ON the subject of Garston Manor and Garston House, M Clyde, of Watford, writes:

A number of questions have been asked about some of the farms and big houses which used to be in Garston, for example Garston Manor, Garston House, "the old country estate" to the left of the entrance to Garston Park, and a farm in Cow Lane.

After many years, Garston Manor in High Elms Lane was a NHS rehabilitation centre, followed by some years when it was empty, it finally became a private property again. The house has been extensively repaired by its current owner and a school opened in it.

The grounds have recently been developed for housing.

Originally called High Elms, the oldest part of the current house was built in 1812 and it has been extended several times.

When it was put up for sale in 1932, the estate covered nearly 300 acres and included Fortunes Farm and Waterdale as well as several cottages.

Over the years, bits of the land were sold off and after the war Watford Council bought part of it and allotments and Boundary Way were laid out.

Garston Manor was not a "manor" in the medieval sense of the word. In fact, the original Garston Manor was on the other side of St Albans Road, where Garston House used to stand, on the north side of Garston Lane.

This area is now covered by Garston Park Parade and the houses behind, the bus garage and Garston Park.

Correspondents in Nostalgia, March 30, 2001, and April 6, 2001, contributed reminiscences of the house and its gardens, and pinpointed its position, near the bend in Garston Lane opposite Fourth Avenue, approached by a drive from St Albans Road opposite Lavinia Avenue.

This seems to be "the old country estate" that a reader referred to in Nostalgia, June 29, 2001, though the question about "an old Maori house" in the grounds remains unanswered.

Readers have mentioned two farms in the area. One was Garston Farm down Garston Lane beyond Garston House. The other was described in a question as "the farm in Cow Lane, Garston, believed destroyed in a fire, possibly in the 1950s". A reader recently recalled chickens running about the farm and the lane when she was a pupil at Garston School in the 1940's.

This was Lea Farm, which gave its name to Lea Farm School, built to replace Garston School. Does anyone remember if there was a fire there?

February 7, 2002 15:00