Page 6 - HGS Suburb News 139 - Summer 2019
P. 6
Avenue House, a Grade II listed, local gem
Avenue House is a Grade II listed for many years as a public development of the famous blue-
house, which belonged to Henry library, and as the offices of black writing fluid, the growth of
Charles Stephens also known as Finchley Borough Council. the Company and the life and
‘Inky’ Stephens. He was the son PHOTOS: TERRY BROOKS In 1989 the east wing of the work of Henry ‘Inky’ Stephens.
of Dr Henry Stephens (1796– house was gutted by fire, but it Guided tours of the Estate
1864) who invented an indelible was restored thanks to the inter- are available by prior arrangement,
‘blue-black writing fluid’. The vention of Margaret Thatcher who as are lunch and dinner packages.
British government made it the was then the MP for Finchley, A range of events and
mandatory ink for legal documents and the Prime Minister. activities are offered throughout
and ships’ log books. In its day it The House and Gardens are the year both for children and
revolutionised office life – much now managed by an independent adults. They include pond dipping,
time previously had been spent charitable body, the Avenue Easter egg hunts, quiz nights,
mixing inks and cleaning nibs. House Estate Trust, which took gardening mornings and shared
Inky Stephens inherited his over responsibility from London reading taster sessions. Two of
father’s company in 1864 at the Borough of Barnet in 2002. the most popular events are the
age of 23 upon the sudden death of The House is a meetings and Halloween Spooktacular, which
his father, and went on to develop events venue. Various rooms in includes a ghost hunt in the
it into a successful multinational the house can be rented for both gardens, and the Summer Fête
business. He also found the time business and private functions, complete with live music and
to be the MP for the Hornsey including weddings. maypole dancing.
and Finchley constituency from The gardens and arboretum The gardens also play host to
1887 to 1900. are open to the public free of a seated statue of Spike Milligan,
In 1874 Stephens purchased charge and the stables have been which encourages you to join
Avenue House in East End Road transformed into a cafe serving him and share a conversation.
and ten acres of adjacent land. time and today they consist of a a dairy, an abattoir, and room company at Cholderton in snacks, light lunches, hot and MARIE-CHRISTINE O’CALLAGHAN
At that time it was a small villa mixed landscape which includes for farriers. It also provided Wiltshire where he built his cold beverages and ice cream.
dating from 1851. Henry under- a unique arboretum, a rockery, housing for the principal estate country home. The Cholderton The coach house has become For more information please visit:
took a four-year building project a bog garden, a large park area workers. The castellated walls of and District Water Company was a small museum dedicated to www.stephenshouseandgardens.com.
and the family moved into the to play in and wooded areas to the Bothy make it distinct and established by Act of Parliament the history of the Stephens Ink Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East
House in 1878. As well as the enjoy. The arboretum has some clearly different from the house in 1904 and was incorporated Company. It aims to show, the End Road, N3 3QE.
usual rooms, the House included unusual trees such as the Common and other buildings on the estate. as a private limited company.
a library, school rooms and a Medlar Mespilus Germanica as Inky Stephens was very much Throughout the many changes
laboratory where Henry, who well as ten varieties of oak trees. a man of his time. He set up a in the water industry Cholderton
had trained as a chemist, ran a Henry Stephens had farm domestic electricity system for the has remained an independent
series of experiments. buildings (now called The Bothy) house and constructed a Water privately-owned company (www.
Henry asked Robert Marnock built with their own gardens. Tower, which originally serviced choldertonwater.co.uk).
to design the gardens. Marnock They were originally designed as the domestic water supply to the The house and grounds were
was one of the leading land- kitchen gardens and it is probable house and an adjoining laundry. left for public enjoyment by
scape gardeners of the mid-19th that Marnock, with his expertise The Water Tower is a 9m high Stephens in his will. At the time
century who strove to achieve the in hot houses, advised on the octagonal, reinforced concrete of his death in 1918 it was in use
effects found in nature within layout, as well as the orientation structure with pebble-dashed as a Voluntary Aid Detachment
intensively managed gardens. and the positioning of the glass- render and crenelated top, Hospital, and between 1919 and
Marnock’s Gardenesque design houses. There was even a tropical matching the Bothy corner towers. 1925, the RAF central hospital.
focused on trees and hard land- house with palms. The Bothy In point of fact he was so The grounds were formally
scape with integral water features. allowed the whole estate to be interested in the reliable supply opened to the public on 3 May
The gardens have evolved over self-sufficient, as it had fish ponds, of water that he set up a water 1928. The house was then used
Heritage, now and then Nash’s Regent’s Park and Regent were part of this effort; the
Glasgow flats no longer exist
Street, while the movement against
overcrowded and low quality but the Pimlico estate is now a
The annual Michael Rowley our built landscape; the different housing for working families led conservation area with some ADRIAN PINGSTONE
lecture this year was given on movements in this country
to housing associations such as the
June 2 in the Meeting House on affecting both development Peabody Trust in 1862 creating blocks Grade II listed.
Meanwhile in Roehampton,
the subject of ‘Heritage Now and and redevelopment. decent urban accommodation. the Alton West estate, with
Then’ by James Stourton, Fellow Looking at how we live in In a rural setting Nash designed more Grade II listed towers, is a
of the Institute of Historical an urban context the speaker
Research and a member of the identified what he considered Blaise Hamlet for retired employees local example of Le Corbusier’s
of the Quaker banker, John
Panel of the Heritage Memorial to be two periods of great Scandrett Harford. Built around l’unité d’habitation – la Cité
radieuse. The 1946 New Town Act
Fund, amongst other things. disruption. The first was related 1811, it is regarded by some as allowed for grander developments
The title, Heritage Now and to the consequences of the
Then, reveals the purpose of the Industrial Revolution and then the original garden suburb. with Milton Keynes being the
most famous example of such
Model estates for workers gave
talk to mark the 50th anniversary the spread of the railways. us, most famously, Port Sunlight a development.
of the designation of the Suburb The antidote to unplanned and Bournville, while Ebenezer For James Stourton the
as a conservation area in 1969. development in cities can be seen
The speaker took his audience in St Petersburg, Washington DC, Howard and the garden city second great disruption occurred
movement produced Letchworth, post-war with the destruction of
on a trip through the history of Paris and, closer to home, John
our own Suburb, and later Welwyn. the built environment and loss
Green spaces were preserved for of landscape between 1965 and Circular Cottage at Blaize Hamlet
I specialise in all domestic and London in places like Epping 1985. The rise of car ownership, Bath and Covent Garden, to name allowed for the creation of
commercial carpentry Forest and Hampstead Heath. and the need to accommodate two famous cases, developments conservation areas such as ours.
to the highest possible standards The 1900’s brought more the car, along with a loss of all over the country were stopped Although the UK consistently
state intervention with various sense of place gave rise to a or reviewed. builds fewer houses than it
Professional decorating services housing laws, and the need for great deal of redevelopment There was reaction in the needs, with worries about
also managed with over 10 years 4 to 5 million homes after the and new development. world of politics as well when a quality as building regulations
of excellence war meant an investment in high- Public disquiet at the loss of cross party alliance between Dick and standards are being relaxed,
density housing estates. The much loved buildings and green Crossman and Duncan Sandys there are beacons of hope. The
Call now for a free quotation Red Road Flats in Glasgow and spaces gave rise to preservation helped the passage of the Civic brown-field Accordia development
Churchill Gardens in Pimlico movements, and so in places like Amenities Act of 1967, which in Cambridge demonstrates
For all your professional Highcliffe slab blocks, Alton West estate modern sustainable residential
carpentry needs joshuabergercarpentry.com housing. The growing cohousing
move-ment is another example
of future possibilities; Marmalade
Lane, again in Cambridge, was
Welcome to offered as a showcase for
STEVEKEIRETSU
cohousing, again sustainable.
St Jude’s through over two centuries of
James Stourton took us
urban development in just
Sundays: under an hour, and made it
possible to see our transient
8am Said Eucharist present in its context – the
10.30am Sung Eucharist history before and the possible
future beyond.
All Welcome The present housing situation
worries him greatly and he feels
a solution needs someone in
power to be interested – like a
Crossman or Sandys – in fact,
he said, “we need a crisis.”
We went from crisis to cake
as the event ended with thanks
SAINT JUDE-ON-THE-HILL • THE PARISH CHURCH OF HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB to the speaker and tea with the
www.stjudeonthehill.com home-made cakes that are a
Suburb ubiquity, and very tasty.
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