Hastoe

and the rural area south of Tring

Article in  Hertfordshire's Past Number 39

Hastoe, near Tring

by R. R. Timberlake

Recollections of life on the Rothschild Estate in the time of the first Baron Rothschild.

An excellent account of farming one hundred years ago, on the edge of the Chiltern Hills. Robert Timberlake's father managed one of the dairy farms owned by Nathaniel, the first Baron Rothschild (1840-1915) and the article provides valuable details of farming before and during the First World War.

Hastoe was, and is, a small and scattered hamlet a mile south of Tring, of about fifteen cottages, centred on the modern farm buildings. Hastoe House opposite was the only house of any size, presumably the residence of a former squire. About half the cottages had been erected by the Rothschilds for the farm workers. They were well built, although they had no bathrooms or inside w/cs, and all had gardens large enough to supply a family with vegetables. Most of them were in Church Lane in which the Rothschilds had built an imposing village hall, the Hastoe Room, and next door to it a Chapel (hence 'Church Lane'). The main hall was equipped with a good stage on which the Rothschilds provided an entertainment for the village children at Christmas. There was also a kitchen and a library with a rather limited selection of books issued to borrowers by the second cowman, Will Parslow. He was also responsible for the care of the Chapel. The obvious drawback was that both buildings were heated by open fires and lit by oil lamps hung from the ceiling. Naturally the billiard table did not attract many players on winter evenings.

There is also an account of Joseph and Kenneth Timberlake in Further Tring Personalities which includes a reproduction of the Sale Poster when the Hastoe Herd was dispersed in 1960.

April 2007

Ken Prestidge (ver7acity @t aol.com) of North Yorkshire is interested in articles and pictures of both Timberlakes and Lord Rothschilds dairy shorthorn cattle. He says he has bred Dairy Shorthorns for over 40 years and most of the females lines I have trace to Hastoe herd. I still have bull semen of 2 bulls out of HASTOE VERACITY 40TH sold in 1960 and a bull sired by HASTOE BARRINGTON DEFENDER 2ND. Another thing I've looked for for years is LORD ROTHSCHILD TRING PARK SALE CATALOGUE OF DAIRY SHORTHORNS 1915.

Some modern pictures of the Hastoe area on Geograph