Answers

Chaulden House, Hemel Hempstead, 1766 onwards

September 2001

Derrick Dunks (ddunks @t supanet.com) of Chaulden, Hemel Hempstead, says My query if you can help me is about a building just north of Boxmoor on Northridge Way which is an old stable with a small tower and a dove cote which I believe was part of a building called Chaulden House. It is now called the Isbister Centre. There are walls remaining made of the same material running along Chaulden Lane and Old Fishery Lane. I remember as a young child there was a tower also in the corner of Camelot rugby field which we used to play in, which  burnt down in the 60s.

I've had associations with this Building throughout my life as a child, as a teenager when it was a youth club and as an adult when I worked there as as a part time youth worker. In fact I met my wife there as a fresh faced 16 year old and we now live in the same road and can see the tower from our window. I'd love to find out who lived there, where the actual house was and the extent of the grounds. If you could shed any light on this building and its past I would be most grateful.

I know the Isbister Centre building well from when it became a day centre for the mentally ill when Hill End Hospital, St Albans, was being closed down, in part because of my voluntary work with Mind in Dacorum, and in part as a member of the North West Herts Community Health Council , when I inspected it on several occasions. It is now going to be the offices of the Dacorum Primary Care Trust. The building was originally part of the stable block of Chaulden House.

You should have no difficulty in finding out quite a lot about Chaulden House in the local studies section of Hemel Hempstead Central Library. I have done a quick check on my own files (which are far less comprehensive than the public library) and in a few minutes have spotted the following:

October 2001

Barbara Chapman (barbara @t bachapman.freeserve.co.uk) wrote: I'm afraid I cannot remember the date, but I think it must have been about 10 years ago, the tower on top of the stables was struck by lightning - it features well in the Hemel Hempstead Gazette at the time.  This was eventually rebuilt as it had been originally and replaced in its present glory.  I was at Chaulden at the dentists only last week, and the sun shining on the top of the tower looked splendid!.

It was very lucky that the lightning did not do more damage. Fortunately the tower was purely ornamental and there was nothing inside it to burn, and the roof was not connected to the roof of the main building - so the fire did not spread.

Matt Wheeler of the Dacorum Heritage Trust says  I recently had an enquiry from the Institution of Civil Engineers (Panel for Historical Engineering Works) and they are trying to compile a gazetteer of public water towers. They are interested in the water tower which fed Chaulden House and wondered when it was built and whether it ever became a public supply tower. Perhaps someone might know.

The Boat House is shown on the 1883 O.S. map (old maps) but not the water tower, but this may not be significant as it may have been too small to mark.

Derrick Dunks (ddunks @t supanet.com)  had visited the library and writes: Dear Chris, following your advice I have searched the census returns 1841 through to 1891 for Chaulden house and the results are as follows:

1841 Chaulden

Elizabeth Field

68yrs

independent

Hannah Hill

69yrs

 

Henry Hill

29yrs

 

Ann Slow

15yrs

 

Joseph Harrison

40yrs

Ag Lab

Fanny Harrison

30 yrs

 

William Harrison

age illegible

 

Janis ?

age illegible

 

Fanny Harrison

10yrs

 

Elizabeth Harrison

10yrs

 

1851, Chaulden House

Daniel Bovingdon

Head

37yrs

fund and house holder

Bovingdon

Elizabeth Bovingdon

Wife

40yrs

 

Middlesex

Elizabeth Beaumont

visitor

75yrs

annuitant

Bovingdon

Ann Lines?

servant, unmarried

22yrs

 

Hemel Hempstead

1851, Cangels

Mary Bovingdon

Head, Widow

59yrs

Fund holder

Hemel Hempstead

Mary Bovingdon

Daughter, unmarried

40yrs

 

Bovingdon

Harriet Bovingdon

daughter, unmarried

38yrs

 

Bovingdon

Mary Miles

servant, unmarried

21yrs

 

Sarrat

1861, Chaulden House

Elizabeth Smith

Head, widow

63yrs

landed proprietor

Bovindon

Mary Ann Bovingdon

Neice, unmarried

53yrs,

fundholder

Rickmansworth

Sophia Price

neice, married

40yrs

solicitors wife

Middlesex

Alice Price

visitor

5yrs

 

London

Elizabeth Price

visitor

2 yrs

 

London

Elizabeth Roberts

servant, widow

59yrs

cook

Suffolk, Layham

Sarah Putnam

servant, unmarried,

27yrs

housemaid

Bovingdon

Mary Wiltshire

servant, unmarried

19yrs

kitchen maid

Rickmansworth

1861 Cangles

Charles Wright

head

25yrs

gardener

Aldbury

Kate Wright

wife

26yrs

gardeners wife

Berkhamsted

Charles Wright

son

2yrs

 

Berkhamsted

1871, 81, 91 census to follow.

It is interesting to note that in the 1841 census exact ages have been entered - although normally the ages of adults were rounded down to 5 year periods. In 1851 it seems very likely that the families in Chaulden House and Cangles were related, while by 1861 Cangles was being used by the gardener.

I have also looked into some 19th century trade directories and found the following entries:

At the end of October Derrick Dunks (ddunks @t supanet.com)  posted the following additional information:

1871 Census: Chaulden House

Elizabeth Smith

head

74yrs

Annuitant

Bovingdon

Ann Brown

servant

29yrs

cook

Cholesbury

Elizabeth Hill

servant

24yrs

housemaid

Surrey

1871 Census: Cangles

Matthew Balls

Head

54yrs

gardener

Herts

Elizabeth Balls

wife

62yrs

gardeners wife

Godmanchester @@

James Balls

son

23yrs

footman unemployed

St Pauls Walden

Sarah Ann Balls

daughter

22yrs

home domestic

St Pauls Walden

Frederick Balls

son

17yrs

gardeners son

St Pauls Walden

1881 Census: Chaulden House

Daniel Bovingdon

Head, widower

65yrs

Farmer of 72 acres 7 men employed

Longcroft, Herts

John Allen

visitor, married

31yrs

iron merchant

London

Mary Ann Allen

visitor, married

31yrs

iron merchants wife

Melbourne

John Leslie Allen

visitor

3yrs

 

London

Hector Daniel Allen

visitor

2yrs

 

London

Elizabeth Butter

servant, unmarried

27yrs

general servant

Bovingdon

Ann Hooper

servant, unmarried

28yrs

cook

Brickettwood

Joseph Collier

servant, unmarried

20yrs

page

Pitstone, Herts

1891 Census: Chaulden House

Alfred Jackson Parkinson

head

61yrs

living on own means,employer

Suffolk Bury St Edmunds

Emily Parkinson

wife

51yrs

 

Scotland Perthshire

Emily Stewart Parkinson

daughter

18yrs

scholar

Scotland Perthshire

Margaret Elizabeth Parkinson

daughter

15yrs

scholar

London St Pancras

Alfred Ernest Parkinson

son

12yrs

scholar

London St Pancras

Mary Maud Parkinson

daughter

10yrs

scholar

London St Pancras

Margaret Stewart?,

sister-in-law, single

48yrs

 

Scotland Perthshire

Annie Stocken

single

22yrs

governess

Sussex Frant

Mary Pilkin

servant, single

22yrs

cook

Swanbourne Bucks

Nellie Gray

servant, single

19yrs

kitchen maid

Hemel Hempstead

Elizabeth Cooper

servant, single

18yrs

parlour maid

Essex Barts Corner

Constance Lewis

servant, single

17yrs

housemaid

Bucks Verney ???????

Interestingly I went to next page expecting to find Cangles but found Chaulden Stables and occupied by a family who may be part of my friends ancestry {to be investigated} they are as follows:

1891 Census: Chaulden Stables

George Harding

Head

45yrs

coachman

Lea Common Bucks

Ellen Harding

wife

37yrs

 

Little Gaddesden Herts

George Harding

son

7yrs

scholar

Berkhampsted

Ema? Harding

daughter

2yrs

 

Potton End Herts

Judging by the amount of staff the house had in the 1890s and the first mention of the stables, this must have been when it was most prosperous and between 1881 and 1891 when the stables, tower and boat house were built, possibly by the Parkinsons, the house and the out buildings were of different design {the out buildings being a little eccentric and more ornate} judging by photographs I've seen.

In the back of "The Book of Boxmoor" by Roger and Joan Hands is a map showing Chaulden House and the stables were more extensive than they are today, stretching down to Chaulden Lane and as far again towards the house, the boat house is also much larger than I imagined or could tell from the photograph. The tower is also on the map and is marked as a pump house.

When I was a child and used to play in the tower {it was our camp, a tree house was not good enough for us} I don't recall any pump equipment in the tower only old furniture, it was on two floors and on the upper floor was a large round table, I could never fathom how they managed to get the table up there!

I shall try to find out as much as I can about the Parkinson Family and when these buildings were built and let you know the results.

June 2002

Daniel (haribo150 @t hotmail.com), who lives in Northridge Way, is interested in the 18th century and asks where would I be able to find the plans and layout for Chaulden House?, I am interested in this building as all that is now visible is the stable block.

There is little I can add to the above. The Place-names of Hertfordshire list the first references to the place name Chalden/Chaldin  for the district in 1623. The 1766 map referred to above does not show any buildings on the later site of Chaulden House - and its scale is such that one would have expected it to be shown if there was a substantial building thereat the time. On the other hand Chaulden House is clearly marked on Bryant's 1822 map - so the house was built then. It is not listed in the first edition of Pevsner's Hertfordshire volume of The Buildings of England, the only domestic building listed by him in the Boxmoor area being Westbrooke Hay. If you cannot find what you want among the information in Hemel Hempstead Library you contact Derrick Dunks to see if he can help.

July 2002

Derrick Dunks (ddunks @t supanet.com)  has kindly provided the above picture of the decorative tower on the stable block - which is all than remains of Chaulden house.

There is a web page for Boxmoor

If you can add to the information given above tell me.

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Page updated April 2005