Bricket Wood - A Brief History

Pre-history and Medieval Settlement

Human activity in the area can be traced to long before there was any record of a village named Bricket Wood. Worked flints and Roman pottery have been found as well as a Roman villa complex situated nearby. The Domesday Book (1086) states that the Abbot of St Albans held ‘Henamesteda’ (Hanstead) and the evidence provided points to a population of approximately 165; among the villagers were four Frenchmen, indicating that the Normans had settled in the area. Two mills, probably Moor Mill and Park Street Mill are mentioned; both were working mills until well into the 20th century.

Since well before the Norman Conquest, the area lay within the Manor of Park, whose Lord was the Abbot of St Albans. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1538) the manor was granted to Sir Anthony Denny and later (1661) went to the Earl of Essex who held it until the early 20th century.

17th Century Parish Registers first record the name Bricket Wood although it can be found as far back as the 13th century under different spellings [e.g. Briteyghtwood (1505), bosco de Brygteyght (1536)].

The 19th Century and the Coming of the Railway

In the 19th century very little of the centre of modern day Bricket Wood existed as we know it today and, apart from the Common, the area was covered in extensive woodland. However, there were a number of farms surrounding the woodland and thus farming was the main occupation. Straw plaiting for the hat trade in Luton supplemented agricultural workers’ incomes and there was also some work from brick making and wood cutting. Most of the farms have since ceased farming and are now used for other purposes. 

A major change came with the arrival of the railway. The branch line between Watford and St Albans opened its halt at Bricket Wood in 1858 making the area far more accessible. New opportunities arose with this improved accessibility and in 1889 the Gray brothers acquired land at Smug Oak Green and opened the Woodside Retreat fairground – making Bricket Wood and its woodland an attractive destination for day trippers. The original wooden station building (1861) was replaced by the Edwardian brick building (ca. 1903); the platform was extended and a passing loop was introduced to accommodate the large number of visitors to the Fair. In 1923, a second fairground, ‘Joyland’, was opened nearby by Mr R. B. Christmas, but by 1929 both sites had closed as the patterns of leisure activities changed.

Early 20th Century Development

Hanstead House was home for the Yule family for over half of the 20th century. The property dates from the 1860s and was rebuilt in the 1920s by Sir David Yule. Lady Yule landscaped the gardens and was involved in the Film Industry as well as in breeding Arabian horses.

Following their deaths, the estate was inherited by their daughter and sole heir, Gladys, and, following her death, the Estate was bought by the Worldwide Church of God (Ambassador College). It then passed to the Central Electricity Generating Board before being used as a training College by HSBC; more recently it has been developed for residential housing, Hanstead Park.

After closure of the fairs, Mr R. B. Christmas went on to build bungalows on part of his estate (South Riding, North Riding, Oak Avenue and The Crescent). He donated the land on which St Luke’s Church was built (1937) and the Church continues to play a central role in village life today. In the 1950s Handley Page built houses for some of its workers on the remainder of Mr Christmas’ land.

Congregational worship in Bricket Wood originated in 1884 when a Mission Room was established and a Chapel was built in 1895 in Station Road. Worship transferred to a new hall in West Riding in 1965 and a new United Reformed Church (URC) building was opened in West Riding in 1974. After being part of village life for 135 years, the Bricket Wood Church amalgamated with the Chiswell Green Church in 2019 to form the Greenwood URC on the Chiswell Green site [link]. The old Chapel and the URC Church and Church Hall are now used for non-religious purposes.  

In the 1920s, Blackboy Wood, which stretched from Old Watford Road to Station Road, was sold and people bought plots of land and erected dwellings. Many of these were bungalows and showed great individuality in their style but very few exist in their original form today. It was also the era when naturist clubs became popular. Several were established in Bricket Wood and two still remain: Five Acres Country Club and Spielplatz. 

Heritage

Before the 20th century, there were just a few isolated dwellings in the area we now call Bricket Wood. Several of these are still features of the village today.

Old Bricket has a number of old properties. This was designated as a Conservation Area in 1983 and is situated down School Lane which runs through the Common. Within the area there are two Grade II listed dwellings (Brickett and Little Brickett), as they are considered to be buildings of ‘Special Architectural or Historic Interest’. Several others are termed ‘locally listed’ as they are considered to make a positive contribution to the area’s character and appearance. These include The Old Fox with his Teeth Drawn - a former beer house, and later temperance tea room. This is now a substantial, modernised private house and is the only thatched property in Bricket Wood.

Similarly designated, the quite separate Old Fox public house in School Lane, which closed in 2017, has now been refurbished and reopened in 2025. 

In the latter part of the 19th century Bricket Wood had seven ale/beer houses or beer shops. Four are now private residences leaving The Old Fox, The Gate and The Black Boy public houses. The Bricket Wood Social Club and Moor Mill are now also licensed premises.  

The character of Bricket Wood Common has changed over the millennia. In the time after the ice age the site of Bricket Wood Common was wooded. It was not cleared until much later and the area became predominantly heathland and acid grassland. In 1935 the Rights to the Common were acquired by the Hon. Elsie Faulconer, a daughter of the 3rd Viscount Knutsford of Munden, and the family have held them since then. Today, the Common is designated a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’ (SSSI) for its ancient woodland and lowland heath and is host to a variety of flora and fauna, being a noted area for the recording of fungi and home to a number of butterfly species. Local residents and visitors alike are attracted to the Common to enjoy a relaxing walk away from the hubbub of everyday life and to appreciate the mixture of habitats that make the Common an SSSI.

Bricket Wood also has on its doorstep the River Ver – a globally rare chalk stream which supports a variety of wildlife and in the past sustained a thriving watercress industry. A range of walks and bridleways allows residents and visitors to appreciate the river and the surrounding countryside. 

The Edwardian station building is the only surviving steam-age building on the Watford to St Albans Branch Line. It became unstaffed in the late 1960s and, following a fire in the early 1970s, was bricked up and stood derelict for many years. A group of dedicated local residents joined together and formed the Bricket Wood Station Heritage Trust, with the aim of restoring the building as far as possible to its original design. In 2022, the Trust commenced restoration work with funding from London Northwestern Railway and the Railway Heritage Trust and the restored, award-winning building reopened in 2023 as the Bricket Wood Station Tea Room. This acts as a community hub for people to meet and, at other times, the building may be booked for community use.

The Bricket Wood Archive is held in a separate room in the station building and members of the Bricket Wood Society are available to assist local residents and visitors with any enquiries about the history of Bricket Wood and the surrounding area.

Village Life Today 

Today, the village of Bricket Wood reflects its layers of history:  cottages whose origins date from the 17th - 19th centuries, inter- and post-war housing, more recent housing developments and infill – all set against the backdrop of woodlands and the Common. 

The progressive changes that have occurred since the arrival of the railway in the mid-19th century have led to the modern village and the community as we know it today. Many of these changes are listed in a chronology of the development of Bricket Wood. 

Nigel Watson

The Bricket Wood Society

Acknowledgements: 

Thanks to Committee Members of the Bricket Wood Society for their contributions to the writing of this article.

Thanks also to those who have contributed material to the Bricket Wood Society Archive and to all members of the Bricket Wood Society, past and present, whose studies form the basis of this article and the extensive records held in the Archive. 

Photos are courtesy of the Bricket Wood Society Archive, unless otherwise stated. 

© The Bricket Wood Society 2026