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Large Houses in Aldenham Aldenham House |
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Aldenham House Aldenham House, formerly called "Wigbournes," the seat of Lord Aldenham, is a spacious mansion of red brick, erected about the end of the 17th century, and standing in a park of about 200 acres; to the right of the house is a lofty clock tower with vane. [Kelly's Directory, 1912] There is a detailed description of the house in Pevsner's Hertfordshire. |
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Aldenham House is now the home of the Haberdashers' Aske School. |
Tykeswater runs from Aldenham Reservoir, which is said to have been built by French POWs in the Napoleonic Wars. It runs towards Radlett through the grounds of Aldenham House, where the Lord Aldenham of the time created Tykeswater Lakes with a very fine, and ornate, bridge on his drive to the Lodge at Alum Lane. All of the gardens were rated as high as Kew Gardens until the rare shrubs and trees were sold by auction on the death of Vicary Gibbs (Lord Aldenham) in 1932. The BBC took over the estate in 1941 and the gardens were allowed to go wild - but there is still evidence of the original design (see Don Wratten's book for this story). For us the lakes and the bridge are a beautiful relic of the past. [Aldenham Parish Council Guide, 2000] |
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Aldenham House In 1906 the house was occupied by Henry Hucks Gibbs, first Baron Aldenham (1819-1907), who, among many other things restored the church at Aldenham and help to restore St Albans Abbey. (See Dictionary of National Biography) He was succeeded by his son Alban George Henry Gibbs, second Baron Aldenham, |
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Page updated January 2009
