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:

• 1766: Dury and Andrews large scale map of Hertfordshire marks Chaulden. (Crouchfield and Pouchen End are marked on earlier maps.) The library contains a good selection of maps and I believe it sells "The Godfrey Edition" of the 1897 Boxmoor map, which shows the house and buildings clearly. Try old-maps for a map the area in about 1883.
• 1862: The Post Office Directory shows a Mrs Smith living at Chaulden. The library contains facsimiles of a number of 19th century trade directories and some 20th century material.
• 1881: This Census shows that the head of household of "The Chaulden House" was Daniel Bovington. The library has microfilms of all 19th century censuses so you should be able to populate the house from 1841-1891 - and to 1901 next year.
• early 20th century: There are photographs of the house and water tower in Around Hemel Hempstead in Camera by Eve Davis and of the boat house and inside the conservatory in Boxmoor in Camera by Roger and Joan Hands. (I think both books are still available at Hammicks bookshop in the Marlowes Centre.)
• 1914/5: There are four references to the house in my book, The London Gunners come to Town (still available direct or through good book shops - or on loan from the library.)
• 1937: Town Directory shows William George Shiell living there.

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:

• 1862 Smith, Mrs, Chaulden
• 1868 Smith, Mrs Henry, Chaulden House, Boxmoor
• 1870 Smith, Mrs Henry, Chaulden House, Boxmoor
• 1882 Bovingdon, Daniel, Chaulden House, Boxmoor
• 1890 Parkington, Alfd. Jackson, Chaulden House, Boxmoor
• 1899 Colliver, Frederick P, Chauldron House, Boxmoor

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.

Page updated April 2005