River Gade - Gadebridge


River Gade

The Gade flows southwards

Post to the south Hemel Hempstead
Post to the north Piccotts End

Allendale
Beehive Pub. Site is now housing

Chapel Street
A Chapel of the Latter Day Saints was in the road in the 19th in the area near the Beehive Pub
Randall Park. The area was given for use as a park in 1911 by William Randall.  Alderman Randall was the Mayor and Bailiff of Hemel Hempstead and also an early Hertfordshire County Councillors. In 1909, he had bought an area if land called ‘Beehive Hill’ which adjoined the still existing ‘Beehive’ pub. The Borough Council thus called it ‘Randall Park’.            In 1911 it was provided with a public shelter, a band stand here Dickinson’s band played, an area for quoits, tennis courts and two bowls greens.
A reservoir was on the corner with Church Street in the 19th.

Cherry Bounce
This is an old lane, once called Cross Street, which once went up and over the hillside

Fletcher Way
The road was built post war as part of the new town development
Highfield School. A secondary school closed in 1984. The site is now housing.

Gadebridge Lane
Bridge over the River Gade

Gadebridge Park
Gadebridge is Dacorum's principal park divided by the Leighton Buzzard Road
River Gade. Through the park the river follows the course of a millstream -the original course in the valley bottom was infilled
Bridge – this is on the old carriageway to Gadebridge House which originally passed through a ford until in 1840, a local iron founder, Joseph Cranstone, Phoenix Iron Works, built this bridge in iron to look like bamboo.
Roman site – this is west of Leighton Buzzard Road. It seems to have been a farmhouse which was extended to include stone wings around a courtyard, a bathhouse, heated rooms and a swimming pool
Gadebridge House. This dated from the 17th. From 1811 it was the home of Sir Paston Cooper. Queen Victoria's surgeon. The house stood in its own grounds, the front 11 bays wide with a portico of massive Ionic pilasters. In 1914 it became Gadebridge Park School and they moved out in 1963. The house was demolished and Kodak built a Marketing Education Centre on the site. This was demolished in 1995 to make way for housing new housing.
Sports Facilities west of Leighton Buzzard Road include two bowling greens, crazy golf, petanque, croquet, giant chess and draughts, the King George V play area and a skate park. There are two car parks
Temporary military camp built here in the Great War in 1915, the war the camp later became a hospital for treating soldiers with VD - and afterward was demolished

Leighton Buzzard Road
This runs along the bottom of the River Gade Valley.

Link road A4147
Howe Grove. Dense woodland owned by Dacorum Council and managed as a nature reserve.

Piccotts End Lane
3 Victoria Cottage
Piccotts End School was sited in the lane. It was established in 1877, closed in 1939 and demolished soon after.
Marchmont Farm. The 1970s this was a turkey farm but later became housing and workshops.

Piccotts End Road
57 Marchmont Arms this was Marchmont House.  19th house, stuccoed in neoclassical style. Garden front with a trellis veranda. It was the home of the third Earl of Marchmont. Now converted to a pub
Stable block. This is 18th in stucco
42,  this might once had been a public house
60. This was once there Crown public house which had closed by 1960.
92 Wall Cottage, 19th the cottage
87 Boars Head Pub, this is now closed and is housing.
92 19th with colour washed brick
94, 96 and 104 17th range of three cottages, now made into one house. It is timber framed with colour washed brick
95 – 97 18th cottages with colour washed roughcast.
99 19th house in whitewashed stucco and brick

Sources
British Listed Building. Web site
Dacorum Council. Web site
Hertfordshire Churches
Marchmont Arms. Web site
Meulenkamp and Wheatley. Follies
Natural England. Web site
Piccotts End Residents Association. Web site
Whitelaw. Hidden Hertfordshire

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