Napsbury Park is a

residential development A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

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. It is located to the north of London, at Junction 22 of the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

and Junction 6 of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, which lat ...

. It is protected by a

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

. It is near

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

and is part of the St Albans District. It falls within the Parish Council area of

London Colney London Colney () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. It is located to the north of London, close to Junction 22 of the M25 motorway. It is near St Albans and part of the City and District of St Al ...

Early history

Prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

activity is indicated by cropmarks to the east of the railway in Napsbury hospital grounds; and again on the north side of the hospital. Documentary evidence suggests the existence of a lost medieval settlement. Early Napsbury is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, when it was called Absa and owned by Cedric, a vassall of Archbishop Stigand: it had a house called Tylehouse which was associated with

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

and

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

workings. It is known that there were people settled there with tofts,

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

s or farms, since

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

s were payable in the 14th century. The house on the Napsbury estate was later owned by Sir Nicholas Bacon, father of

Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both n ...

Napsbury Hospital

The site became occupied by the Middlesex County Asylum in 1905. This facility, which became the

Napsbury Hospital Napsbury Hospital was a mental health facility near London Colney in Hertfordshire. It had two sister institutions, Harperbury Hospital and Shenley Hospital, within a few miles of its location. History The hospital was designed by Rowland Plumb ...

, continued to operate on the site until its official closure in 1998.

Redevelopment

After the closure of the hospital, Crest Nicholson acquired the site and built the current residential development around the existing wood and parkland areas. Now consisting of approximately 500 residences spread over newly built detached, terraced and townhouses also apartments converted from the original buildings. Features include multi-use tennis courts, cricket and sports pitches, a sports pavilion building and footpaths throughout the extensive woodland. There is currently planning permission for the first commercial and retail units on the site, which will build upon the settlement's village status.St Albans City - www.stalbans.gov.uk

Transport

Bus

The 658 bus directly serves Napsbury Park and connects the estate with St Albans, London Colney,

Shenley Shenley is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, between Barnet and St Albans. The village is located 14 miles from Central London. History The history of Shenley stretches back a thousand years or more – it is mentioned in ...

and

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

. The nearby bus stop at London Colney High Street is called upon by * the 602 bus which connects to St Albans,

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 ...

Radlett Radlett is a village in Hertfordshire, England, between Elstree and St Albans on Watling Street, with a population of 8,042. It is in the council district of Hertsmere in the south of the county, and is covered by two wards; Aldenham East and ...

and Hatfield * the 84 bus which connects with St Albans,

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

and

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

Rail

Napsbury railway station Napsbury railway station was built by the Midland Railway in 1905 on its line to St Pancras station. It was never more than an island platform between the slow lines, with a siding serving the Middlesex County Asylum at Napsbury, and closed in ...

was built by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

in 1905 on its line to St Pancras station. Consisting of an island platform between the slow lines, with a siding serving the Middlesex County Asylum at Napsbury, it closed in 1959.

Radlett railway station Radlett railway station is on the Midland Main Line in England, serving the village of Radlett, Hertfordshire. It is down the line from London St Pancras and is situated between to the south and to the north. Its three-letter station code is ...

is still open.

References

{{Reflist, 33em

External links

Residents association website
Grade II listed parks and gardens in Hertfordshire Hamlets in Hertfordshire City of St Albans