The Brook - Shenley
Tributary to the Colne
The Brook, a Tributary to the Colne rises in this area and flows south and west
Post to the west Shenley
London Road
The Gingerbread House. This was the east lodge of what was Porters House and it later became the hospital lodge
Wilton House. The current house replaced an earlier building red-brick, Arts & Crafts building of 1897 since demolished.
Black Lion. This is a 19th pub on the site of an earlier coaching inn of the same name. It includes a weather boarded outbuilding
Cage. This is a beehive-shaped 18th village lock-up with four barred windows. On the cills is written “Do Well”, “Fear Not”, “Be Sober” and “Be Vigilant”. At one time this tiny building held prisoners for both the Barnet and St. Albans districts and was once surrounded by rows of stocks.
120 Queen Adelaide Pub. As a widow Queen Adelaide lived at Stanmore and used to visit Shenley. The pub is now closed and is to be converted to housing
Pond with ducks, plus a recent circular bench by Chainsaw Carvings
“Duck crossing” road sign
War Memorial. This memorial commemorates the 36 residents of Shenley who died in the First World War and the 19 who died in the Second World War,
118 house which was converted to a shop. It is 17th with a timber frame and has a weather boarded extension.
114 Cock Inn – this was an old pub which is now housing. It is 17th with a timber frame and plastered.
The Hub – Parish Council Offices in what were London Road Public Toilets.
110 Shenley Village Hall. This was built as a Girl’s National School which itself replaced an earlier school
108 Clubhouse, built as a clubhouse and wash house for single men
Shenley Primary school. The Shenley School Board was established in 1878, and built a Board School for Girls and Infants, replacing the
82 William IV Pub
Girls' National School. The board school building forms part of the present Shenley Primary School. The school includes a Sure Start Children’s Centre.
St Martin's School. This was built alongside the church in 1841 as National School which catered for ‘poor boys of the manufacturing classes’ only. It is not now used by the school
St. Martin's Church. Red brick chapel of 1841 which has replaced St. Botolph's as the parish church.
Shenley Methodist church. This was built as the village workhouse and sold to the Methodists in 1840. It said that this was down to Rev. Thomas Newcome as a way of reforming some of the more disreputable locals.
Lodge of Shenley Grange,
Porters Park Drive
Old Chapel. This was built by Laings as part of the hospital and served as a multi faith centre for patients and staff. It is now managed by the Shenley Park Trust and has been equipped with a stage .It is now used as a community and function hall.
Boiler house. This has now been demolished. It Boiler House was originally flanked by coal and oil storage. The original boilers were manufactured by Edwin Danks & Co. (Oldbury) Ltd, and later replaced.
Chimney. This stood north of the water tower and served both the boiler house and the incinerator in the base of the water tower. It was demolished in the late 1980s.
Orchard Villa. An original ward block. Retained as offices for Cherry Tree Housing Association.
Water Tower. The brick Italianate water tower is surrounded by housing - gated Blenheim Mews development. It was built in the 1930s as part of the first phase of the hospital and has long been a landmark. In the Second World War the Water Tower was used for military radio communications surveillance and the top used by fire watchers. It was originally built to house two water tanks and the hospital incinerator. The incinerator was in the basement and was linked to a chimney by a semi-subterranean flue - the bricked up remains of this can be seen in the north wall. It now houses a communications booster station for the Wellhouse Hospital Trust and a mobile communications mast for BT Cellnet while a the new mezzanine office which lies below the first water tank was used by BT Cellnet. The half-height iron railings around the balconies are decorated with the initials MCC - for Middlesex Countu Council. The arches and the frieze below the roof are all made of artificial stone. On three faces at second tank level is a clock. The towerwas sold to private developers who converted it into 6 duplex apartments in 2005.
The Orchard Tea Room was built on the site of the Hospital's staff Social Club in 2000. As well as the Club, there was a staff swimming pool, squash courts a football pitch and a cricket ground the Social Club was considered the heart of social activities
Pound Lane
1 Rosemount. 18th red brick house
4-5 cottages once in commercial use, red brick, timber framed.
Radlett Lane
Admiral Howe provided land so Radlett Lane could be built to link his Shenley Estate to Watling Street
Winifred Cottages and Frank Cottages. 19th estate cottages built by Cecil Raphael, for his staff and named after two of his children
Wilton House Farm
Walled Garden. This dates to the 16th when it provided fruit and vegetables for the mansion and under the hospital it continued as a 19th style vegetable garden. In the 1980s it became neglected and damaged in the storm of 1987. The greenhouses that were demolished and it was not possible to restore it. A new garden has been created with two lawns separated by three terraces with an amphitheatre at the bottom. It was designed by John Ely and created by Glyn Dredge.
Underground water reservoir. This was built near the gardener's cottage for emergency use in case of fire (it still remains and is used to irrigate the walled garden
The Orchard. This was planted in the early 1900’s for Cecil Raphael. In 1935 it was re-propagated by the Hospital’s Head Gardener, Mr Stanley Lord, with 22 acres to provide fruit for the hospital kitchen and local markets using patient labour. In the 1970’s and 1980’s the Orchards fell into disuse. Only one orchard now remains named for Stanley Lord. It now has over 450 apple trees with 120 varieties. There are now some unusual varieties of apples - Seabrook Pearl is now thought to only be found here
The Meadow. This covers an area from which topsoil was removed in 1935 for the Walled garden. Later wild flowers and grasses associated with chalk soil flourished. Under the Trust the area was cleared, and allowed to grow wild. Building work led to the meadow becoming water logged and drainage has had to be reinstalled
Porterslea. Once the home of the Hospital Superintendent was given to the Trust. However this was sold by the Trust to generate income for the renovation of the Stable Flats
Stable flats. These were ate part of the Mansion Estate. Under the Hospital they were used as staff accommodation.
Gardeners Cottage. Retained for use by the trust.
Coach House. Retained by the Trust as equipment sheds.
North Garage Retained by the Trust as equipment sheds.
Old Dairy is currently rented by a local theatre group for storage of their equipment.
The Engine House. Built around 1900 for Cecil Raphael to house electrical generators for the mansion. Under the hospital it housed standby generators and was used as an apple store. It is now the offices of an architectural practice and a private residence. It was previously the home of the Shenley Park Trust Office with staff accommodation above but was sold in 1999 to pay for the renovation of the Bothy.
Bothy which is now offices for the Trust office with staff accommodation above.
South Lodge. Privately let.
Stewards House. Privately let.
Rectory Lane
Coombe Works. Workshop buildings for small scale industries which were in the village before the Second World War
Shenley Park
Porters Park. The site is first noted in 1256 and has had many owners since. The name Porters is thought to date from the 14th when the estate was leased by a family of that name. In the early 18th Nicholas Hawksmoor, the architect lived here.
Shenley Mental Hospital. In the early 20th Middlesex was in need of a new mental asylum and in 1923 decided on Porters Park buying it from Cecil Raphael. It was built in two stages in the villa design constructed in two phases by J. Laing and Co which allowed many of the existing buildings to be used as part of the hospital. The first phase involved central administration buildings, recreation hall, services - the kitchens, bakery, butcher's shop, stores, boiler house, engineering workshops and water tower. A laundry was built behind the water tower. There was also staff accommodation; villas for male patients were to the east and those for females to the west. It was opened by George V in 1934. The patients were housed in villas with high railings round them and the sexes segregated. In the Second World War part of the hospital became a military hospital for wounded British servicemen and civilians while the grounds were used to exercise high-ranking German prisoners of war. In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS and post-war changes in ideas allowed patients to be free to come and go as they wished. Time there was a shift away from institutionalised care, and the number of patients declined. The Hospital became a leading centre for psychiatric training and practice while, gradually, patients moved to sheltered accommodation nearer their own communities. By 1998 only one ward remained open and the hospital finally closed that year and most of the buildings demolished
Shenley Park Trust. That was created to create a new rural park within the grounds of the old hospital. This was set up in 1992.
Sources
Black Lion Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Heritage Network. Web site
Hertfordshire Churches,
Hertfordshire County Council. Web site
Hertsmere Council. Web site
Lost Hospitals of London. Web site
Mee. Hertfordshire
Middlesex County Council. History of Middlesex
Porters Park. Web site
Shenley Methodist Church. Web site
Shenley Parish Council. Web site
Shenley Primary School. Web site
St. Martin’s Shenley. Web site
Walford. Village London
Wallsgrove, Hidden Hertfordshire
The Brook, a Tributary to the Colne rises in this area and flows south and west
Post to the west Shenley
London Road
The Gingerbread House. This was the east lodge of what was Porters House and it later became the hospital lodge
Wilton House. The current house replaced an earlier building red-brick, Arts & Crafts building of 1897 since demolished.
Black Lion. This is a 19th pub on the site of an earlier coaching inn of the same name. It includes a weather boarded outbuilding
Cage. This is a beehive-shaped 18th village lock-up with four barred windows. On the cills is written “Do Well”, “Fear Not”, “Be Sober” and “Be Vigilant”. At one time this tiny building held prisoners for both the Barnet and St. Albans districts and was once surrounded by rows of stocks.
120 Queen Adelaide Pub. As a widow Queen Adelaide lived at Stanmore and used to visit Shenley. The pub is now closed and is to be converted to housing
Pond with ducks, plus a recent circular bench by Chainsaw Carvings
“Duck crossing” road sign
War Memorial. This memorial commemorates the 36 residents of Shenley who died in the First World War and the 19 who died in the Second World War,
118 house which was converted to a shop. It is 17th with a timber frame and has a weather boarded extension.
114 Cock Inn – this was an old pub which is now housing. It is 17th with a timber frame and plastered.
The Hub – Parish Council Offices in what were London Road Public Toilets.
110 Shenley Village Hall. This was built as a Girl’s National School which itself replaced an earlier school
108 Clubhouse, built as a clubhouse and wash house for single men
Shenley Primary school. The Shenley School Board was established in 1878, and built a Board School for Girls and Infants, replacing the
82 William IV Pub
Girls' National School. The board school building forms part of the present Shenley Primary School. The school includes a Sure Start Children’s Centre.
St Martin's School. This was built alongside the church in 1841 as National School which catered for ‘poor boys of the manufacturing classes’ only. It is not now used by the school
St. Martin's Church. Red brick chapel of 1841 which has replaced St. Botolph's as the parish church.
Shenley Methodist church. This was built as the village workhouse and sold to the Methodists in 1840. It said that this was down to Rev. Thomas Newcome as a way of reforming some of the more disreputable locals.
Lodge of Shenley Grange,
Porters Park Drive
Old Chapel. This was built by Laings as part of the hospital and served as a multi faith centre for patients and staff. It is now managed by the Shenley Park Trust and has been equipped with a stage .It is now used as a community and function hall.
Boiler house. This has now been demolished. It Boiler House was originally flanked by coal and oil storage. The original boilers were manufactured by Edwin Danks & Co. (Oldbury) Ltd, and later replaced.
Chimney. This stood north of the water tower and served both the boiler house and the incinerator in the base of the water tower. It was demolished in the late 1980s.
Orchard Villa. An original ward block. Retained as offices for Cherry Tree Housing Association.
Water Tower. The brick Italianate water tower is surrounded by housing - gated Blenheim Mews development. It was built in the 1930s as part of the first phase of the hospital and has long been a landmark. In the Second World War the Water Tower was used for military radio communications surveillance and the top used by fire watchers. It was originally built to house two water tanks and the hospital incinerator. The incinerator was in the basement and was linked to a chimney by a semi-subterranean flue - the bricked up remains of this can be seen in the north wall. It now houses a communications booster station for the Wellhouse Hospital Trust and a mobile communications mast for BT Cellnet while a the new mezzanine office which lies below the first water tank was used by BT Cellnet. The half-height iron railings around the balconies are decorated with the initials MCC - for Middlesex Countu Council. The arches and the frieze below the roof are all made of artificial stone. On three faces at second tank level is a clock. The towerwas sold to private developers who converted it into 6 duplex apartments in 2005.
The Orchard Tea Room was built on the site of the Hospital's staff Social Club in 2000. As well as the Club, there was a staff swimming pool, squash courts a football pitch and a cricket ground the Social Club was considered the heart of social activities
Pound Lane
1 Rosemount. 18th red brick house
4-5 cottages once in commercial use, red brick, timber framed.
Radlett Lane
Admiral Howe provided land so Radlett Lane could be built to link his Shenley Estate to Watling Street
Winifred Cottages and Frank Cottages. 19th estate cottages built by Cecil Raphael, for his staff and named after two of his children
Wilton House Farm
Walled Garden. This dates to the 16th when it provided fruit and vegetables for the mansion and under the hospital it continued as a 19th style vegetable garden. In the 1980s it became neglected and damaged in the storm of 1987. The greenhouses that were demolished and it was not possible to restore it. A new garden has been created with two lawns separated by three terraces with an amphitheatre at the bottom. It was designed by John Ely and created by Glyn Dredge.
Underground water reservoir. This was built near the gardener's cottage for emergency use in case of fire (it still remains and is used to irrigate the walled garden
The Orchard. This was planted in the early 1900’s for Cecil Raphael. In 1935 it was re-propagated by the Hospital’s Head Gardener, Mr Stanley Lord, with 22 acres to provide fruit for the hospital kitchen and local markets using patient labour. In the 1970’s and 1980’s the Orchards fell into disuse. Only one orchard now remains named for Stanley Lord. It now has over 450 apple trees with 120 varieties. There are now some unusual varieties of apples - Seabrook Pearl is now thought to only be found here
The Meadow. This covers an area from which topsoil was removed in 1935 for the Walled garden. Later wild flowers and grasses associated with chalk soil flourished. Under the Trust the area was cleared, and allowed to grow wild. Building work led to the meadow becoming water logged and drainage has had to be reinstalled
Porterslea. Once the home of the Hospital Superintendent was given to the Trust. However this was sold by the Trust to generate income for the renovation of the Stable Flats
Stable flats. These were ate part of the Mansion Estate. Under the Hospital they were used as staff accommodation.
Gardeners Cottage. Retained for use by the trust.
Coach House. Retained by the Trust as equipment sheds.
North Garage Retained by the Trust as equipment sheds.
Old Dairy is currently rented by a local theatre group for storage of their equipment.
The Engine House. Built around 1900 for Cecil Raphael to house electrical generators for the mansion. Under the hospital it housed standby generators and was used as an apple store. It is now the offices of an architectural practice and a private residence. It was previously the home of the Shenley Park Trust Office with staff accommodation above but was sold in 1999 to pay for the renovation of the Bothy.
Bothy which is now offices for the Trust office with staff accommodation above.
South Lodge. Privately let.
Stewards House. Privately let.
Rectory Lane
Coombe Works. Workshop buildings for small scale industries which were in the village before the Second World War
Shenley Park
Porters Park. The site is first noted in 1256 and has had many owners since. The name Porters is thought to date from the 14th when the estate was leased by a family of that name. In the early 18th Nicholas Hawksmoor, the architect lived here.
Shenley Mental Hospital. In the early 20th Middlesex was in need of a new mental asylum and in 1923 decided on Porters Park buying it from Cecil Raphael. It was built in two stages in the villa design constructed in two phases by J. Laing and Co which allowed many of the existing buildings to be used as part of the hospital. The first phase involved central administration buildings, recreation hall, services - the kitchens, bakery, butcher's shop, stores, boiler house, engineering workshops and water tower. A laundry was built behind the water tower. There was also staff accommodation; villas for male patients were to the east and those for females to the west. It was opened by George V in 1934. The patients were housed in villas with high railings round them and the sexes segregated. In the Second World War part of the hospital became a military hospital for wounded British servicemen and civilians while the grounds were used to exercise high-ranking German prisoners of war. In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS and post-war changes in ideas allowed patients to be free to come and go as they wished. Time there was a shift away from institutionalised care, and the number of patients declined. The Hospital became a leading centre for psychiatric training and practice while, gradually, patients moved to sheltered accommodation nearer their own communities. By 1998 only one ward remained open and the hospital finally closed that year and most of the buildings demolished
Shenley Park Trust. That was created to create a new rural park within the grounds of the old hospital. This was set up in 1992.
Sources
Black Lion Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Heritage Network. Web site
Hertfordshire Churches,
Hertfordshire County Council. Web site
Hertsmere Council. Web site
Lost Hospitals of London. Web site
Mee. Hertfordshire
Middlesex County Council. History of Middlesex
Porters Park. Web site
Shenley Methodist Church. Web site
Shenley Parish Council. Web site
Shenley Primary School. Web site
St. Martin’s Shenley. Web site
Walford. Village London
Wallsgrove, Hidden Hertfordshire
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