Introduction
This is a history of the Russell Farm Estate, an area in North West Watford, bounded by Hempstead Road, Ridge Lane, Goodwood Avenue, Courtlands Drive and Russell Lane, with an old kitchen garden area to the top left of Hempstead Road. The original estate surrounded Russell Farm house which was built in 1753 for the widowed […]
17th Century Touleys/Tooleys
The land on which most of the homes surrounding Russell House stand was formerly owned by the Earls of Essex and lay close to their Cassiobury Estate. Russells Estate came to the Essex family in 1628 when Sir Charles Morrison, grandfather of the first Earl, purchased what was then known as Tooleys Farm. However, there […]
18th Century – The Capel (Essex) Family
An early reference to the mansion appears in the Universal British Directory compiled between 1793 and 1798 which recorded:- “Russel [sic] Farm, built by the Right Honourable the Countess Dowager of Essex, mother of the present earl, and is now occupied by the Right Honourable the Ladies Capel, sisters to the said earl.” The “said […]
19th Century – Russell Farm Tenants
For almost a century following Lady Anne Capell’s death in 1804 the Earls of Essex let the mansion and the Estate to a succession of tenants. They are described in the following paragraphs. It should be added that there may have been others who have left as yet undiscovered evidence of their stay. To those […]
20th Century Owners
1902 Estate Sold In 1902 the Earl, by then in considerable debt, put the Estate up for sale. The advertisement which appeared in the Herts Advertiser in May described; “beautifully wooded, undulating lands, together with a superior old-fashioned mansion-house, standing on high ground in the centre of the park, approached by a long winding carriage […]
Country Estate Staff
Some of the people living in the estate buildings Living on a country estate: In 1841 Ezekiel How, a 55 year old agricultural labourer was living at Russell Farm Lodge with his wife and daughter. William Copper is a 25 year old agricultural labourer also living there. Note – Some of the staff working at […]
Russell Farm House
The Original Building The mansion was built to a design by Thomas Wright in 1753 by Stiff Leadbetter, one of the leading builders of English country houses of the mid eighteenth century. A paper by Giles Worsley on Stiff Leadbetter also provides background re the design of the house, “However, at Russell Farm and at […]
The Lodges
The Lodges Russell’s Estate was one of the three large estates in the area centred on significant country houses. The Estate has three Lodges: South Lodge, West Lodge and East Lodge, each located at one of the principal gateways to the estate grounds. South Lodge, Hempstead Rd 1835 The oldest of the surviving cottages connected […]
Cricket at Russells
In the 30th July 1910 Watford Observer it was reported that Watford Clarence played Paget at Russell farm
The Estate Boundaries
Historical Development of Watford “New development was linked with the construction of the new distributor roads through the area, with the ‘Watford By-pass’ (A41) completed by 1929 and the ‘North Orbital’ (A405) completed in 1932.” “Historical Development Before the arrival of the railway, development in Watford had been largely limited to the town’s historic core […]
The Gardens
History of the Gardens Together with an overview of the design of parks and gardens there are a few mentions of Russells in the book by Hertfordshire Gardens Trust and Tom Williamson (Williamson, 2000). It says “Note the contrast between Cassiobury – with avenues and formal rides through woodland and The Grove or Russells, with […]
Estate Trees
The area still has some wooded areas, including some older trees. The old Russell Farm Wood, to the North East of the house, was the site of the 1835 railway tunnel disaster. According to the WBC Planning Application document 23_00949_FULM ECOLOGICAL_ASSESSMENT-1147564.pdf the Local Wildlife sites include; […]
Railway and 1835 Tunnel Disaster
1837 Railway The opening of the London to Birmingham railway in 1837 heralded a new age. “20th July 1837 saw the opening of the pioneer London to Birmingham railway. Watford was transformed from small country market town to a London Satellite. This line was 112.5 miles long, which at that time was the longest continuous […]
Russell Farm Chalk Pit
The Hertfordshire XXXIX.9 map 1896/1898, shows an Old Gravel Pit to the North West of Russell Farm House. In the same map for 1913/1914 the pit is now called an Old Chalk Pit. It is likely that gravels were initially removed, followed by extraction of the underlying chalk.
1840’s Tithe Maps
In the mid 1840s for the first time we have a detailed picture of the Estate from the tithe map and tithe apportionment for the parish of Watford. Tithes were originally a tax which required one tenth of all agricultural produce to be given annually to the church. By the early nineteenth century the system […]