ST ALBANS & HERTFORDSHIRE ARCHITECTURAL & ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 207 February 2018
General View of St Albans. (See Page 3) Courtesy of the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban
Some of the items included in this edition
President’s Message Historical Pageants SAHAAS New Year Party County Theatre Clock Tower Central Library Index Library Lecture Programme Contents Have you a Minute? 3 President’s Message 4 SAHAAS New Year Party 6 Membership 6
Library Report 8 Library Notes February 2018 9 New acquisitions 9 Recent journal articles 9 Clock Tower Report 10 Abbot John of Wheathampstead 11 Obituary - David Aubrey 12 Publications Report 12
SAHAAS and the Egyptian antiquities mystery 13 Introducing the St Albans Central Library Index 14 St Albans in 50 Buildings 15 Historical pageants in modern Britain: a new resource 16 Widening the High Street in St Albans 18 Where the limelight once shone 20
Poetry or Art, anyone? 22 Hertfordshire Association for Local History 22 Beyond the Battlefields: Käthe Buchler’s Photographs of Germany in the Great War 23 Territorial Army Riding School - 1910 24 Third ‘Archaeology in Hertfordshire: Recent Research’ Conference 24 Fill Up - Yesterday and Today 25
Lecture Programme 13 February - 1 June 2018 26
EDITOR
This is my last Newsletter as editor. Over the many editions I have had the privilege to edit I have been assisted by a truly supportive team. I am sure I and the membership would wish to thank them for the work they have done; to provide copy, assist in proof reading and, not least, to distribute the finished article, by post and by hand. And, of course, not forgetting the many members who have sent in articles for publication. “Thank you”.
John Humphreys www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 3
Cover picture. The print ‘General View Of St Albans’, ‘Drawn from nature on stone’ by J.C. Oldmeadow was printed by W. Clerk’s Lithographic Establishment at 202 High Holborn circa 1838-1840. The three-horse coach leaving the town via St Stephen’s Hill could have been either a private coach or perhaps ‘The Times’ which in 1836 travelled the 31 miles from London to Luton via Barnet and St Albans in 4 hours; it was one of the many stage coach routes which passed through St Albans and listed in the Directory of Stage Coach Services (1836). ‘The Times’ was a comparatively small coach with four seats inside and eight outside. The Directory has been transcribed and digitised by Friern Barnet and District Local History Society.
HAVE YOU A MINUTE?
Do you enjoy transcribing historical can send you digital copies of the documents? If so, would you be inter- material to transcribe using your word ested in taking part in a small SAHAAS processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) and project to transcribe the Society’s for you to return your transcripts to us. 1845-1914 Minute Books? We will hold a kick-off meeting in March to establish the process and We have a complete set of these books then a review meeting in April to and the Minutes are in generally good address any questions arising from handwriting. For several reasons, it is your initial endeavours. desirable to reproduce the valuable contents in a more accessible format. We are also seeking a couple of volun- The minutes record the many activities teers to help with scanning the mate- of our early predecessors as they rial using their own equipment. Thanks became involved in church architec- to the work of Malcolm Merrick three ture, early archaeological digs, pre- volumes are ready for transcription; serving the town’s built heritage and there are several more to do. generally running a small but ‘learned’ antiquarian society. For further information and / or expressions of interest please email Whilst there is no immediate urgency, Jon Mein at: we are looking to complete the work [email protected] by October 2018. All we require is that you have access to the internet so we Jon Mein www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 4
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE signs to ZSL in Regents Park that Happy New Year to all our members mystify almost every- – and a particularly big thank you to one when ‘London the many people who worked so hard Zoo’ is the obvious to make our New Year party at the brand. Verulamium Museum such a warm and convivial occasion. There have been some suggestions I had hoped to use this column to that we rebrand ourselves as St write about the outcomes from an Albans History Society or St Albans Away Day of the Council of the Society Heritage Society. I freely confess that planned for December. Unfortunately when I hear the word ‘heritage’, I the proposed date coincided with the reach for my gun. It has become one heavy snow and we had to cancel. of those bureaucratic catch-all pieces The next time that all the key officers of jargon. As for describing ourselves coincide in one place is March, so as a History Society, perhaps that’s a watch this space. bit dull. You can go to any major town in the country and join a ‘history We will use the Away Day to do a society’, it’s certainly not distinctive. classic SWOT analysis – our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and One of the earliest battle honours for threats. And then drill down into all our Society was the preservation and that we do, debating how we might restoration of the Clock Tower. In the see the Society develop as it early 1860s it came close to destruc- approaches its 175�� birthday. tion. A member of the town council described it as “our great, unsightly I am sure that one of the issues we will incubus” and “a disgrace to the Cor- discuss is our branding and name. St poration and the town.” Even if there Albans and Hertfordshire Architec- were a chance of restoring it, he asked tural and Archaeological Society is a “what benefit would it be to the bit of a mouthful. It does not even town? It would not bring anything to express the local history strand of our the Borough fund.” activity. But SAHAAS is just a jumble of letters, hard to know how even to This was challenged by our Society pronounce. I am reminded of the forbears, who pledged funds for a Photo: John Humphreys
While every care has been taken in the preparation of this newsletter the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information herein or any consequence arising from it. www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 5 restoration in a motion tabled by the As a play on words, our pamphlets and then Earl of Verulam, one of my pred- publications could be branded ecessors as President. After some ‘Arclight’ or ‘Archive’. considerable discussion and the involvement of Giles Gilbert Scott, Of course some will say I am just being restoration began in 1866 under the archaic! Whatever we decide, any personal superintendence of local final decision will be down to the architect Thomas Hill, one of Bryan wider membership. Perhaps we will Hanlon’s many distinguished prede- just stay as SAHAAS. cessors as Hon Secretary of the Soci- ety. The rest is history. Its signalling All feedback welcome – and whatever days over, the Tower did not and still we are called we should continue to does not, serve any functional be proud of the richness of our various purpose. But it is part of what makes activities, the lecture programme, the St Albans so unique, part of our city’s publications, the library, the research. brand if you will. Work proceeds apace on plans for our ‘The Arc & Arc’ as a brand is also 175�� anniversary in 2020. One major unique. It does not immediately mean strand will be an exhibition about the anything. Nor does ‘Coke’ except as Society at the new Museum. John an archaic fuel or dubious substance. Morewood is taking the lead on this. But it is a short and snappy title. We We want it to be forward-looking and are the only Arc & Arc in the country. innovative as well as memorialising Many people still recognise it as our our past. So volunteers please to name. We could have a strapline work with John on this exciting ‘St Albans and Hertfordshire History’ project! If you are interested, please or similar. email John at [email protected]
THE ARC & ARC Here’s to an even more rewarding St Albans and Hertfordshire History 2018.
Sandy Walkington www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 6
SAHAAS NEW YEAR PARTY welcomed Doreen and Roy Bratby, the Society’s newest Honorary Sandy Walkington, the Society’s Pres- Members. ident, welcomed Cllr Jamie Day, Deputy Mayor of St Albans (standing- Our Secretary, Bryan Hanlon, organ- in for the Mayor who was unwell) as ised the quiz but scolded those who our guest of honour at the party on used ‘gadgets’ instead of their brains! Friday, 5 January, at Verulamium The winner was Anthony Oliver with Museum. a very commendable 18 correct answers to the 30 fiendish questions. Cllr Day, in responding to our Presi- Tactfully, the President’s wife came dent’s welcome, spoke about the second with John Morewood, a previ- specialness of St Albans and the ous winner, in third. growing pressures for additional residential development. He praised Food and drinks were provided by the ‘wonderful relationship’ which members. Once again, the buffet was exists between SAHAAS and the City in the very capable hands of Val Council, and highlighted the work of Argue, husband Chris, Caroline the ‘Clockateers’. Cllr Day also Howkins, Ann Dean and Carol thanked SAHAAS members for their Oldknow who served the mulled wine. wholehearted support for the And many thanks to everyone else construction of the new museum to who chipped in be opened in May 2018. We also John G.E. Cox
MEMBERSHIP
The Society welcomes the following new members:
Mr Rod Cowper St Albans Mr Peter Denney St Albans Elaine & Martin Hudson Croxley Green Brian & Joanne Martin St Albans Mr Guy Nettleton St Albans Mr Peter Noble St Albans Mrs Diana Penton St Albans Mr Jeremy Wright St Albans
David Smith Membership Secretary www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 7
Our President welcomes our principal guest, the Deputy Mayor of St Albans, Cllr Jamie Day
Val Argue presides over the preparation of the New Year Party buffet
Hon. Sec, Bryan Hanlon presents prizes to Quiz winners
Photos. Andy Lawrence www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 8
LIBRARY REPORT responses, we may consider changing opening days to better suit availability. Christmas and seasonal ailments, saw the Library a little quieter in the past A meeting of the extended Library few weeks. Some Library Fridays have Volunteers Group will be held in later been very busy; Wednesdays less so. February to allocate library resource- discovery and other tasks. Library Team. A strategic meeting was held in late January to clarify SAHAAS Online Catalogue training Library requirements, tasks, issues has been going forward in short ses- and policies. A report on develop- sions. To draw together experience ments will appear in the next News- and firm up on aspects of cataloguing letter. policy and procedure, the group learn- ing about the Soutron system held an Requiring immediate attention is the extended (not quite “away day”) need for more regular hands in session in later January. By the time helping man the Library on opening you are reading this, we hope to have days. This partly reflects the recent several cataloguers working inde- expansion of the collections. But the pendently. loss of one-time team members, and recent bouts of ill health and flu epi- In the course of training, numerous demics have stretched our human books from the Beardsmore collection resources; and several of us are not have been added to the Library, and getting any younger! There is a need notes on some of the more notable to be looking ahead and bringing in appear below. fresh staff. Eileen Roberts Research Materials If any Member, in addition to the I have arranged with Jane Webster, Dr known Library Volunteers Group, is Roberts’ daughter, a meeting in Feb- interested in helping man the Library ruary to pick up further materials from do please let us know at Redbourn, and to discuss possible [email protected] or acquisition of some major antiquarian please respond to the more detailed lacunae in SAHAAS Library holdings. email appeal to Members which should have reach you. Depending on www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 9
SAHAAS Minutes. Malcolm Merrick by Gibbs and Bamforth, 1902. 210, xxx has made a start on digitising the p, [4] leaves of plates : ill. Includes Society’s Council Minute Books. See an appendix of notes covering people also note on page 3 (appeal for tran- & places mentioned in the registers. scribers). South Mymms : the story of a parish / Sally Pearson continues busily listing by F. Brittain ; with an introduction by and seeking to sell surplus Arthur Quiller-Couch. Cambridge: W. Beardsmore stock and other library Heffer & Sons, 1931. xvi, 176 p. : ill. duplicates for the benefit of the A scholarly work. Includes numerous Library and the St. Albans Museum appendices: lists of vicars, church- project. See page 22. wardens, headmasters, war memorial inscriptions for South Mymms and Donald Munro immediate surrounding area.
LIBRARY NOTES FEBRUARY 2018 Tales for sportsmen, by Dragon. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., N�� ������������ 1885. viii p., [3]-164 p : front., plates, We are making progress with cata- ill. Includes chapter on hunting loguing books from the Beardsmore at Bricket Wood. Illustrations by Gift, adding many more items to our Georgina Bowers, St Albans resident. collection than hitherto. Space limita- tions prevent listing each one in the R����� ������� �������� Newsletter, but we will include details In Harpenden and District Local of those we think the most interest- History Society Newsletter, no 133, ing. Here is a sample: December 2017 pp19-23’ “Lawes and Gilbert: an History of the ancient town and unlikely Victorian agricultural partner- borough Hertford, by Lewis Turner ship”, by Joyce Bunting. Esq. Hertford: St. Austin for the John Lawes collaborated at Rotham- author, 1830. 503pp, illus, map. sted with Joseph Henry Gilbert, who ran the experiments. The article is The parish registers of Aldenham, concerned with the life of the lesser- Hertfordshire, 1559-1659, transcribed known partner, born in 1817. Contains by Kenneth F. Gibbs; and edited and a portrait of Gilbert. indexed by William Brigg. St. Albans: Privately printed for the subscribers Tony Cooper www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 10
CLOCK TOWER REPORT Our last opening of the year was on If you happened to pass by the Clock Sunday, 26 November for the turning Tower anytime between 24 Novem- on of the Christmas lights when just ber and 4 January you probably under 250 visitors climbed the tower noticed a life-sized Nutcracker soldier during the 4 hours we were open. This standing on guard outside. It was one year the town’s lights were switched of fifteen soldiers and a Nutcracker on simultaneously in three different King that were positioned throughout places – St Peter’s Street, the Vintry St Albans, Redbourn, Wheathamp- Gardens and in front of the Clock stead and Harpenden as part of the St Tower. Thanks to Frank Iddiols’ work Albans Nutcracker Trail. The Nut- on the new lights and extra cabling, cracker soldier placed outside the all the Clock Tower lights were turned Clock Tower was appropriately named on by the flick of just one switch. Thomas Wolvey, the Royal Mason engaged by St Albans’ townspeople to Although the Big Weekend had its build the tower. Strangely, the soldier problems last year, St Albans District began dressed in red but as the cold Council have decided to continue to weather set in, he changed his tunic support the event again this year, over to a blue one. the weekend of 24/25 March. The Big
From Red To Blue www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 11
Weekend is about giving Hertfordshire anyone thinking of becoming a Clocka- residents the chance to discover – or teer is welcome to come along too and rediscover – the array of fantastic find out more about helping to keep things to see and do on their doorstep, this iconic building open to the public. and encouraging them to spread the word about their county – be a tourist The Clock Tower will be opened by the in your own home town. The Clock Civic Society on Good Friday, 30 March Tower will be joining in by offering the 2018 for the start of the summer Big Weekend Ballot ticket winners season and then will be manned on exclusive access to the Clock Tower on alternate weekends by SAHAAS and both mornings and a Clock Tower Civic Society volunteers until the close Memorabilia Goody Bag. For more on Sunday, 30 September 2018. information and to enter the ballot for a variety of attractions please go to As always, Mike and I would like to www.hertsbigweekend.co.uk. thank all the Clockateers for giving their time to keep the Clock Tower Preparations are in progress for the open for the public to enjoy and we Clockateers’ Party to be held in the hope to see you all at the Clockateers’ Museum on Friday, 16 March at Party on Friday, 16 March 2018. 7.30pm. Invitations will be posted in February to all our Clockateers but Caroline Howkins & Mike Carey
ABBOT JOHN OF WHEATHAMPSTEAD
In January, a unique and remarkable discovery came to light during an archaeological dig taking place as part of the Alban, Britain’s First Saint project at St Albans Cathedral. A 15�� century skeleton was uncovered and, in an extremely rare development, was found to be accompanied by three papal bulls issued by Pope Martin V (1417-31), indicating that this was no ordinary burial.
The above is the prologue to Laura Bloom’s interview with James G. Clark, Professor of History at Exeter University and our guest speaker on 26 January.
For the whole story see https://albanbritainsfirstsaint.wordpress.com/the-lost-abbot/ www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 12
OBITUARY - DAVID AUBREY
It is with sadness that we learned of the death of David Aubrey in December. Remembered for his quiet and unfussy contribution, he was Treasurer of the Society for around fifteen years from 1990 taking on the additional task of being Clock Tower coordinator for eight of these. He found time to contribute an article to Brian Moody’s book, A history in all men’s lives, to commemorate the Society’s 150th anniversary in the mid-1900s. The picture was taken at the Anniversary Dinner in 1995. There was a private committal in January.
PUBLICATIONS REPORT tions. The experience suggests that Twitter has certainly increased the Sales of The Old Town Hall, St Albans public’s awareness of our recent performed well during the run-up to publications and articles. The effect Christmas. Copies will continue to be on sales is difficult to judge. We now on sale to members at SAHAAS talks, have over 220 followers, more than where we now run a small bookstall we follow ourselves, and have whenever volunteers are available to published over 1000 tweets and man the stall. retweets since September 2016.
Work on Brian Adams’ pamphlet on The Publication Committee, which Percival Blow has now restarted. Blow includes John Cox, Ann Dean, Sue was a local architect who designed Mann, Christine McDermott and many buildings in St Albans in the Roger Miles, have been exploring early twentieth century. It is hoped ideas for new publications and sub- that the pamphlet will be published in mitted preliminary proposals for a a few months time. project in support of the 175th anni- versary. We’ll keep you posted! It is now over a year since we joined Twitter to help promote our publica- Patricia Broad
Follow us on Twitter: SAHAAS@stalbanspast www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 13
SAHAAS AND THE EGYPTIAN Egyptian Archaeology at University ANTIQUITIES MYSTERY College London. She had seen the reference in our Transactions, and We had a very interesting lecture on asked if anyone knows what the tomb of Tutankhamun in Octo- happened to the antiquities after ber by Dr Jaromir Malek of the Grif- they were examined. The Curator fith Institute, Oxford University. explained that distributions of this There is a very tenuous link between type were not loans but returns for that Institute and SAHAAS, with a grants to the Fund for excavation mystery attached. work in Egypt. We could find no subsequent mention of them in the In the late 19th century the vicar of Society’s minutes or elsewhere, or of Sandridge was the Revd John Griffith, any contribution to the Fund; and a member of our Society. In 1884, his there is no trace of them in the son Francis, soon after graduating records of St Albans Museum. from Oxford, secured a position as official student with the Egypt Explo- The fate of the antiquities remains a ration Fund, working with Flinders mystery, and if any of our readers Petrie excavating in the Nile delta. can help to solve it we, and doubtless The Society’s Transactions record the Petrie Museum, would be very that at a meeting in December 1890, glad to hear from them. after several (presumably brief) pa- pers were read, “The meeting then Frank Griffith had a distinguished became conversational ... antiquities career, becoming Reader in Archae- presented by the Egypt Explora- ology at Oxford in 1901, and Profes- tion Fund through the Revd Dr Grif- sor from 1924 until 1932. He left his fith and Mr Frank L. Griffith were papers, estate and Egyptological examined with interest.” library to found the Griffith Institute in Oxford. In 2015 we had an enquiry from the Curator of the Petrie Museum of Tony Cooper www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 14
INTRODUCING THE ST ALBANS ● the online reference library – a wide range of sources including CENTRAL LIBRARY INDEX Dictionary of National Biography, I welcome the chance to give fellow Oxford Reference Online, Ances- Society members an update on local try, FindMyPast, old and current research resources in the public newspapers etc. library. As well as the obvious books, these include the following list: Members with past experience of the collections may recall wooden draw- ● telephone directories, electoral ers, card indexes and the Brown clas- registers and older poll books; sification system. These worked well, ● trade/residental directories and have their anachronistic charm (Kelly’s & others); perhaps, but what to do when space ● parish & St Albans Borough is precious? Online access an expecta- records (microfilm); tion, but web-based professional cat- ● illustrations (photos, drawings, aloguing is not an option. A local prints & slides); solution was required. ● the “Pamphlets” collection of mis- cellaneous sources - ephemera, Inspired by the excellent SAHAAS journal/newspaper articles, Journals Index, I considered transcrib- themed cuttings, council & other ing the cards into spreadsheet form. local publications, guidebooks & If you have used this, you will know directories, souvenir pro- that the Find (Ctrl+F), Filtering and grammes, sale particulars, elec- Sorting options can be useful tools. I tion literature etc.; hoped for a virtual “one-stop shop” ● maps - Ordnance Survey (& older), where various resources could be street, commercial, planning, the- checked easily in one file. matic, aerial photos; ● local newspapers & periodicals This is now in progress, with input (current & back runs); from staff (like myself) and volun- ● articles from the Review by Geoff teers. The resulting document, availa- Dunk & others (1970s/80s); ble now on the Society’s website, contains a separate tab for each www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 15 index; three have been fully tran- will be replaced by a complete index, scribed, with further information which is now underway. added where possible: We also hope to work on remaining Pamphlets: repackaged, easier to look collections (e.g. maps) as time goes through, now in an A-Z subject index. on. Further details and instructions Slides: can no longer be borrowed, but can be found in the document itself – copies can be made by HALS. download it and have a look! Review articles: repackaged into new folders, shelved with the books. Thanks to Jon Mein & Donald Munro of SAHAAS for their advice and The 4�� tab (Illustrations) is currently encouragement. just an expanded version of the previ- ous subject index, but does contain Scott Chalmers (Library Assistant, some useful individual details. This St Albans Central Library)
Hot off the press!!
ST ALBANS IN 50 BUILDINGS by Past President of the Society Kate Morris Published by Amberley Publishing and heavily illustrated, it tells the story of St Albans through the built heritage, sometimes highlighting events behind closed doors of familiar buildings. Price £14.99 from local bookshops or Amazon, or, for members, direct from Kate @ £12.00 until her stocks run out. [email protected] or 07946 612447 or at Society lectures. www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 16
HISTORICAL PAGEANTS IN MODERN BRITAIN: A NEW RESOURCE
In the early twentieth century, Britain was gripped by an outbreak of ‘pageant fever’ or ‘pageantitis’. Communities up and down the country were mobilised in the production of large-scale costume dramas, usually in outdoor locations, St Albans Pageant 1907: participants in that celebrated local and national his- Elizabethan costume as the court of Queen tory. The source of the outbreak was Elizabeth I. Courtesy of St Albans Museums Sherborne in Dorset, where in 1905 the impresario Louis Napoleon Parker led a St Albans was one of the most signifi- cast of some 800 volunteers in the cant centres of historical pageantry, production of eleven scenes from local with an early pageant in 1907, two more history, and many other places followed in 1948 and 1953, and a smaller indoor in the years before the First World War. ‘pageant-play’ in 1968. Well-known figures in the city were involved, includ- The war curtailed popular enthusiasm ing Charles Ashdown, who wrote the for historical pageants, but the fever script in 1907, and Cyril Swinson, who returned again in the 1920s and 1930s, was ‘pageant-master’ in 1948 and 1953. and there was yet another outbreak Swinson’s brother Arthur, a radio and in the 1940s and 1950s, centred in TV script-writer, best known for Dr particular (though by no means exclu- Finlay’s Casebook, wrote and produced sively) on the Festival of Britain and the the 1968 pageant. Coronation of Elizabeth II. Although pageants have since declined, they have Other places in Hertfordshire staged never completely disappeared: argua- pageants too: Hertford in 1914 (Ash- bly, their influence can be seen in down again), Hatfield in 1927 (focusing the opening ceremony of the London on the Tudors), Berkhamsted in 1922 Olympics in 2012, when Danny Boyle and 1966, Hitchin in 1951 (Swinson and Frank Cottrell Boyce created a again) and Hertford again in 1973. At dramatic re-presentation of Britain’s Berkhamsted in 1922, a key supporter industrial past. of the pageant was the historian G. M. www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 17
Trevelyan, who wrote much of the script project has been to collect information and even took an acting role, playing the on the huge number of pageants held in part of Geoffrey Chaucer. Britain during this period, and to produce Pageants involved hundreds, often thou- a searchable database of information. sands, of people – as performers, of This resource, together with an interac- course, but also as costume-makers, tive map, can now be publicly accessed set-builders, members of orchestras and at: choirs, horse-trainers, stewards, ticket- www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/ sellers and car park attendants. At the time of writing, there are 650 Performers often purchased and cher- pageants in the database – this will ished their costumes, which were care- increase in the coming months – and fully designed: at St Albans in 1907 and more than 1.5 million words of text. For Hertford in 1914, the ‘chief mistress of many pageants (the St Albans ones are the robes’ was Emily Ashdown, wife of examples) there is a summary of the Charles and a world-renowned historian scenes, and a longer account of the of costume. All kinds of souvenirs and production and reception of the pageant. ephemera were produced and sold, from For some others, there is only fragmen- programmes and ‘books of words’ to tary detail, and we welcome additional ceramics and handkerchiefs, from post- information that members of the public cards to medallions – and even biscuit- are able to provide. You can contact us tins! at: [email protected] Pageants, often staged to commemorate particular events or anniversaries, were The project website: themselves commemorated: the Pageant www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/ Gardens in Sherborne were laid out with also gives users the opportunity to the proceeds from Parker’s first pageant, upload images of pageants; alternatively, and of course in St Albans (and in other if you have any images or recollections, towns) there is a road named after the you are welcome to email us at the pageant. address above.
Since 2013 several colleagues and I have Mark Freeman been involved in a project entitled ‘The UCL Institute of Education Redress of the Past: Historical Pageants University College London in Britain 1905-2016’. One aim of this www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 18
WIDENING THE HIGH STREET IN the frontage to his building. Likewise, the owners of the house at the ST ALBANS bottom of the road didn’t sell up to Completed in 1796, the construction the trustees until 1814 (see Newslet- of London Road bypassing Sopwell ter 204). However, the trustees could Lane and Holywell Hill was a laudable claim two successes. One was minor, achievement. But those deserving the removal of the protruding window plaudits, the local men of the St at the George Inn (Newsletter 205). Albans Turnpike Trust, were in a The other was work that has left a pickle. As described in the August major mark on the centre of St Albans, 2017 newsletter (no. 204), the new albeit something we don’t recognise road meant that coach passengers as such today. arrived from the capital more quickly and in greater comfort; unfortunately This concerns one of the foremost they then joined the slow crawl down inns in the town, the large Red Lion, George Street fighting against the whose long frontage ran west along rising tide of vehicles and animals the High Street from Market Cross, to coming up the steep hill towards finish abutting ‘Thai Square’. (Verulam them. Road didn’t exist at this time.) Follow- ing a marked downturn in the local inn It is clear from their minute books that trade, the building was purchased in the trustees had foreseen this 1758 for his own residential use by problem when they started to plan surgeon Joseph Handley, a prominent the London Road development in the and cussed local politician. From what early 1790s. Unable to fund a bypass we know of his personality, the build- of George Street as well, their strategy ing’s prime location clearly attracted had to be piecemeal: reach agree- him. Indeed, it was soon colloquially ment with individual property owners known as ‘Handley’s Corner’. to demolish parts of buildings that adversely affected the flow of traffic In hindsight this label is surprising. in the town centre. Even with these Yes, the building was on the corner of limited ambitions the results were Market Cross and High Street but disappointing. For example, James today’s replacement is hardly a land- Bennett, then the owner of what is mark ‘Corner’. Examination of now the ‘Thai Square’ restaurant in Andrews and Wren’s 1766 map of the George Street refused a deal to alter town (Fig. 1) indicates why contempo- www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 19 raries perhaps described it in this way. part of George Street, just 24ft wall to It depicts a narrower entrance to this wall (see A & B on Fig. 2). It is now an part of the High Street for travellers acceptable 37ft (C & D). heading west than there is today. Handley’s house loomed over this All this work, completed in 1792, ‘Corner’. materially changed the layout of High Street to one more familiar to us The subsequent widening of this part today. What it did not do was materi- of the road can be attributed to the ally resolve the other bottlenecks with trustees. Following his death in 1782, George Street remaining steep and Handley’s house was converted back constricted. Coach travellers had to into an inn trading again as the Red wait for the opening of Verulam Road Lion. In 1791, to help solve the in 1826 to experience the same speed growing bottleneck conundrum, the and comfort that London Road had trustees purchased the building and established 30 years before. its yard and had a good part of it demolished to widen the road. Unfor- A fully referenced version of this tunately no record of the dimensions article is available in the Society’s of the original line has come to light. Library. Our thanks to Kate Morris and Instead Fig. 2 shows the results of our Alan Smith for their comments on an survey. On the strength of the 1766 earlier draft. map, we estimate that the width of the High Street outside the Red Lion Jon Mein and Frank Iddiols was then the same as the narrowest www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 20
WHERE THE LIMELIGHT ONCE Northumberland Avenue, London, SHONE was the first to open its doors in 1883. The St Peter’s Street premises, estab- For a period of almost 50 years the lished in 1886, had separate rooms for County Hall Theatre in St Albans reading, billiards, chess and card brought professional theatre compa- games. A large hall seating up to 800 nies to the city. The final curtain fell was added to the rear of the property in 1932. It appears that the theatre to create the County Hall Theatre. In was losing its audience to the cinema 1903 the theatre was leased by Sidney and also to the bright lights of the Foster, a former actor turned impre- West End, made more accessible by sario, who remained in charge for the cheap evening rail travel from St following 29 years. Albans. Access to the theatre was via a The last ever production was the 1928 passageway to the right of the main Broadway musical hit comedy building. Whoopee! It must have been a fitting finale as the show featured sing-a- The theatre had no repertory long, foot-tapping tunes that some of company of its own. Instead it relied us may be familiar with today, includ- on booking touring companies from ing Makin’ Whoopee, My Baby Just other theatres as well as hiring out or Cares for Me and Yes Sir, That’s My making the hall available for amateur Baby. productions during the summer months. The theatre formed part of the County Constitutional Club, occupying a fine, The building was requisitioned for a ivy-covered building in St Peter’s short period at the start of the First Street. Such clubs sprang up across World War. Theatres and cinemas the country as a result of franchise were hit by an entertainment tax reform under the 1884 Representa- levied in 1916 to raise money to help tion of the People Act. Conservative pay for the war. The cumulative party members anticipated that this impact of the war, from taxation to would result in more supporters who loss of performers, resulted in the would want to belong to a club. The closure of a number of provincial now defunct Constitutional Club in theatres. www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 21
The March 1917 production of Gold Laurie claimed to have been wounded and Syrup was typical of the type of three times in three different places touring shows staged in St Albans – France, Mesopotamia and the during the war. It was described as Persian Gulf. having a ‘full London beauty chorus,lovely girls, pretty dresses, The show went on after the war but beautiful scenery’, with the added in January 1932 it was announced that helpful information: ‘It will be a full the theatre would close at the end of moon on these nights’. As St Albans the season. Although it was implied was under curfew because of the that competition from cinemas and presence of troops in the town, the West End were factors, a local there was little or no street lighting business directory of 1933 lists a new allowed so moonlit nights were some- address for the County Constitutional thing of a boon to establishments Club, in Bricket Road. So it appears offering evening entertainment. that the theatre may have closed because the club itself was relocating. The Christmas show in 1917 featured a popular London comedian, Jimmy A fully referenced version of this Wood, in his ‘screamingly funny revue article is available in SAHAAS Library. in five scenes’, called Blighty. It was stated that Jimmy was a medal-hold- Sue Mann ing war veteran. His sidekick Jack
The County Club with billboards outside; passageway to theatre visible SAHAAS (Arthur Allen collection) www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 22
POETRY OR ART, ANYONE? ably, he managed to educate himself to later write not just The sorting of books donated to the poetry but also works on spiritu- Society from the Beardsmore Collec- alism and ancient Egypt. He tion is nearing completion. Although became a radical freethinker, and the majority relate to local history, a prominent Chartist. there are some volumes of poetry and literature, plus a few on painting, ● The artist Lucy Kemp Welch prints and sculpture. The authors and (1869-1958) specialised in paint- artists often have Hertfordshire con- ing horses, and illustrated a 1915 nections. A list of these titles, now edition of Black Beauty. She offered for sale, can be viewed on the studied at Hubert von Herkomer’s Society’s website. Two interesting art school in Bushey, and went on characters who feature amongst them to run it from 1905 – 1926, quite are: an achievement for a woman at the time. ● The poet Gerald Massey (1828- 1907), born in Tring, had to earn Sally Pearson a living as a boy, first in silk making and then straw plaiting. Remark-
HERTFORDSHIRE ASSOCIATION FOR LOCAL HISTORY
HALH exists to promote the study and enjoyment of local history in Hertfordshire by assisting and encouraging local history societies; co-ordinating a network of local history recorders; organising events during the year; providing 'priming’ loans to societies for special projects.
KEEP THE DATE - SPRING MEETING AND AGM
Venue: Tewin Memorial Hall, 10.30 - 3.30, Saturday, 19 May 2018 Programme will include talks by local societies, an update on Barnet battlefield survey and the annual Lionel Munby Lecture (speaker and title to be confirmed). www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 23
BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELDS: window on the preoccupations of ordinary Germans, living and KÄTHE BUCHLER’S working hundreds of miles away PHOTOGRAPHS OF GERMANY IN from the fighting. THE GREAT WAR Buchler‘s family was wealthy, well Exhibition at the University of Hert- connected and related to the fordshire Galleries, Hatfield. Voigtländer family – producers of 15 March – 5 May 2018 some of Germany’s most advanced photographic equipment – giving her Beyond the Battlefields presents a access to the best cameras of the of unique series of images made by the day. She was an early adopter of photographer Käthe Buchler (1876- the ‘Autochrome’ process (the 1930) in Germany before, during and world’s first colour photographic after the First World War, and which process – manufactured by the are part of the collection of the Lumière Brothers in Lyon, France). Museum of Photography in Braun- Colour imagery, which features in schweig – where Buchler lived and the exhibition, started to appear in worked. This touring exhibition is the her work as early as 1913. The first time the photographs have been mainly private and domestic scenes seen outside Germany. she photographed using the Auto- chrome process represent a substan- Buchler’s exquisitely posed portraits tial development of her skills as a and landscapes are the vision of a colour photographer. respectable, bourgeois wife and mother, a pillar of her community, Buchler’s photographs offer fascinat- and display significant technical ing comparisons with images and expertise. Through different picture memorabilia from the same period cycles she examines the care of in Britain. For further information orphaned children and wounded about the exhibition please see: troops, Germans at work and at www.everydaylivesinwar.herts. leisure – including a fascinating ac.uk. series made late in the war entitled ‘Women in Men’s Jobs’– presenting Editors’ note: This piece is inserted the dislocations of war along with for the many members who have been striking moments of human warmth. following the researches of the In so doing she offers us a fascinating SAHAAS World War One Group. www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 24
THE RIDING SCHOOL - 1910
Amongst the research topics for 'St Albans Home Front' have been attempts to fill out the history of the Territorial Army Riding School which was established in Harpenden Road in 1910. Later evolving into the TA The newly-completed Riding School in 1910 Centre, the site eventually became Copyright: Illustrated London News) Edmund Beaufort Drive in the 1970s. buildings(s) would have been replaced The genesis of the School is soundly before the Second World War by the documented by reports in the Herts TA Hall. This latter lasted until the Advertiser, including a plan, but there- closure of the Centre around 1956. after there is a lack of information. The only photograph of the building It was, by all accounts, a lively social that we know of, dated 1910, is shown centre on Saturday nights for dances, here. There are difficulties reconciling post war, so there may well be mem- it with the plan and its orientation to ories to be stirred out there some- the road. Also, it is difficult to place where. However, it is the time around the houses seen in the background. the First World War and after that is of most interest at this stage. If you Does any member have or know of can add something do contact me via photographs of the TA site at [email protected] any stage in its history? It seems reasonable to assume that the School Roger Miles
THIRD ‘ARCHAEOLOGY IN HERTFORDSHIRE: RECENT RESEARCH’ CONFERENCE Keep the Date: Saturday 14 July 2018 The venue will be the Rhodes Museum, Bishops Stortford. More information will be posted at https://wp.me/P1A1e3-5I when it becomes available. If you would like to submit a paper for consideration, please send a short abstract to Kris Lockyear ([email protected]). www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 25 FILL UP - YESTERDAY AND TODAY
“Fill up here with Shell” (Yesterday) This intriguing (cropped) Lilywhite postcard from Andy Lawrence's collection shows a petrol pump towards the top of St Peter's Street on the west side. (You can see the entrance to Adelaide Street a couple of doors to the left). From a quick check of trade directories we can date the photo to sometime between 1923 and 1937. The name of motor engineers ‘Palmer & Sharratt’ provides the clue. Thanks to Andy for giving us permission to reproduce this. (More items from his collection are available here https://www.flickr.com/photos/47716665@N02/)
“Fill up here with Electricity” (Today)
Electric Vehicle charging point in Upper Dagnall Street www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 26
LECTURE PROGRAMME listeners who bugged the conversa- tions, never spoke about their work, 13 FEBRUARY - 1 JUNE 2018 not even to their families. Having worked through the declassified files, All lectures commence at 7.45pm historian Helen Fry sheds light on one of the little-known, but greatest Tuesday lectures will be held at deceptions of the Second World War. Marlborough Rd Methodist Church. Historian Dr. Helen Fry has written Friday lectures will be held at numerous books on the Second World St Albans School. War with particular reference to the 10,000 Germans who fought for Brit- Tuesday 13 February ain, and also British Intelligence and The M Room Trent Park espionage. Her book “The M Room: Helen Fry Secret Listeners who Bugged the Nazis” was the subject of the Channel During WW2, British Intelligence 4 documentary Spying on Hitler’s bugged the conversations of over Army. Helen has appeared in numer- 10,000 German Prisoners-of-War at ous TV documentaries and in live inter- three clandestine stately houses. views with Huw Edwards in Normandy Trent Park was reserved for Hitler’s for the BBC’s coverage of the 70�� Generals who were housed in luxuri- anniversary of D-Day. She has written ous conditions in Sir Philip Sassoon’s over 20 books – her most recent is former home. By the end of the war, “The London Cage: The Secret History there were 59 of them under one roof. of Britain’s WW2 Interrogation Cen- The Generals relaxed and became tre”. Her new research is focusing on unguarded in their conversations. espionage, WW2 and the Cold War. They inadvertently began to give She has been engaged to write a some of Hitler’s most closely guarded history of MI9 – Escape & Evasion in secrets, including discussions about WW2. the V1, V2 and atomic bomb pro- gramme. For over 60 years the secret www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 27
Friday 23 February Tue 6 March History & architecture of 18th Slavery in Small Things: Slavery & century Gorhambury Modern Culture Viscountess Grimston Professor James Walvin
Gorhambury House was commis- Professor Walvin will explore a differ- sioned by the 3�� Viscount Grimston ent approach to the story of slavery. and was designed by Sir Robert Taylor. There are so many physical objects Construction commenced in 1777 and derived from slavery that we simply was completed in 1784. It is now a take them for granted. This talk will Grade II listed building with significant be an attempt to illustrate slavery restoration and renovation work cur- through the world of material culture. rently in progress. Viscountess Grim- And the ambition is to encourage us ston’s talk will illustrate the history to think more widely about the impact and development of the house and of slavery. estate over the years. Her talk will include a film recently made at James Walvin is Professor of History Gorhambury by Steph Trowel. Emeritus at the University of York, and former visiting Fellow at Yale Univer- Rosie Grimston has always had a sity. He has published widely on passion for history, historical houses slavery and modern social history. In and their contents. From 2004-2009 2008, he was appointed OBE for she worked in and latterly ran the services to scholarship. His latest book Russian works of the Art Department is “Sugar. A World Corrupted. From at Sotheby's. Rosie continued to value Slavery to Obesity”. Faberge and other Russian articles including silver, vertu, bronze and Tue 13 March porcelain from late 18th C to the early The House of Beaufort 20th century until February of this Nathen Amin year. An impending building project at Gorhambury has focussed all her The House of Beaufort played a attention on the house and its con- pivotal role in the Hundred Years War tents. and the Wars of the Roses, as chief supporters of the House of Lancaster and forebears of the Tudor Dynasty, www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 28 who inherited their royal claim Fri 23 March through their Beaufort blood. Yet, Estonia: 100 Years of Independence their story has largely remained Neil Taylor untold, until now. Nathen Amin will help us discover more about this 2018 is the centenary of Estonia's incredible chapter of England’s tumul- declaration of independence. The talk tuous history, as told through the eyes will explain how the country became of one fascinating family. independent and then was recolo- nised by the Soviet Union and Nazi Nathen Amin is the author of “Tudor Germany, having had 20 successful Wales” (2014) and “York Pubs” (2016). years between the two world wars., His most recent book is the first full- when Britain was one of its major length biography of the Beaufort trading partners. The talk will then family, 'The House of Beaufort, the cover the 46 years of Soviet occupa- Bastard Line that Captured the tion and how Estonia tried to maintain Throne', released in August 2017 and its individuality during that time. now an Amazon No.1 Bestseller. He is Finally, the talk will explain develop- currently working on his fourth book, ments in Estonia since its re-inde- “Pretenders to the Tudor Crown”, due pendence in 1991, its different path for release in 2019. Nathen is also the from that of Latvia and Lithuania and founder of the Henry Tudor Society what its future might hold. and has featured discussing the Tudors on BBC radio and television, as Neil Taylor has been closely involved well as in print and online media with the Baltic countries, and in par- across the UK. He has a degree in ticular Estonia, since their re-inde- Business and Journalism and now lives pendence in 1991. Being in the travel in York, where he works as a Technical business at the time, he first took Writer. groups there in 1992 and in 1997 wrote the Bradt Guide to Estonia, now in its 7th edition. He then wrote the www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 29
Bradt Guide to Baltic Cities and in the He grew up in London and studied summer of 2018 his Modern History English at Jesus College, Cambridge. of Estonia will be published by Hurst. In 2010 he edited the First World War This will be the first history of Estonia memoirs of pacifist saboteur Ronald published in Britain since 1947.He has Skirth, published as The Reluctant been involved in a number of tourism Tommy. He is co-author, with Nuala projects in Estonia and continues to Calvi, of a trio of Sunday Times Top 10 take groups there every summer. bestsellers: The Sugar Girls, which was ranked second in the history bestsell- Tue 10 April ers of 2012, GI Brides, which was also Hitler’s British Isles. a New York Times bestseller in Amer- Duncan Barrett ica, and The Girls Who Went to War. His first solo title, Men of Letters: The In the summer of 1940, Britain stood Post Office Heroes Who Fought the perilously close to invasion, and the Great War, was nominated for the prospect of German occupation was People's Book Prize. His second, Hit- very much on the horizon. Thanks to ler’s British Isles, is scheduled for the success of the Battle of Britain, it release in April 2018. never happened – but ever since, the idea of German jackboots on British Tue 17 April soil has continued to fascinate us, Rogues Gallery played out in counterfactual fictions Philip Hook such as ‘SSGB’ and ‘Dominion’. But there is no need for fiction – in the Rogues’ Gallery is a history of art Channel Islands, more than 50,000 dealing through the ages. It reveals British subjects lived side by side with the surprising extent to which art the Germans for five years. In 2017, dealers have influenced the history of Duncan Barrett spent three months in art. The cast of characters includes the islands, interviewing more than a Paul Durand-Ruel, the champion of hundred local people about their the Impressionists, Kahnweiler, the memories of the Occupation. In this high priest of Cubism, and the unscru- talk he shares some of their incredible pulous Joseph Duveen who made a stories. fortune selling old masters to Ameri- can business moguls. It’s a fascinating Duncan Barrett is a writer and editor, story of human folly, greed, and specialising in biography and memoir. www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 30 duplicity, interspersed with ingenuity, at the heart of the liberal establish- inspiration, and acts of heroism. ment over half a century.
Philip Hook is director of the Impres- John Campbell is one of our leading sionist and Modern Art Department at political biographers. His many books Sotheby’s. He has forty years’ experi- include full-scale biographies of ence of the art world, including a F.E.Smith (1983), Aneurin Bevan twenty-year stint as picture expert on (1986), Edward Heath (1993), Marga- the Antiques Roadshow. He is the ret Thatcher (two volumes, The Gro- author of five novels and three cer’s Daughter, 2000 and The Iron acclaimed works of art history, the Lady, 2003) and Roy Jenkins (A Well- most recent of which, Rogues’ Gallery, Rounded Life, 2014), as well as two was published in 2017. books about Lloyd George (The Goat in the Wilderness, 1977, and If Love Fri 27 April Were All ..., 2006), and Pistols at Roy Jenkins: The best PM we never Dawn: Two Hundred Years of Political had Rivalry, from Pitt and Fox to Blair and John Campbell Brown (2009), about which he spoke to the society in 2016. In a career stretching from Attlee to Blair, Roy Jenkins arguably did more Tue 15 May to shape British society and politics The Archaeology of The Old Town Hall than any individual bar Margaret Karin Kaye Thatcher. His legacy comprises three major achievements: the liberalising The talk on the Archaeology of the Old reforms he pushed through as Home Town Hall will cover the practicalities Secretary in 1965-67 and 1974-76; his of working within a building during role – second only to Edward Heath – extensive re-working as well as the in promoting Britain’s entry into the results of the archaeological investiga- European Community in 1973; and tions. the creation of the Social Democratic Party which narrowly failed to ‘break Karin’s heritage career began when the mould’ in 1981-3 but was the she was 15 years old and given 24 catalyst for ‘New Labour’ in the 1990s. hours’ notice of having to give a group In addition he was a prolific political of German visitors guided tour of the biographer and led an active social life Cambridge Colleges. Two years later www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 207 Page 31 she became the youngest qualified food remains etc.) were preserved tourist guide in the country, which within the gentle sediments of a small allowed her interest in the built envi- river buried deep beneath the fens. ronment and past societies to flourish. This talk will present the context and When deciding on a Master’s research circumstance of the excavation and, topic, it was a close call between an at the same, attempt to come to aspect of early Saxon archaeology and terms with the sheer intensity of the detailed study of a historic building materials and what they might tell us – the building won. Today Karin runs about living in Late Bronze Age Britain. KDK Archaeology with her husband David and between them undertook Mark’s first experience of archaeology the archaeological investigations at came as a result of the Manpower the Old Town Hall. Services Commission, through which he spent six years working with Exeter Fri 1 June Museum’s Archaeological Field Unit. Must Farm Excavation He left to study archaeology, and after Mark Knight completing his degree in 1995, joined the Cambridge Archaeological Unit The Must Farm Bronze Age pile dwell- (CAU) and began researching the pre- ing (aka Britain’s Pompeii) was built, historic Fens. He was named Archae- occupied and burnt down in rapid ologist for the Year 2017 at the succession. The brevity of settlement Current Archaeology Awards. The and its catastrophic end provided a excavation also won this year’s Rescue rare set of circumstances, which in Project of the Year award. He special- turn ensured its exceptional preserva- ises in prehistoric landscapes and Neo- tion. Individual roundhouses com- lithic and Bronze Age pottery. plete with entire household inventories (whole pots, tool kits, Gill and David Girdziusz textiles, wooden vessels, weapons, SOME THINGS THAT INTEREST OUR MEMBERS
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