South Oxhey

Looking at the ‘built environment’ of our area brings us to modern Three Rivers – especially South Oxhey, a wholly post-war development very important to the story of the district and indeed of Watford. Neil Hamilton of South Oxhey has done most of the work on this article.

London County Council’s interest in this area was part of its plan to ‘clear’ the East End of its very poor Victorian accommodation in the 1930s, but the plan was interrupted by WW2. What’s now the South Oxhey estate was built as overspill by the London County Council between 1946 and 1952 on part of a 920 acre site compulsorily purchased from the Blackwell family for £199,500 to house 16,000 Londoners in 3,850 dwellings. New housing was desperately needed, as there had been little investment in repairs of old or the building of new housing during the War even without all the war damage to London.

The estate had had a number of previous owners, including Sir James Altham in the 17^th century (his 1612 chapel still stands there) and the bookbinder W.H. Smith in the 19th, so the area was well used to being passed around. In 1912 a golf course was opened on the edge of the old estate, which included several farms. When the plans were announced there were a number of local protests over the siting of the development and the loss of countryside (and the golf course), but work started in October 1946. Rubble from the London blitz was used as hardcore on the estate, and the first houses were occupied in November 1947.

This picture is of the label to the first key to be handed over to a new tenant.

As a nod to the history of the area, all streets on the new estate were named after golf courses.

Carpenders Park railway station, then on the Bakerloo line, was on the edge of the new estate and provided a vital link back into London for the many still working there. The first bus link into Watford began only in June 1950, so local communications were not good. The central shopping centre was opened in 1952 together with three smaller shopping parades. Other amenities included churches (notably but not only All Saints church and St Joseph’s RC parish), five pubs and a public library. Youngsters were initially schooled in Watford, but eventually eight junior schools and two secondary schools were opened on the estate.

South Oxhey was built for its residents, many of whom were Londoners. London County Council and its successor the Greater London Council continued to manage this new but detached part of London until for over 30 years, but in April 1980 ownership of the estate and its housing stock was transferred from the GLC to Three Rivers District Council. By that time much of the stock was defective and in need of repairs, which have themselves changed the appearance of the estate over the last 40 years. Recent developments have also taken place, with the demolition of the shopping area and the erection of modern, multi-storey blocks of flats, but this article and our photos present South Oxhey as many readers will remember it a few years ago.

Much of the detail of the story of South Oxhey, with reminiscences of the early years, is on the website www.ouroxhey.org.uk.