Cassiobury Park
Encyclopedia
Cassiobury Park is the principal public open space in Watford
, Hertfordshire
, in England
. It comprises over 190 acre (0.7689034 km²) and extends from the A412 Rickmansworth Road in the east to the Grand Union Canal
in the west.
The area occupied by the park and the housing developments to its north and south was formerly the estate of the Earls of Essex
.
The house itself was demolished in 1927.
to the Abbey of St Albans in 793. "Caeg" (Old English ) may have been a man's name, while Old English ho means "a spur of land" (see Hoo
). It was spelled "Caissou" or "Chaissou" in the 11th century and gradually evolved into "Cassio".
The suffix "" occurs in many English place names. It comes from the Old English word for a fortified place, , whose dative, byrig, means "by the fort", or "by the manor".
Quercus palustris Muenchh. and the Scarlet Oak
Q. coccinea Muenchh. The Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani A. Richard is a prominent feature, though some of the older and unsafe specimens have been removed. Many more recent plantings of exotics have been made, such as Swamp Cypress
Taxodium distichum (L.) Richards and various Asian rowans Sorbus spp.
The park slopes generally downhill from east to west, into the alluvial valley of the River Gade
. The broadly meandering river and its bridges add much charm; the canal takes a more direct route. The direction of flow is north to south. The Gade is a tributary of the Colne
, which ultimately flows into the Thames at Staines
.
The valley is partly wooded. Some of the woodland is rather wet and gloomy, but very beautiful; alder
Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn. is frequent beside the streams. Here also may be found the remains of beds and ditches for growing watercress Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum (L.) Hayek. These are largely silted up and overgrown, but the original springs are still flowing.
Beyond the river and canal the ground rises quite steeply to the West Herts Golf
Course, beyond which lies Whippendell Wood. The whole area is freely accessible and surprisingly unspoilt, given its proximity to London
, about 20 miles away.
Man-made structures in the park include a complex of paddling-pools and an adjacent miniature railway near the Gade, tennis-courts, a bowling green
, a system of all-weather asphalt paths, and a number of shelters.
The Watford Miniature Railway has a gauge of 10 1/4" and runs for 1010 yards around part of the park. Steam and Diesel locomotives are used on passenger trains.
The canal, the river and its associated streams provide more interest for the bird-watcher. Teal
Anas crecca, Water Rail
Rallus aquaticus, Grey Wagtail
Motacilla cinerea, Grey Heron
Ardea cinerea and Kingfisher
Alcedo atthis are regular visitors or resident. Especially in freezing weather, the disused cress-beds can yield waders: most often Snipe
Gallinago gallinago, but also Redshank
Tringa totanus and Green Sandpiper
Tringa ochropus and, more rarely, Jack Snipe
Lymnocryptes minimus and Dunlin
Calidris alpina. Water Pipit
Anthus spinoletta may also be found here in winter, and in January 1965, on some cress-ditches which have now been filled in, up to four spotted crake
s Porzana porzana were present. The valley is a good place to see Willow Tit
Parus montanus, Reed Bunting
Emberiza schoeniclus, and Sedge Warbler
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus. The alders attract flocks of Siskin
Carduelis spinus and Redpoll
C. flammea. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos minor is frequent.
Some of the old ditches and surrounding woodland have been made into a local nature reserve. Marsh Marigold Caltha palustris L. grows here, and there is a fairly large bed of Great Reed-mace Typha latifolia L.
An obvious feature of the riverside flora are three species of balsams: Small Balsam Impatiens parviflora DC, Jewel-weed I. capensis Meerburgh, and Policeman's Helmet I. glandulifera Royle. These are said to be escapes from the canal-wharves, where they arrived with consignments of imported timber.
of Cashio, belonging to the Monastery and Abbey of St Albans
. Cayshobury Grove and Wheppinddon (Whippendell) Grove are mentioned in the Domesday Book
(1069).
Pasture and pannage
for a thousand hogs are also mentioned.
When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539, Watford town was divided from Cashio and Henry made himself Lord of the Manor of Cassiobury. In 1546 he granted the Manor to Sir Richard Morrison, who started to build a large house in extensive gardens, but had not made much progress by 1553 when he went into exile abroad. The estate grounds were much larger than they are today, reaching as far as North Watford and southwards almost to Moor Park.
After the death of his father in 1556, Sir Charles Morrison continued building and completed the mansion, Cassiobury House. It had 56 rooms, a long gallery, stables, a dairy and a brewhouse.
William Camden
's Britannia
of 1583 describes Watford thus:
In 1610 Sir Charles Morrison's daughter, Elizabeth, was baptized at Watford parish church. In 1627 she married Arthur Capel
(1610-1649) and the estate passed into the Capel family. The Capels were settled at Hadham, in Essex, but after the marriage they became closely associated with Cassiobury. The coat of arms of the Capel family appears on the badge of Cassiobury Junior School; the name "Lady Capel" persists at Lady Capel's Wharf, which is beside the Grand Union Canal a mile or so north of the park and was the place where goods were unloaded for Watford.
Lord Capel was condemned in 1649 for his loyalty to Charles I
and beheaded outside Westminster Hall. His son, also named Arthur (1631-1683), also married an Elizabeth and was Morrison's great-great-grandson.
At the Restoration
, King Charles II made Arthur Capel Earl of Essex and the estate was returned to the family.
Arthur Capel, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
, commissioned Hugh May to rebuild the Tudor house, incorporating the original north-west wing. The new house was laid out on an "H" ground-plan, popular during that period, and was filled with fine things. The first earl also started developing the park, importing many exotic trees. There was much delay and expense. The earl wrote from Ireland telling his brother to hasten the work at
The Capels were patrons of the arts and engaged Grinling Gibbons
(1648-1721), the Dutch-English sculptor and wood-carver.
Moses Cook (died 1715) laid out the grounds for the 2nd earl; he devised many woodland walks and avenues. In 1672, it is said, an avenue of 296 lime trees was planted, linking the gardens to Whippendell Wood. Remnants of this can still be seen today. However, ring-counts of fallen trees suggest that the avenue dates from about 1720. George London
(died 1714) and the royal gardener Charles Bridgeman
(died 1738) also worked at Cassiobury.
On 16 April, 1680, John Evelyn
(1620-1706) accompanied Gibbons there.
By 1683 André Le Nôtre
(1613-1700), the French architect and ornamental gardener to Louis XIV
, was engaged on planting trees on the estate.
In the same year Arthur Capel was implicated in the Rye House plot
, accused of plotting to assassinate Charles II
. Like his father before him, Arthur was imprisoned in the Tower of London
. In July 1687 he was found dead at the Tower, his throat cut, apparently by his own hand.
The Grand Union Canal
dates from the late eighteenth century. The 4th earl was one of the noblemen on the board of the canal company; at his insistence the canal was widened and landscaped where it passed through his property. The northward view from Iron Bridge (Canal Bridge No. 167) is picturesque and must be one of the most photographed in Hertfordshire
.
The 5th earl of Essex arrived at Cassiobury in 1799 and commissioned James Wyatt
(1746-1813) to remodel the house. Wyatt specialized in the Romantic Gothic style. Most of the rebuilding was finished by 1805. The new house comprised a large number of rooms, the main ones being the Winter Drawing Room, with family portraits by Lely
and Van Dyck; the Crimson Drawing Room, with Canaletto
, Gainsborough
, Morland
, and Reynolds
; the Inner Library, which also had portraits by Reynolds; and the Great Library, in which were busts of the Duke of Bedford, the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon and Charles I. The furniture of the Best Drawing Room was said to be "of the latest fashion and displays superior taste". Another spectacular room was the State Bedroom, with blue and white furnishings, a Gobelin
tapestry (The Village Feast), and a ceiling in blue and gilt.
Frances Calvert, in An Irish Beauty of the Regency (1816), writes:
Humphry Repton
(1752-1818) was commissioned to landscape the park. A number of lodges and other buildings for the estate were constructed. These were designed by Wyatt's nephew, Sir Jeffrey Wyattville (1766-1840). Only one now survives: Cassiobury Lodge, in Gade Avenue, "... the most elaborate in execution - its whole exterior being covered or cased with sticks of various sizes split in two", wrote a Victorian visitor. At this time the park comprised 693 acres (2.8 km²), the Home Park and the Upper Park being separated by the River Gade. The Upper Park became the West Herts Golf Course.
In 1841 a fire destroyed the orangery
, which was filled with newly collected plants and fine orange trees, some of which had been presented to the 6th earl by Louis XVII. Herds of deer roamed the park. Parties were a regular feature at the weekends. The public were allowed to ride and walk through the grounds, but had to apply for a ticket in advance.
The parties and entertainments at Cassiobury House continued into the new century: in 1902 it was visited by the young Winston Churchill
and King Edward VII
. But at about this time the Essex family planned to let the house and live in London. The upkeep was becoming increasingly expensive.
In 1909, 184 acre (0.74462224 km²) of parkland were sold by the 8th earl, most to Watford Borough Council for housing and the public park. More land for the park was purchased in 1930.
Construction of the residential Cassiobury
Estate began. The land was made subject to restrictive covenants stipulating that only good quality detached or semi-detached houses would be allowed. Most activity was in the 1930s, though building still continues, mostly of "infill" housing on former back gardens. The park is bounded by Parkside Drive and Coningsby Drive on the north, and Cassiobury Park Avenue on the south.
On Thursday 8 June, 1922, at 2.30 p.m. at 20 Hanover Square
, "By direction of the Right Honourable Adèle, Countess Dowager of Essex", "Cassiobury Park estate including the historical family mansion, Little Cassiobury, and the West Herts Golf Links, embracing in all an Area of about 870 acres (3.5 km²)" was auctioned by Humbert & Flint, in conjunction with Knight, Frank & Rutley.
Having remained unoccupied and unsold, the house itself was demolished in 1927. Only the stable block remains: this has been converted to Cassiobury Court, an old people's home, still extant in Richmond Drive. The grand staircase (said to be designed by Gibbons but since attributed to Edmund Pearce) was removed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York. Other materials from the house were used to restore Monmouth House in Watford High Street. Posters advertised "To lovers of the antique, architects, builders, etc., 300 tons of old oak: 100 very fine old oak beams and 10,000 Tudor period
bricks".
In 1967, even the quaint, castellated entrance gates on the Rickmansworth Road were demolished to make way for a new traffic system.
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It comprises over 190 acre (0.7689034 km²) and extends from the A412 Rickmansworth Road in the east to the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
in the west.
The area occupied by the park and the housing developments to its north and south was formerly the estate of the Earls of Essex
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals. The earldom was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey II de Mandeville . Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct...
.
The house itself was demolished in 1927.
Etymology
The name "Caegesho" referred to a larger area of land granted by OffaOffa
Offa may refer to:Two kings of the Angles, who are often confused:*Offa of Angel , on the continent*Offa of Mercia , in Great BritainA king of Essex:*Offa of Essex A town in Nigeria:* Offa, Nigeria...
to the Abbey of St Albans in 793. "Caeg" (Old English ) may have been a man's name, while Old English ho means "a spur of land" (see Hoo
Hoo
Hoo is used in placenames in the east of England to indicate coastal peninsulas and promontories. It appears in:* Fort Hoo, a fort on an island in the River Medway, Kent* Hoo St Werburgh and Cliffe-at-Hoo on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent* Hoo, Suffolk...
). It was spelled "Caissou" or "Chaissou" in the 11th century and gradually evolved into "Cassio".
The suffix "" occurs in many English place names. It comes from the Old English word for a fortified place, , whose dative, byrig, means "by the fort", or "by the manor".
Appearance
Much of the park is covered by mown grass and scattered trees. There are notable specimens of American oaks such as the Pin OakPin oak
Quercus palustris, the Pin oak or Swamp Spanish oak, is an oak in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae.-Distribution:...
Quercus palustris Muenchh. and the Scarlet Oak
Scarlet Oak
Quercus coccinea, the scarlet oak, is an oak in the red oak section Quercus sect. Lobatae. The scarlet oak can be mistaken for the pin oak, the black oak, or occasionally the red oak. On scarlet oak the sinuses between lobes are "C"-shaped in comparison to pin oak , which has "U"-shaped sinuses...
Q. coccinea Muenchh. The Cedar of Lebanon Cedrus libani A. Richard is a prominent feature, though some of the older and unsafe specimens have been removed. Many more recent plantings of exotics have been made, such as Swamp Cypress
Taxodium
Taxodium is a genus of one to three species of extremely flood-tolerant conifers in the cypress family, Cupressaceae...
Taxodium distichum (L.) Richards and various Asian rowans Sorbus spp.
The park slopes generally downhill from east to west, into the alluvial valley of the River Gade
River Gade
The River Gade is a river running almost entirely though Hertfordshire. It rises from a spring in the chalk of the Chiltern Hills at Dagnall, Buckinghamshire and flows through Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley and Croxley Green to Rickmansworth where it joins the The River Colne...
. The broadly meandering river and its bridges add much charm; the canal takes a more direct route. The direction of flow is north to south. The Gade is a tributary of the Colne
River Colne, Hertfordshire
The Colne is a river in England which is a tributary of the River Thames. It flows mainly through Hertfordshire and forms the boundary between the South Bucks district of Buckinghamshire and the London Borough of Hillingdon...
, which ultimately flows into the Thames at Staines
Staines
Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
.
Black Alder
Alnus glutinosa is an alder native to most of Europe, including all of the British Isles and Fennoscandia and locally in southwest Asia....
Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn. is frequent beside the streams. Here also may be found the remains of beds and ditches for growing watercress Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum (L.) Hayek. These are largely silted up and overgrown, but the original springs are still flowing.
Beyond the river and canal the ground rises quite steeply to the West Herts Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
Course, beyond which lies Whippendell Wood. The whole area is freely accessible and surprisingly unspoilt, given its proximity to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, about 20 miles away.
Man-made structures in the park include a complex of paddling-pools and an adjacent miniature railway near the Gade, tennis-courts, a bowling green
Bowling green
A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...
, a system of all-weather asphalt paths, and a number of shelters.
The Watford Miniature Railway has a gauge of 10 1/4" and runs for 1010 yards around part of the park. Steam and Diesel locomotives are used on passenger trains.
Natural history
The bird-life of the formal areas is typical of parkland in southern England. Nuthatches like the old timber; spotted flycatchers the more open ground; and redwings and fieldfares the more open ground yet. Common and black-headed, and sometimes lesser black-backed and herring, gulls form loose flocks on the lower reaches towards the Gade.The canal, the river and its associated streams provide more interest for the bird-watcher. Teal
Common Teal
The Eurasian Teal or Common Teal is a common and widespread duck which breeds in temperate Eurasia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian Teal is often called simply the Teal due to being the only one of these small dabbling ducks in much of its range...
Anas crecca, Water Rail
Water Rail
The Water Rail is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range...
Rallus aquaticus, Grey Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
The Grey Wagtail is a small member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae. The species looks similar to the Yellow Wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted to the throat and vent. Breeding males have a black throat...
Motacilla cinerea, Grey Heron
Grey Heron
The Grey Heron , is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in the milder south and west, but many birds retreat in winter from the ice in colder regions...
Ardea cinerea and Kingfisher
European Kingfisher
The Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis, also known as Eurasian Kingfisher or River Kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa...
Alcedo atthis are regular visitors or resident. Especially in freezing weather, the disused cress-beds can yield waders: most often Snipe
Common Snipe
The Common Snipe is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout northern Europe and northern Asia...
Gallinago gallinago, but also Redshank
Common Redshank
The Common Redshank or simply Redshank is an Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.- Description and systematics :...
Tringa totanus and Green Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
The Green Sandpiper is a small wader of the Old World. It represents an ancient lineage of the genus Tringa; its only close living relative is the Solitary Sandpiper . They both have brown wings with little light dots and a delicate but contrasting neck and chest pattern...
Tringa ochropus and, more rarely, Jack Snipe
Jack Snipe
The Jack Snipe, Lymnocryptes minimus is a small stocky wader. It is the smallest snipe, and the only member of the genus Lymnocryptes...
Lymnocryptes minimus and Dunlin
Dunlin
The Dunlin, Calidris alpina, is a small wader, sometimes separated with the other "stints" in Erolia. It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions. Birds that breed in northern Europe and Asia are long-distance migrants, wintering south to Africa, southeast Asia and the Middle East...
Calidris alpina. Water Pipit
Water Pipit
The Water Pipit, Anthus spinoletta, is a small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of southern Europe and southern temperate Asia across to China. It is a short-distance migrant moving to wet open lowlands such as marshes and flooded fields in winter...
Anthus spinoletta may also be found here in winter, and in January 1965, on some cress-ditches which have now been filled in, up to four spotted crake
Spotted Crake
The Spotted Crake is a small waterbird, of the family Rallidae.Their breeding habitat is marshes and sedge beds across temperate Europe into western Asia. They nest in a dry location in marsh vegetation, laying 6-15 eggs...
s Porzana porzana were present. The valley is a good place to see Willow Tit
Willow Tit
The Willow Tit is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and northern Asia. It is more of a conifer specialist than the closely related Marsh Tit, which explains it breeding much further north...
Parus montanus, Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting
The Reed Bunting, Emberiza schoeniclus, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae....
Emberiza schoeniclus, and Sedge Warbler
Sedge Warbler
The Sedge Warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It is a medium-sized warbler with a brown, streaked back and wings and a distinct pale supercilium. Sedge Warblers are migratory, crossing the Sahara to get from their European and Asian breeding grounds to spend winter in Africa...
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus. The alders attract flocks of Siskin
Eurasian Siskin
The Eurasian Siskin is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European Siskin, Common Siskin or just Siskin. Other names include Black-headed Goldfinch, barley bird and aberdevine. It is very common throughout Europe and Asia...
Carduelis spinus and Redpoll
Redpoll
The Redpolls are a group of small passerine birds in the finch family Fringillidae which have characteristic red markings on their heads. They were formerly placed into the genus Acanthis together with the linnets and the twite, but their closest relatives are actually the crossbills, that are...
C. flammea. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is assigned to the genus Dendrocopos ....
Dendrocopos minor is frequent.
Some of the old ditches and surrounding woodland have been made into a local nature reserve. Marsh Marigold Caltha palustris L. grows here, and there is a fairly large bed of Great Reed-mace Typha latifolia L.
An obvious feature of the riverside flora are three species of balsams: Small Balsam Impatiens parviflora DC, Jewel-weed I. capensis Meerburgh, and Policeman's Helmet I. glandulifera Royle. These are said to be escapes from the canal-wharves, where they arrived with consignments of imported timber.
History
In AD 793 the town of Watford is thought to have been part of the ManorManorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Cashio, belonging to the Monastery and Abbey of St Albans
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
. Cayshobury Grove and Wheppinddon (Whippendell) Grove are mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
(1069).
"The abbey of St Albans holds Caissou. It answers for 20 hides: of these the abbot holds 19. There is land for 22 ploughs."
Pasture and pannage
Pannage
Pannage is the practice of turning out domestic pigs in a wood or forest, in order that they may feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on common land or in royal forests...
for a thousand hogs are also mentioned.
When King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539, Watford town was divided from Cashio and Henry made himself Lord of the Manor of Cassiobury. In 1546 he granted the Manor to Sir Richard Morrison, who started to build a large house in extensive gardens, but had not made much progress by 1553 when he went into exile abroad. The estate grounds were much larger than they are today, reaching as far as North Watford and southwards almost to Moor Park.
After the death of his father in 1556, Sir Charles Morrison continued building and completed the mansion, Cassiobury House. It had 56 rooms, a long gallery, stables, a dairy and a brewhouse.
William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
's Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
of 1583 describes Watford thus:
"WATFORDE or WATELINEFORDE crosseth the Colne nere this place and so coasteth to old Verlame [St Albans] as is sayd before [John Norden, Hartfordshire]. Somewhat lower I saw Watford and Rickmansworth two mercate towns; concerning which I had read nothing of greater antiquity than this, that king Offa liberally gave them unto St Albans; as also Casiobery next unto Watford. In which place Sir Richard Morisin knight, a great learned man, and who had beene used in Embassages to the mightiest princes, under king Henrie the Eighth and king Edward the Sixth began to build a house, which Sir Charles his sonne finally finished."
In 1610 Sir Charles Morrison's daughter, Elizabeth, was baptized at Watford parish church. In 1627 she married Arthur Capel
Arthur Capel, 1st Baron Capel
Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Capell...
(1610-1649) and the estate passed into the Capel family. The Capels were settled at Hadham, in Essex, but after the marriage they became closely associated with Cassiobury. The coat of arms of the Capel family appears on the badge of Cassiobury Junior School; the name "Lady Capel" persists at Lady Capel's Wharf, which is beside the Grand Union Canal a mile or so north of the park and was the place where goods were unloaded for Watford.
Lord Capel was condemned in 1649 for his loyalty to Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
and beheaded outside Westminster Hall. His son, also named Arthur (1631-1683), also married an Elizabeth and was Morrison's great-great-grandson.
At the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, King Charles II made Arthur Capel Earl of Essex and the estate was returned to the family.
Arthur Capel, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, commissioned Hugh May to rebuild the Tudor house, incorporating the original north-west wing. The new house was laid out on an "H" ground-plan, popular during that period, and was filled with fine things. The first earl also started developing the park, importing many exotic trees. There was much delay and expense. The earl wrote from Ireland telling his brother to hasten the work at
"Cashiobery and of the covering of it and that it should be done with all dispatch imaginable ... for unless this part of the house be roofed and tiled before I come, I do not know how I shall be able to lie one night there."
The Capels were patrons of the arts and engaged Grinling Gibbons
Grinling Gibbons
Grinling Gibbons was an English sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including St Paul's Cathedral, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court Palace. He was born and educated in Holland where his father was a merchant...
(1648-1721), the Dutch-English sculptor and wood-carver.
Moses Cook (died 1715) laid out the grounds for the 2nd earl; he devised many woodland walks and avenues. In 1672, it is said, an avenue of 296 lime trees was planted, linking the gardens to Whippendell Wood. Remnants of this can still be seen today. However, ring-counts of fallen trees suggest that the avenue dates from about 1720. George London
George London (landscape architect)
George London was an English nurseryman and garden designer. He aspired to the baroque style and worked on the gardens at Hampton Court, Melbourne Hall and Wimpole Hall....
(died 1714) and the royal gardener Charles Bridgeman
Charles Bridgeman
Charles Bridgeman was an English garden designer in the onset of the naturalistic landscape style. Although he was a key figure in the transition of English garden design from the Anglo-Dutch formality of patterned parterres and avenues to a freer style that incorporated formal, structural and...
(died 1738) also worked at Cassiobury.
On 16 April, 1680, John Evelyn
John Evelyn
John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
(1620-1706) accompanied Gibbons there.
"On the earnest invitation of the Earl of Essex, I went with him to his house at Cassioberie in Hertfordshire. The house is new, a plaine fabric built by my friend Mr. Hugh May, there are divers faire and good rooms and excellent carvings by Grinling Gibbons, especially the chimney piece of the library ... [but] the soil is stony, churlish and uneven, nor is the water near enough to the house though a very swift and clear stream runs within a flight shot of it. The valley which may fitly be called Colnbrook, it being indeed excessive cold, yet producing fair trouts ... it is a pity that the house was not situated to more advantage, but it seems it was built just where the old one was."
By 1683 André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...
(1613-1700), the French architect and ornamental gardener to Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, was engaged on planting trees on the estate.
In the same year Arthur Capel was implicated in the Rye House plot
Rye House Plot
The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother James, Duke of York. Historians vary in their assessment of the degree to which details of the conspiracy were finalized....
, accused of plotting to assassinate Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. Like his father before him, Arthur was imprisoned in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. In July 1687 he was found dead at the Tower, his throat cut, apparently by his own hand.
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
dates from the late eighteenth century. The 4th earl was one of the noblemen on the board of the canal company; at his insistence the canal was widened and landscaped where it passed through his property. The northward view from Iron Bridge (Canal Bridge No. 167) is picturesque and must be one of the most photographed in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
.
James Wyatt
James Wyatt RA , was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical style, who far outdid Adam in his work in the neo-Gothic style.-Early classical career:...
(1746-1813) to remodel the house. Wyatt specialized in the Romantic Gothic style. Most of the rebuilding was finished by 1805. The new house comprised a large number of rooms, the main ones being the Winter Drawing Room, with family portraits by Lely
Peter Lely
Sir Peter Lely was a painter of Dutch origin, whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court.-Life:...
and Van Dyck; the Crimson Drawing Room, with Canaletto
Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal better known as Canaletto , was a Venetian painter famous for his landscapes, or vedute, of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.- Early career :...
, Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
, Morland
George Morland
George Morland was an English painter of animals and rustic scenes.-Life:Morland was born in London, the 3rd son of Henry Robert Morland , artist, engraver and picture restorer...
, and Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
; the Inner Library, which also had portraits by Reynolds; and the Great Library, in which were busts of the Duke of Bedford, the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon and Charles I. The furniture of the Best Drawing Room was said to be "of the latest fashion and displays superior taste". Another spectacular room was the State Bedroom, with blue and white furnishings, a Gobelin
Gobelin
Gobelin was the name of a family of dyers, who in all probability came originally from Reims, and who in the middle of the 15th century established themselves in the Faubourg Saint Marcel, Paris, on the banks of the Bièvre....
tapestry (The Village Feast), and a ceiling in blue and gilt.
Frances Calvert, in An Irish Beauty of the Regency (1816), writes:
"On Wednesday we went to Cashiobury, the seat of the Earl of Essex, which is a very pretty house and more full of comforts, curiosities and pretty things than any other house I ever saw. Lord and Lady Holland, Lord Auckland and several more now in the house". On the Thursday she records: "Lady Essex took us all over her flower gardens, which I declare are the most complete in England".
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century...
(1752-1818) was commissioned to landscape the park. A number of lodges and other buildings for the estate were constructed. These were designed by Wyatt's nephew, Sir Jeffrey Wyattville (1766-1840). Only one now survives: Cassiobury Lodge, in Gade Avenue, "... the most elaborate in execution - its whole exterior being covered or cased with sticks of various sizes split in two", wrote a Victorian visitor. At this time the park comprised 693 acres (2.8 km²), the Home Park and the Upper Park being separated by the River Gade. The Upper Park became the West Herts Golf Course.
In 1841 a fire destroyed the orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
, which was filled with newly collected plants and fine orange trees, some of which had been presented to the 6th earl by Louis XVII. Herds of deer roamed the park. Parties were a regular feature at the weekends. The public were allowed to ride and walk through the grounds, but had to apply for a ticket in advance.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
. But at about this time the Essex family planned to let the house and live in London. The upkeep was becoming increasingly expensive.
In 1909, 184 acre (0.74462224 km²) of parkland were sold by the 8th earl, most to Watford Borough Council for housing and the public park. More land for the park was purchased in 1930.
Construction of the residential Cassiobury
Cassiobury
Cassiobury is a residential area of Watford in Hertfordshire, England.It is formed by two areas of housing: one to the north-east of Cassiobury Park and the other to the south...
Estate began. The land was made subject to restrictive covenants stipulating that only good quality detached or semi-detached houses would be allowed. Most activity was in the 1930s, though building still continues, mostly of "infill" housing on former back gardens. The park is bounded by Parkside Drive and Coningsby Drive on the north, and Cassiobury Park Avenue on the south.
On Thursday 8 June, 1922, at 2.30 p.m. at 20 Hanover Square
Hanover Square, London
Hanover Square, London, is a square in Mayfair, London W1, England, situated to the south west of Oxford Circus, the major junction where Oxford Street meets Regent Street....
, "By direction of the Right Honourable Adèle, Countess Dowager of Essex", "Cassiobury Park estate including the historical family mansion, Little Cassiobury, and the West Herts Golf Links, embracing in all an Area of about 870 acres (3.5 km²)" was auctioned by Humbert & Flint, in conjunction with Knight, Frank & Rutley.
Having remained unoccupied and unsold, the house itself was demolished in 1927. Only the stable block remains: this has been converted to Cassiobury Court, an old people's home, still extant in Richmond Drive. The grand staircase (said to be designed by Gibbons but since attributed to Edmund Pearce) was removed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York. Other materials from the house were used to restore Monmouth House in Watford High Street. Posters advertised "To lovers of the antique, architects, builders, etc., 300 tons of old oak: 100 very fine old oak beams and 10,000 Tudor period
Tudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
bricks".
In 1967, even the quaint, castellated entrance gates on the Rickmansworth Road were demolished to make way for a new traffic system.