involved in a local dispute about a Rail Freight Terminal planned to be built on a vast area of land, which includes plans to refresh the village.

Railway station

Park Street railway station is the first station after St Albans Abbey on the St Albans Branch Line. The train service on this line is known locally as the 'Abbey Flyer'. The railway was built in 1858 as a branch line from the London & Birmingham Railway, and Park Street station has been on its current site since 1890. Before being moved to its current position, on Watling Street, it was situated just near Hyde Lane off Park Street Lane, near the current How Wood station.

There was another railway line, built in 1866, which linked the London and North Western Railway branch line to St Albans, to the newly constructed Midland Railway's main line from Bedford to London's St Pancras, at Napsbury. It was a goods line in brief use, closed by 1910, called the Park Street Branch and was operated by the Midland Railway. 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. It is still possible to see some of the bridge brickwork here which is just by 'The Overdraught' pub.

Another bridge, over the River Ver at the back of Sycamore Drive, still survives. Beyond the bridge over the River Ver this line crossed what became the Handley Page aircraft factory runway. This runway was in use until the mid 1960s for the maintenance and testing of the V bomber fleet.

A 1960s metal bridge carries the Abbey Line trains sometimes affectionately dubbed the Abbey Flyer over the main road, replacing a previous brick one.

Public houses

There are just two pubs left in the village: The Falcon and The Overdraught. It days gone by there were seven other pubs in Park Street/Frogmore/Colney Street : 'The Red Lion' closed in 2009, and 'The Swan' closed in 2008. In Frogmore, 'The Red Cow' closed 2001/02, and 'The Lamb' closed in the early 1970s. In Colney Street there used to be three pubs: 'The Black Horse' which was demolished in 2003, 'The George and Dragon' which closed in the early 1990s; and 'The Jolly Farmer', which closed in the 1930s.

'The Overdraught' used to be called 'The White Horse'.

Until the early 1970s, 'The Lamb' was situated opposite the entrance to Handley Page aircraft factory. Once the factory closed the last landlord couldn't make a living and, so legend has it, he and his wife closed the pub, locked themselves in and drank the pub dry before being ordered out by the brewery.

The Falcon is reputed to be on the site of a "Pilgrim's Rest", which was a series of places to house the pilgrims to St Alban's shrine in the 1600s.

Parks and Sport

Park Street has three parks:

• Recreation Ground by sports fields on Park Street Lane: Park Street Football Club and the cricket ground and pavilion.
• Mayflower Road Park
• Frogmore Lakes Park, to the south of the village just past the gravel pits, popular for fishing.

There also used to be a big park along Burydell/ Bury Dell Lane, replaced by the vegetable allotments, this was in use at least until 1900.

History

The immediate village has fourteen heritage-listed buildings (one of which is half-timbered) on Watling Street - the majority of the rest brick built early Victorian buildings - notably though Toll Cottage is 17th century on Bury Dell just to the east. Most significantly to this area would have been the passing trade for villagers to sell their ale and produce along Watling Street and easy access to the markets in the nearby pre-Roman town.

There used to be a Sub Post-Office in the village and more shopping here however both How Wood and St Albans provide the largest range of shops.

Sights of the village

The main landmark in the village is a Mill, which was converted into offices in 1984. During the conversion an old Second World War bomb was found in the "Old Smithy's" garden.

There is also a Village Hall, accessed from the A5183. Opened in 1936, it is now in the long slow process of being upgraded. Using volunteer labour and grants a new kitchen has been built with modern appliances including two double ovens and a six burner hob. There is also a disabled toilet with baby changing facilities. Extensive building facilities, insulation and extensions have been funded by generous individual donations and grants from Lafarge Aggregates, Hertfordshire County Council and the St Stephen Parish Council.

Park Street Baptist Church is situated on Penn Road.

Fairhaven Flats were built in the 1960s; before which a house stood on the site, called Fairhaven.

Park Street on screen

There were film studios in Park Street until their demolition in 2008, which stood opposite Frogmore Caravan Park on Watling Street.

• Tomorrow Never Dies, a The James Bond film, was partly filmed at the studios
• "Dirty Weekend", a film by Michael Winner, had a scene at the gun shop in Park Street, Park Street Guns

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Park Street, Hertfordshire)