Croxley Green is both a village and a suburb of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is also a civil parish. Located on the A412 between Watford to the north-east and Rickmansworth to the south-west, it is approximately 20 miles (32 km) north-west of central London.
| Croxley Green | |
|---|---|
  Croxley Green Location within Hertfordshire | |
| Population | 12,562 (2011 Census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ075955 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | RICKMANSWORTH |
| Postcode district | WD3 |
| Dialling code | 01923 |
| Police | Hertfordshire |
| Fire | Hertfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
Croxley Green has changed considerably in the years since John Dickinson built paper mills in the area. The area has grown into a semi-urban community, thanks to Croxley tube station on the Metropolitan line providing connections to London's West End at Baker Street and stations through to the City at Aldgate.
The population at the 2011 Census was 12,562.[1] Croxley Green is a part of the UK Parliament constituency, South West Hertfordshire. Gagan Mohindra is the Member of Parliament since the December 2019 United Kingdom general election.[2]
History
editCroxley Green has a large village green.
In 1830, John Dickinson built Croxley Mill adjacent to the Grand Junction Canal, since 1929 part of the Grand Union Canal. John Dickinson Stationery produced Croxley Script. Dickinson Square and Dickinson Avenue are named after the paper mill owner and contain houses built by the company for their workers at the end of the 19th century. The mill closed in 1980.[3][4]
Croxley Green was historically part of the parish of Rickmansworth, which was included in the Watford Poor Law Union from 1835.[5] When sanitary districts were created in 1872, the parish of Rickmansworth, including Croxley Green, therefore became part of the Watford Rural Sanitary District, which in turn became Watford Rural District in 1894.[6]
Croxley Green became part of Rickmansworth Urban District on its creation on 15 April 1898. On 1 April 1974, the urban district was abolished and the village became part of the Three Rivers District.[7] The civil parish of Croxley Green was created on 1 April 1986, covering the eastern part of the former Rickmansworth Urban District and an adjoining area transferred from the parish of Sarratt.[8]
River Gade
Churches
editNotable residents
edit- Barbara Woodhouse the dog trainer presented Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way on television in the 1980s and lived at Campions from the 1940s to the 1980s.[15]
- Fred Housego, the 1980 BBC Mastermind winner, and sometime London black cab driver.[16]
- Ron Tarr, a British actor, best known for playing the part of "Big Ron" in EastEnders, lived in Durrants Drive. In a report about Tarr's death in the Daily Mirror, journalist Chris Hughes stated the character had "a cult following".[17]
- Dave Edwards/Mr Christmas, local resident whose extensive annual Christmas lights display, on his house in Lancing Way, raised money for charity and was featured in national news[18] and on TV[19]
- Christopher Gunning, composer of film and television music (such the Poirot theme and well-known advertisements for Black Magic and Martini), as well as 13 symphonies, died at his home in Croxley Green in March 2023.[20]
Schools
edit- Morris Minors Pre School[21]
- Malvern Way Infant and Nursery School[22]
- Little Green Junior School[23]
- Harvey Road Primary School[24]
- Yorke Mead Primary School[25]
- Rickmansworth School[26]
- Croxley Danes School, built between 2017 and 2020.
York House School
editYork House School is an independent preparatory day school for girls and boys aged from 3 to 13 years of age, located on Sarratt Road near Croxley Green in Redhead, an eighteenth-century mansion. The current features date variously from 1712, 1743 and 1866.[27]
The school was founded in Hampstead in 1910 by Rev. Cambridge Victor Hawkins. It relocated to Rickmansworth in the late 1940s, then moved again to its current location in 1966.[28][29] The school motto is "Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam", which is Latin for "Either I shall find a way or I shall make one". The school's alumni are referred to as Old Yorkists.[30]
References
edit- ^ a b "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
- ^ "Hertfordshire South West parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ Ailsa Jenkins, 'Dickinson, John (1782–1869)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, Oct 2007 accessed 20 Dec 2008
- ^ Evans, Joan. The endless web: John Dickinson and Co. Ltd., 1804–1954 (1955)
- ^ Higginbotham, Peter. "Watford Poor Law Union". The Workhouse. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "Watford RD". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "Rickmansworth UD". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ The Three Rivers (Parishes) Order 1986 (PDF). Retrieved 11 September 2021.
- ^ "All Saints' Church". Croxleygreenallsaints.org. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ "St Oswald's Church". Stoswaldschurch.org.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ "Christ First Watford". Christ First Watford. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Home". CROXLEY GREEN BAPTIST CHURCH.
- ^ "Croxley Green Methodist Church". Croxleymethodist.org.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ "Croxley Green Christian Assembly". Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ Stephen Follows, 'Woodhouse , Barbara Kathleen Vera (1910–1988)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 20 Dec 2008
- ^ David Crozier (15 September 2014). "September 18, 1981". News Shopper. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ "Big Ron Dies of Cancer at 60". Daily Mirror. 22 October 1997. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
- ^ "Mr Christmas Lights Switched Off for Last Time". BBC. 7 January 2021.
- ^ "My Crazy Christmas Obsession". Channel 5. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ Richard Bratby. 'The composer of dog-food ads who also wrote one of the most original cycles of British symphonies', in The Spectator, 2 March, 2024
- ^ "Welcome". morris-minors.
- ^ "Home Page". Malvern Way Infant and Nursery School. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ "Little Green Junior School". Little Green Junior School. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ^ "Harvey Road Primary School". Harveyroad.herts.sch.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ "Home Page". Yorke Mead Primary School. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ "Home". Rickmansworth School. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ^ William Page, ed. (1908). "Watford: Manors". A History of the County of Hertford. Victoria County History. Vol. 2. pp. 451–464. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
REDHEATH is an estate about four miles north-west of Watford, on the borders of the parish of Rickmansworth, consisting partly of freehold and partly of copyhold land held of the manors of Croxley Hall and Cassio. It was occupied by the Baldwins in the early part of the sixteenth century and remained with owners of that name till 1709 when Thomas son of Henry Baldwin died without issue and was succeeded by his nephew Charles, son of Charles Finch and Mary sister of Thomas Baldwin. Charles Finch died without issue in 1718 and was succeeded by his brother John, from whom the estate descended in a direct line to Henry Baldwin Finch, the present owner. The Baldwin family appear to have built a house here, but all of that building has disappeared. In 1712 Charles Finch added a new front to the house, and that date appears on it. Further additions were made in 1866 by Henry Charles Finch. The front part is the only old portion remaining. The house is a three-storied building of brick, the roof being surmounted by a large square wooden clock turret, with an open octagonal cupola on the top. The clock in the tower bears the inscription GEORGE CLARKE, WHITE-CHAPPLE, 1743. There are moulded brick cornices over the first-floor windows, and the entrance door, which is in the centre of the front, has a fine semicircular projecting wooden hood, supported on richly-carved brackets. There is a very fine avenue of beech trees, stretching from the back of the house to Chandler's Cross.
- ^ History, York House School
- ^ "Gym lessons from army instructor". Watford Observer. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
- ^ Alumni, York House School