Area Guide: The Hertfordshire village of Park Street

Welcome to Park Street (Image: Archant)

Nestled alongside How Wood and Frogmore, between the North Orbital Road to the north and the M25 to the south, is the village of Park Street.

The surrounding area is host to a number of idyllic lakes and forested nature walks, which are popular with dog walkers.

The lakes, once the Moor Mill Pits, located between Park Street and Frogmore, are considered great for fishing. This has led to a great deal of interest among the angling community for their considerable and diverse aquatic wildlife.

Sycamore Drive, Park Street (Image: Archant)

Amenities

Park Street’s local shops include an off licence, a BP petrol station and, more randomly, a gun shop. A small shopping parade can be found within a short walk at How Wood, comprised of a supermarket, hairdresser, butcher, baker, estate agent, newsagent, pharmacy and florist.

There is a village hall which opened in 1936 and serves as the polling station of the area, plus Park Street Baptist Church on Penn Road.

Park Street is also home to a recreation ground and sports fields, Park Street Village FC and a cricket ground/pavilion.

Park Street has a Chinese, a fish bar and a couple of pubs (Image: Archant)

Transport

Park Street Station is on the Abbey Line, which connects St Albans Abbey with Watford Junction.

This area guide is sponsored by Frost's, who have offices in St Albans, Marshalswick, Wheathampstead and Harpenden (www.frosts.co.uk/branches) (Image: Archant)

History

The Park Street & Frogmore Society was formed to promote interest in local history and nature, covering the three villages of Park Street, Frogmore and Colney Street.

Park Street is of late and initially disparate medieval origin. After the Norman Conquest, the area was known as ‘Parke Street’, and formed part of the land grant given to St Albans monastery in 793 AD. The street’s mill - ‘Le Parkmulle’ (Park Street Mill) was first referred to in the 12th Century.

The mill, which was converted into offices in the 1980s, was once used for grinding flour, and also supplied the Abbey with eels reared and trapped in the surrounding ponds. The mill still forms a very prominent feature in the centre of Park Street, and provides a pleasant backdrop to the war memorial garden to the north of the village.

The railway bridge near Sycamore Drive was demolished around 1948 after being damaged by a giant propeller being delivered to the Handley Page aircraft works, whose runway was in use until the mid-1960s for the maintenance and testing of the V bomber fleet.

Schools

There are two schools local to the village, Park Street Church of England Primary School and How Wood Primary School, both of which were rated ‘good’ by Ofsted at their last inspections. The nearest secondary school is the Marlborough Science Academy, which is also rated ‘good’.

Property

By the 14th Century, Park Street was home to one of the largest and richest manors in the area, supplying large quantities of corn to the Abbey. There are still many buildings in the area of architectural/historic interest.

The oldest buildings surviving appear to be numbers 61-63 (originally a single early 15th Century late Medieval hall house) and number 68 (a 16th Century timber framed building with the remains of a jettied front). The rest of the area’s architectural heritage traces back to the brick-built early Victorian era - though Toll Cottage on Bury Dell is dated as a 17th Century property.

Today it boasts several side streets from its main thoroughfare, such as Oliver Close, Sycamore Drive and The Beeches.

According to Rightmove, the average home sold in Park Street last year changed hands for £508,362.

Homes currently on the market in the village include a four-bed Grade II listed cottage on Burydell Lane for £995,000 and a one-bed flat on Park Place for £250,000.

Pubs and takeaways

There are two pubs in the village, The Falcon and The Overdraught, while Rumbles fish bar and The Oriental Chinese takeaway are popular fast food options.