Carpenders Park is a suburb of

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

in the

Watford Rural Watford Rural is a civil parish in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is an urbanised parish characterised by suburban residenti ...

parish of the Three Rivers district of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is located in the south western corner of

and close to the boundary with

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. It is bounded to the West by a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

that separates it from

South Oxhey South Oxhey is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. At the 2011 Census S ...

, to the East by the A4008

to Harrow Road (Oxhey Lane), to the South by the B4542 (Little Oxhey Lane), Green Belt and the boundary with the

London Borough of Harrow The London Borough of Harrow () is a London borough in northwest London, England; it forms part of Outer London. It borders four other London boroughs Barnet to the east of ancient Watling Street (now the A5 road), Brent to the southeast, Ea ...

and to the North by woodland (Margeholes Wood and Sherwood Wood).

History

Carpenders Park was originally an estate based around a manor house of the same name. This was later a girls school, Highfields, which was demolished in 1960 to make way for

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

married quarters. These were in turn demolished in 1997/98. The base was also known as Highfields. The houses and bungalows of Carpenders Park were originally built in the 1930s. There was subsequent development in the 1950s including some council housing built for the Watford Rural District Council. The vast majority of the dwellings, though, are privately owned. The estate was significantly enlarged in the late 1960s. Many of these later houses have flat roofs. The area gained some notoriety as the fictional ''Plummers Park'', the setting for

Leslie Thomas Leslie Thomas, OBE (22 March 1931 – 6 May 2014) was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel ''The Virgin Soldiers''. Early life Thomas was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He was orphaned at the age of 12, when his mariner fath ...

' 1970s novel ''

Tropic of Ruislip Tropic of Ruislip is a 1974 novel by British author Leslie Thomas. It explores the British class divide and themes such as wife swapping. The title refers to Ruislip, one of London's outer suburbs, but the book is set in another suburb, Carpe ...

'', which had

wife swapping Swinging, sometimes called wife-swapping, husband-swapping, or partner-swapping, is a sexual activity in which both singles and partners in a committed relationship sexually engage with others for recreational purposes. Swinging is a form of non-m ...

as one of its themes. The ventriloquist Roger DeCourcey also lived on the estate in the 1970s.

Local facilities

Carpenders Park railway station Carpenders Park is a railway station located between the Hertfordshire suburb of Carpenders Park and the South Oxhey housing estate, south of Watford Junction on the Watford DC Line. The station is an island platform reached by a subway. This ...

Attenborough Doctors' Surgery
Harrow Way *Carpenders Park Community Hall, next to the station *Post office and shops on Delta Gain Other facilities may be found in

Carpenders Park Cemetery

Carpenders Park Lawn Cemetery is owned and operated by the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...

. It was opened in 1954. The Hartsbourne stream meanders through fourteen acres of mature woodland - the key feature of the cemetery - and there is a small lake. Brent has provided an area in the cemetery for the Muslim community since 1980. The cemetery is a lawn type cemetery which means there are no upright memorials allowed, only approved bronze resin plaques set into the ground.

Education

St Meryl Primary School
(the name is derived from that of the wife of the builder, not from any religious affiliation) *Woodhall School (in

but serves the area) *There are no secondary schools; the nearest are located in nearby

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...

Religion

Carpenders Park Spiritualist ChurchCarpenders Park Church
* Carpenders Park is in the Church of England Parish of All Saints', Oxhey and is served by the Parish Church of All Saints' in neighbouring South Oxhey.Website for All Saints Church, Oxhey
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External links

Neighbourhood policing strategyCarpenders Park Horticultural SocietyLondon Borough of Brent Carpenders Park Cemetery Carpenders Park Residents' Association

References

{{reflist Three Rivers District