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In 1860 Queen Victoria had been on the throne for 23 years (41 to go) and electricity and the motor car were still unheard of inventions.

Aldenham was the largest settlement in the parish by far; Letchmore Heath, although an ancient settlement, only really existed because of the farms and mansions nearby; Medburn and Cobden Hill were little communities of their own with a newly-opened beer house, the Cat & Fiddle; there was a tiny straggle of properties at Patchetts and Delrow; Radlett had a handful of farm cottages and three beer houses.

The eastern part of the parish was known as The Hamlet of Theobald and the boundary was at Tile House Farm and spread well into what is now Borehamwood. Church-goers had to walk or go by cart, or carriage, or horse to Aldenham Church for Sunday services. Everyone went to church on Sundays in those days, it was the law.

Despite the previous comment that there were no country houses in Radlett, the Hamlet of Theobald was incorporated into Radlett at a later date and the area had three major landowners – the Reverend John Mason of Aldenham Lodge (house located at the top of The Drive, close to what is now called Lodge End), Thomas Bagnall of Newberries Mansion (located between what is now Williams Way, Craigweil Avenue and Newberries Avenue), and Capt. William Brough Phillimore of Kendal Hall (which is now Radlett Prep School).

Three men decided that it was time Radlett had its own church – William Brough Phillimore, who donated the land on which Christ Church sits, Henry Hucks Gibbs (of Aldenham House) and Thomas Bagnall. They subscribed towards its cost and in 1864 the church was built with a single aisle; the second aisle was added in 1907. There was, however, no churchyard. The deceased had to be buried at Aldenham. Land for a churchyard in Radlett was given by Sir Walter Phillimore in 1887 on the far side of Watling Street. Today, we might think that to be a strange decision but remember, in 1887 the only traffic was the infrequent carriage, perhaps a daily stage-coach on its way to or from St Albans and perhaps a horse or two, none of which would have been a problem for occasional funerals.

At about the same time as the decision was being made to build a church for Radlett, and maybe having an influence on the event, the Midland Railway Company acquired land in London at Agers Town and Somers Town and in 1864 started construction of a railway line from Bedford to the new terminus to be built at St Pancras. With typical Victorian foresight, they decided to lay the foundations of a four-track railway system with stations to match, but they only laid down two tracks. It was to be another 35 years before the third and fourth lines were added.

Many attribute Radlett’s prominence in the parish to the coming of the railway, but this is to misunderstand the situation. Radlett nearly didn’t get a station; there were few residents and only two properties close by (Aldenham Lodge and Newberries). However, Radlett was at an important crossroads with roads which served not only the houses of Aldenham but also those of Shenley, which had Porters, Shenleybury, High Canons, Wilton House, Shenleyhill House and Salisbury Hall. All of the properties in Aldenham, Radlett and Shenley had produce from their farms which they would want to transport on the new railway system, so a station was built. Originally to be called Aldenham, because that was not only the name of the parish but because Aldenham was still larger in terms of population than Radlett, it was due to the efforts of John Mason that the station was eventually called Radlett.

The significance of the railway only became important in the late 1890s when the owners of two estates in Radlett – Bobby Phillimore of Kendals and Charles Part of Aldenham Lodge – started selling off their land for residential development.

© Philip Eastburn