Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, which follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree.
The village often lends its shorter name to businesses and amenities in the adjacent town of Borehamwood, and the names of Elstree and Borehamwood are used interchangeably. Elstree is perhaps best known for multiple Elstree Film Studio complexes, where many films were made, including BBC Elstree Centre, where the TV soap opera EastEnders is shot. This production centre is actually in Borehamwood.
The local newspaper is the Borehamwood and Elstree Times.Borehamwood and Elstree Times (Website). This was originally the Boreham Wood and Elstree Post, and before that, Boreham Wood & Elstree Local (see British Library record) Together with Borehamwood, the village is twinned with Offenburg in Germany, Fontenay-aux-Roses in France, and Huainan in China."The Borehamwood and Elstree Twin Town Association" website. Retrieved 22 September 2011
History
Etymology The name "Elstree" derives from the Anglo-Saxon phrase for "Tidwulf's Tree", which is mentioned as "Tidulfres treow" in an 11–12th-century manuscript of an A.D. 786 charter.George Salveson & Lyn Blackmore, "Excavations at Elstree Hill South, 1981 – 1983", Transactions of the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society, Volume 36, 1985. (Website)(Google Books snippet)John Field, "Discovering Place-Names: A Pocket Guide to Over 1500 Place-names in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales", Issue 102 of Shire Discovering, Publisher Osprey Publishing, 2008, , , 72 pages (page 23) It is thought that "the "T" [was] lost in the wrong division of 'aet Tidwulfes treo'Gover, J.E.B.; Mawer, A.; Stenton, F.M. eds., "The place-names of Hertfordshire", English Place-Name Society, 15 (1938) ("at Tidwulf's Tree")."
A reference to a place in Hertford as "Ilestre" in 1460 may also be a variation. entry number 6 in a membrane from the Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas: CP 40/799, with John Lyon as plaintiff, line 3, in Latin; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no799/aCP40no799fronts/IMG_0727.htm
In 1723, topographer John Norden noted in his book Speculum Britanniae, that in the county of Hartfordshire was one "Elstre or Eglestre".John Norden, Speculum Britanniæ: an historical and chorographical description of Middlesex and Hartfordshire, Published 1723 (page 5 (65)) In an earlier edition, he writes:Speculi Britan[n]iae pars the description of Hartfordshire by Iohn Norden., London, Printed by Thomas Dawson, 1598 (page 17) "ELSTREE n. 20. in OFFAES grant EAGLESTRE Nemus aquilinum: a place wherit may be thought Eagles bredd in time past, for though it be nowe hilly and heathy – it hath beene replenished with stately trees, fit for such fowle to breede and harbour in. It is parcell of the libertie of S. Albans. Nemus aquilinum is the Latin for "grove of eagles".
Robinson Crusoe author, Daniel Defoe wrote in his 1748 travel guide that: "Idlestrey or Elstre, is a Village on the Roman Watling-street, on the very Edge of Middlesex; but it is chiefly noted for its Situation, near Brockly-hill, by Stanmore, which affords a lovely View cross Middlesex, over the Thames, into Surry."Daniel Defoe, A tour through the whole island of Great Britain: Divided into circuits or journeys, Printed for S. Birt, T. Osborne, 1748. (page 175)
In 1811, topographer Daniel Lysons writes: "The name of this place has been variously written; — Eaglestree, Elstree, Ilstrye, Idlestrye, etc. Norden says that it is called, in Offa's grant to the Abbey of St. Alban's, Eaglestree, that is, says he, "Nemus aquilinum, a 'place where it may be thought that eagles bred in time past'." It has been derived also from Idel-street, i.e. the noble road; and Ill-street, the decayed road. May it not have been, rather, a corruption of Eald-street, the old road, i.e. the ancient Watling-street, upon which it is situated?"Daniel Lysons, The Environs of London: pt.1. Surrey. Volume 1, Part 2 of The Environs of London: Being an Historical Account of the Towns, Villages, and Hamlets, Within Twelve Miles of that Capital: Interspersed with Biographical Anecdotes, Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1811. (page 767)
5th century: Battle of Ailestreu (Elstree) In the 5th century, British warlord Vortigern and his two sons, Vortimer and Catigern, took part in the Battle of Elstree, then called the Battle of Ailestreu,Edw Stillingfleet, Origines Britannicae; or, the antiquities of the British churches. Publisher University Press, 1842, 582 pages (page 482) where the Saxon Horsa was killed. It's possible there is confusion with the Battle of Aylesbury. George Moberly writes:
"Nennius, MHB p. 69, calls the place of battle where Hors fell Episford; Britannicè 'Sathenegabail' = the Saxon battle. The Saxon Chronicle, ad a. 455, calls it Ægæles-threp, and Henry of Huntingdon, M.H.B. p. 708, Ailestreu. This would naturally be Elstree, of which name there is a place in Herts; but Beda's description of its situation has caused it rather to be referred to Aylesford in Kent, near which is a small village called Horsted."Venerabilis Baedae, George H. Moberly (ed.), Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, Historia abbatum, et Epistola ad Ecgberctum, cum Epistola Bonifacii ad Cudberthum; Publ. 1881 Oxonii: E Typographeo Clarendoniano (page 37)
16th–18th centuries The Manor of Elstree was formerly included in the Manor of Parkbury, and belonged to the Abbey of St. Albans. On the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it was granted by Henry VIII, to Anthony Denny (1501–1549).Daniel Lysons, The Environs of London: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent. Volume 4 of The Environs of London: Being an Historical Account of the Towns, Villages and Hamlets, Within Twelve Miles of that Capital, Publisher T. Cadell, 1796 (page 25)J. Britton and E. W. Brayley, The beauties of England and Wales; or, Delineations... of each county, Publ. 1808 (page 316)
In 1607, Anthony Denny's grandson Edward Denny sold part of the estate, with all manorial rights, to Robert Briscoe, who sold it the same year to Sir Baptist Hicks. Part of the estate became the Manor of Boreham, and was sold to Edward Beauchamp. It remained with the Beauchamp-Proctor family until 1748,"The twelve churches; or, tracings along the Watling Street", Publisher Rivingtons, 1860, 56 pages (page 40) when it was sold to James West, M.P. for St. Albans, who, in or about 1751, alienated it to a Mr Gulston of Widdial. Gulston then sold it to a Mr Pigfatt, a gunsmith, who, within a few years, conveyed it to Thomas Jemmet. In 1774, it was purchased from Mr Jemmet by the late George Byng, M.P. for Middlesex, who passed it on to his son, by which time the estate was called the Manor of Boreham.
In 1776, the House of Lords granted: "An Act for dividing and closing the Common or Waste Ground, called Boreham Wood Common, in the Parish of Elstree otherwise Idletree, in the County of Hertford."<Journals of the House of Lords, Volume 34, Publisher HMSO, 1774 (page 614)
In 1796, topographer Daniel Lysons writes: "The parish of Elstree contains about 3,000 acres of land, which is divided between arable and pasture nearly in an equal proportion. The soil is, for the most part, clay. Boreham Wood, a waste of nearly 700 acres, was inclosed about the year 1778, and is now in culture. This parish pays the sum of £151 11s 0d to the land-tax, which is raised by a rate of about 1s 9d in the pound".Daniel Lysons, The Environs of London: Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent. Volume 4 of The Environs of London: Being an Historical Account of the Towns, Villages, and Hamlets, Within Twelve Miles of that Capital, Publisher T. Cadell, 1796
Transport
Elstree and Borehamwood railway station
Elstree & Borehamwood railway station is on the Midland Main Line between London St Pancras and Bedford. It was built by the Midland Railway in 1868, and is located just north of the Elstree Tunnels.E. A. Labrum, Civil engineering heritage: Eastern and central England, Publisher Thomas Telford, 1994, , 9780727719706, 282 pages (page 197)
The area of Borehamwood to the west of the railway line, formally Deacon's Hill, is colloquially called Elstree even though it is not contiguous with the village. Elstree South Underground station was due to be an extension of the Northern line, planned in the 1930s, but never completed.
Road links The old A5 road (Watling Street) goes through Elstree village, where it is designated as the A5183 road. Through the village, the road is called (from south to north) Elstree Hill South, High Street and Elstree Hill North. The 18th century Grade II listed building, Elstree Hill House, is still on Elstree Hill South, and used to be the home of the old Elstree School (see Schools). In the early 1900s, it was noted that: ".. the hill roads are remarkably direct and seldom curve to avoid the steep pitch, and it has been suggested that the roads were originally slides for the timber which used to be sent to London for fuel."'Parishes: Elstree', A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2 (1908), pp. 349–351. Date accessed: 20 September 2011. Refers to "Middlesex and Herts Notes and Queries, ii, 190"
Elstree Aerodrome Elstree Aerodrome is licensed by the CAA and has a paved runway, suitable most for light aircraft and turbine powered G A aircraft. It also is one of the main helicopter centres for north London and is extending its provision in this area. In the early 1930s, it was a grass landing strip for the local Aldenham House country club.Richard Riding and Grant Peerless, Elstree Aerodrome: The Past in Pictures, The History Press Ltd (26 November 2003), , , 192 pages. (Back cover) A concrete runway was put down during World War II, and Wellington Bombers were modified here.John M. Houlder, C.B.E., "History of Elstree Aerodrome ", at Firecrest Aviation Ltd website. Retrieved 20 September 2011 After World War II the airfield was initially used to fly in converted Halifaxes stacked with food supplies to supplement the depleted British stocks; however, after an overloaded plane damaged the runway it was no longer used for this purpose.
On 29 November 1975, retired Formula One race car driver and Embassy Hill car owner Graham Hill and his racing driver Tony Brise were piloting a twin-engine six-seat Piper PA-23-250 Aztec (N6645Y) from France to London with four additional team members aboard. All six were killed when it crashed and burned in heavy fog on Arkley Golf Course, short of the runway.
London Transport works London Transport's Aldenham Works was sited on the edge of Elstree close to the A41; it was opened in 1956, closed in 1986, and demolished in 1996.Aldenham Bus Works to Close LRT News issue 316 6 June 1986 page 1 It is now a large business park.
Elstree Grange Originally a 19th-century steam ship owned by the Houlder Brothers,Report of the executive committee ... adopted at the annual meeting ..., Issue 15, Publ. Newport Chamber of Commerce (Newport, England), 1899 the town also lends its name to a series of ships called the Elstree Grange (rebuilt 1916, 1944, 1979),Marine news, Volume 54, World Ship Society, 2000 (page 578) at one time sunk during the Second World War.John Malcolm Slader, The fourth service: merchantmen at war, 1939–1945, Publisher Hale, 1994, , , 347 pages (page 41)
Buildings
Grade II listed buildings
Elstree is home to a number of Grade II listed buildings, including some at Grade II* (particularly important buildings), such as: Holly Bush public house (15th century) Aldenham House and stable block (c.1672) The Leys, built in 1901 by Scottish architect and designer, George Henry Walton.Hermann Muthesius, The English House, Volume 2, Publisher Frances Lincoln ltd, 2006, , , 768 pages (pages 188–190)