Bushey
Encyclopedia
Bushey is a town
in the Hertsmere
borough of Hertfordshire
in the East of England
. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow
.
, which describes a small agricultural village named 'Bissei' (which later became ‘Biss(h)e’ and then ‘Bisheye’ during the twelfth century). However, chance archaeological findings of Stone Age
tools provide evidence that the area was inhabited as far back as the Palaeolithic period. The town also has links to the Roman
occupation of Britain
, with the main road running through it being Roman; sites of possible Roman villas being unearthed in the area; and a Roman tessellated pavement was discovered near Chiltern Avenue.
The origin of the town’s name is not fully known. With the original name ‘Bissei’, an early theory in Reverend J.B. Johnstone’s book The Place-Names of England and Wales states that it may have meant ‘Byssa’s Isle’, and that it started life as a lake-village surrounded by marshes, streams and lakes. However, a more modern theory (albeit a less romantic one) is that it is simply derived from the Old English word bysce and Old French boisseie, meaning a ‘place covered with wood’. The latter theory could prove more apt, as the town is located on the border of the Chiltern Valleys, which were once covered in dense forests of oak, elm, ash, hazel and juniper.
Bushey Heath’s story begins in the Napoleonic War during a large food shortage. To help solve the problem, the government awarded the waste land to the east of Bushey to Bushey landowners to be used as farming; this land was more generally known as Bushey Common. It is doubtful that any of it was actually used to produce food due to the poor, clayey soil conditions, but being 500 feet above the sea and having beautiful and broad views was to give birth to the attractive neighbourhood we know today.
The 19th and 20th Centuries marked the time of most change in Bushey, especially between the years 1860 and 1960. The population rose 28-fold within 200 years, from 856 in 1801, to just under 24,000 today. This expansion was due to many reasons, one of the main ones being due to the boom in industry caused by the railway in the early 20th century. A result of this was that many new jobs were created in and around Watford
, and in the early 1920s, Bushey's first council houses were built. More housing was later built for the service families working in defence organisations in Stanmore
and Northwood. The expansion eventually died down, due to much of the land in and around Bushey being protected under the Metropolitan Green Belt
after the Second World War.
This same Metropolitan Green Belt
legislation was also partly responsible for the abandonment of the pre-war Edgware
to Bushey Heath
extension as part of the Northern Heights programme of the Northern Line
underground railway. The Metropolitan Green Belt
put great restrictions on new development, and the plan was to use the new railway to stimulate new housing around the new route; without the new housing the route was deemed no longer viable. However, as work was advanced at the onset of war the depot was completed for use as bomber manufacture, and following the Second World War] and Metropolitan Green Belt
coming into force it was converted into the Aldenham bus depot (of Cliff Richard
's Summer Holiday fame), which it remained until 1985, when it became derelict. It was redeveloped in 1996 and is now the Centennial Park industrial estate (51.639954°N 0.308561°W). Bushey Heath station
would have been located at the intersection of Elstree Road and Northwestern Avenue
(51.64245°N 0.3200°W). Conceptual plans existed in the 1903 Act of Parliament
for an Edgware
to Watford
railway that would have seen the railway extended at a later date though Bushey village and on to Watford market, though even less came of this than the partially completed Edgware
to Bushey Heath
stretch.
is said to be where the highwaymen lurked, ready to raid the dozen or so caravans that passed through Bushey Heath daily, carrying money from trade in London
. Before venturing through the pass, parties of travellers and merchants would form at the Boot Inn at Edgware
and The Three Crowns at Bushey Heath so they didn’t have to venture through the pass alone. Although one of the highwaymen responsible for the attacks is rumoured to have been the notorious Dick Turpin
, evidence suggests that he was in fact more active in the region of Essex
.
. It was subdivided by the Local Government Act 1894
into two: the part which was within the Watford
urban district became the 'Bushey Urban' parish, in the Watford Rural District
, and the part which was outside became 'Bushey Rural' parish. Subsequently, in 1906, the Bushey Urban parish was renamed Oxhey
, and the Bushey Rural parish became the parish of Bushey in the Bushey Urban District.
Despite being close to London and having Watford on its doorstep Bushey retains the feeling of a small town and this is reinforced with events such as the Bushey Festival and quarter marathon which is held each July and the Horticultural Society's flower and produce show.
Being located near several film studios at Elstree and Borehamwood
, Bushey and Bushey Heath frequently feature as backdrops for many film and TV shows. Most notable is a bus scene in the Cannon and Ball
film, and in the 1957 film Lucky Jim
. Several historic buildings in Bushey, notably the old Royal Masonic School for Boys
, later the International University, in The Avenue, have been used in films over a long period of time, including, Nuns on the Run
, Out of Bounds
, Children of Men
and Harry Potter
. and also the comedy series Little Britain
. It has also been the set for several television series, including Monty Python's Flying Circus
and Little Britain
. This site is currently being redeveloped for residential usage, with the 1960s additions to the site having been demolished.
Many of The Avengers
episodes include location shots around the Bushey area, and the latter half of the Confessions of a Driving Instructor
is entirely shot on the roads between Elstree and Bushey, finishing in the car dump at 'Bushey Breakers'.
The University of London, located in the Bushey area has been used in the filming of BBC's Grange Hill
and also for various other programmes, such as family business
. Students from local schools including Bushey Hall
and Bushey Meads
have taken part as extras in productions such as My Dad's the Prime Minister
.
Bushey Heath is known to nearby places for its duck pond (Warren Lake) which was restored in 1992 after falling into dereliction.
The state secondary schools are Queens' School
, Bushey Meads School
and Bushey Academy, of which the first two generally do well in comparison with other schools in the county.
Bushey is also the site of the famous Purcell School
, a school for young musicians well known for turning out many successful musicians.
It was formerly the Royal Caledonian School.
There are also two private girls schools, St. Hilda's School, Bushey
and St Margaret's School, Bushey
in the area.
who arrived in Bushey in 1874, and ended life in 1914 as Sir Hubert von Herkomer
RA
CVO
. Herkomer had visited a friend who lived in Bushey in 1873, fell in love with the nearby Bushey Village, then rented a pair of cottages and a studio near Melbourne Road. With his artistic talents, he founded Herkomer’s Art School at Bushey in 1883, which, in its 21 year life, attracted some 500 students to the area, some of whom stayed after establishing their own studios. Herkomer is sometimes referred to as 'having founded' Bushey, giving it an artistic reputation and leaving us with the many paintings by his pupils of past life in the town, a lot of which are on display in the Bushey Museum
. During his life Bushey became the world centre for the peculiarly British art of Watercolour. A street, Herkomer Road, is named in his honour.
At around 1888, he built Lululaund
(51.643908°N 0.36065°W), a ‘Bavarian castle’, which was named after his second wife Lulu Griffiths. Unfortunately, after being married only for a year, she died. Lululaund dominated the Bushey skyline until 1939 when it was demolished; although it is said that it was demolished in fear of the running cost, there is speculation as to whether it was destroyed in a fit of anti-German rage at the start of the Second World War. Only the brick arched portal and the ornamental rose garden remains today; a lot of the building was used as hardcore for Bovingdon Airfield
, and much of the grand carvings inside the castle were burnt. The inhabitants of Bushey have been bitter about the demolition of the castle ever since; not only is it a beautiful building lost, but it would have stood as a symbol of Bushey’s artistic past.
Sir Hubert is mainly remembered as an artist today, but in his time he was a polymath, becoming involved in some of the earliest film productions in Europe and starting a series of races and time trials for automobiles in Germany which at their time had the popularity of today's Formula One
races.
On Sir Hubert's death leadership of his Art School was taken over by Lucy Kemp-Welch
, who became famous for her paintings of horses. The last remnant of an artistic connection in the village is in fact a gallery named in her honour close to the village church. It is more usually used as a Village Hall today, but a recent exhibition there (September 2006) by students from the Chelsea College of Art holds promise that it may revive.
.
in Bavaria (Southern Germany) for its historical link. To Landsberg belonged the native village, Waal, of artist Herkomer detailed above. The towns retain links for mayoral duties and school exchange trips.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the Hertsmere
Hertsmere
Hertsmere is a local government district and borough in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other towns in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar.-History:...
borough of Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
in the East of England
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its...
. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow
London Borough of Harrow
The London Borough of Harrow is a London borough of north-west London. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and other London boroughs: Hillingdon to the west, Ealing to the south, Brent to the south-east and Barnet to the east.-History:...
.
History
The first written record of Bushey is an account in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, which describes a small agricultural village named 'Bissei' (which later became ‘Biss(h)e’ and then ‘Bisheye’ during the twelfth century). However, chance archaeological findings of Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
tools provide evidence that the area was inhabited as far back as the Palaeolithic period. The town also has links to the Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
occupation of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, with the main road running through it being Roman; sites of possible Roman villas being unearthed in the area; and a Roman tessellated pavement was discovered near Chiltern Avenue.
The origin of the town’s name is not fully known. With the original name ‘Bissei’, an early theory in Reverend J.B. Johnstone’s book The Place-Names of England and Wales states that it may have meant ‘Byssa’s Isle’, and that it started life as a lake-village surrounded by marshes, streams and lakes. However, a more modern theory (albeit a less romantic one) is that it is simply derived from the Old English word bysce and Old French boisseie, meaning a ‘place covered with wood’. The latter theory could prove more apt, as the town is located on the border of the Chiltern Valleys, which were once covered in dense forests of oak, elm, ash, hazel and juniper.
Bushey Heath’s story begins in the Napoleonic War during a large food shortage. To help solve the problem, the government awarded the waste land to the east of Bushey to Bushey landowners to be used as farming; this land was more generally known as Bushey Common. It is doubtful that any of it was actually used to produce food due to the poor, clayey soil conditions, but being 500 feet above the sea and having beautiful and broad views was to give birth to the attractive neighbourhood we know today.
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, and in the early 1920s, Bushey's first council houses were built. More housing was later built for the service families working in defence organisations in Stanmore
Stanmore
Stanmore is a suburban area of the London Borough of Harrow, in northwest London. It is situated northwest of Charing Cross. The area is home to Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, high.-Toponymy:...
and Northwood. The expansion eventually died down, due to much of the land in and around Bushey being protected under the Metropolitan Green Belt
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.-History:The...
after the Second World War.
This same Metropolitan Green Belt
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.-History:The...
legislation was also partly responsible for the abandonment of the pre-war Edgware
Edgware tube station
Edgware tube station is a London Underground station in Edgware, in the London Borough of Barnet, in North London. The station is the terminus of the Edgware branch of the Northern Line and the next station towards central London is . Edgware is in Travelcard Zone 5.-Location:The station is in...
to Bushey Heath
Bushey Heath tube station
Bushey Heath tube station was an unbuilt London Underground station in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire. The planned location of the station was at the junction of the A41 and A411 roads.-History:...
extension as part of the Northern Heights programme of the Northern Line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
underground railway. The Metropolitan Green Belt
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.-History:The...
put great restrictions on new development, and the plan was to use the new railway to stimulate new housing around the new route; without the new housing the route was deemed no longer viable. However, as work was advanced at the onset of war the depot was completed for use as bomber manufacture, and following the Second World War] and Metropolitan Green Belt
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.-History:The...
coming into force it was converted into the Aldenham bus depot (of Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
's Summer Holiday fame), which it remained until 1985, when it became derelict. It was redeveloped in 1996 and is now the Centennial Park industrial estate (51.639954°N 0.308561°W). Bushey Heath station
Bushey Heath tube station
Bushey Heath tube station was an unbuilt London Underground station in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire. The planned location of the station was at the junction of the A41 and A411 roads.-History:...
would have been located at the intersection of Elstree Road and Northwestern Avenue
A41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...
(51.64245°N 0.3200°W). Conceptual plans existed in the 1903 Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
for an Edgware
Edgware
Edgware is an area in London, situated north-northwest of Charing Cross. It forms part of both the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Harrow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
to Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
railway that would have seen the railway extended at a later date though Bushey village and on to Watford market, though even less came of this than the partially completed Edgware
Edgware tube station
Edgware tube station is a London Underground station in Edgware, in the London Borough of Barnet, in North London. The station is the terminus of the Edgware branch of the Northern Line and the next station towards central London is . Edgware is in Travelcard Zone 5.-Location:The station is in...
to Bushey Heath
Bushey Heath tube station
Bushey Heath tube station was an unbuilt London Underground station in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire. The planned location of the station was at the junction of the A41 and A411 roads.-History:...
stretch.
Stories, legends and folklore
The lack of farming in Bushey Heath meant that it was a heavily wooded area up to the 18th century, and this, added to the lack of street lighting and police, meant that Bushey Heath’s history is full of tales of thieves, highwaymen, and even murder. According to Grant Longman's Robberies on Bushey Heath, the road from Bushey Heath to StanmoreStanmore
Stanmore is a suburban area of the London Borough of Harrow, in northwest London. It is situated northwest of Charing Cross. The area is home to Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, high.-Toponymy:...
is said to be where the highwaymen lurked, ready to raid the dozen or so caravans that passed through Bushey Heath daily, carrying money from trade in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Before venturing through the pass, parties of travellers and merchants would form at the Boot Inn at Edgware
Edgware
Edgware is an area in London, situated north-northwest of Charing Cross. It forms part of both the London Borough of Barnet and the London Borough of Harrow. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
and The Three Crowns at Bushey Heath so they didn’t have to venture through the pass alone. Although one of the highwaymen responsible for the attacks is rumoured to have been the notorious Dick Turpin
Dick Turpin
Richard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher,...
, evidence suggests that he was in fact more active in the region of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
.
Local government
Bushey was an ancient parishCivil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
. It was subdivided by the Local Government Act 1894
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...
into two: the part which was within the Watford
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
urban district became the 'Bushey Urban' parish, in the Watford Rural District
Watford Rural District
Not to be confused with the Watford Rural civil parish.Watford was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It originally consisted of contiguous land to the west, north and east of Watford, which was a separate urban district...
, and the part which was outside became 'Bushey Rural' parish. Subsequently, in 1906, the Bushey Urban parish was renamed Oxhey
Oxhey
Oxhey is a suburb of the borough of Watford in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is located at and forms part of the Watford post town....
, and the Bushey Rural parish became the parish of Bushey in the Bushey Urban District.
Modern day
Being located near several film studios at Elstree and Borehamwood
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
, Bushey and Bushey Heath frequently feature as backdrops for many film and TV shows. Most notable is a bus scene in the Cannon and Ball
Cannon and Ball
Cannon and Ball are an English comedy double act consisting of Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball. The duo met in the early 1960s while working as welders in Oldham, Lancashire...
film, and in the 1957 film Lucky Jim
Lucky Jim
Lucky Jim is an academic satire written by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel, and won the Somerset Maugham Award for fiction...
. Several historic buildings in Bushey, notably the old Royal Masonic School for Boys
Royal Masonic School for Boys
The Royal Masonic School for Boys was an independent school for boys in England.From 1798 charities were set up for clothing and educating sons of needy Freemasons. They originally provided education by sending them to schools near to their homes...
, later the International University, in The Avenue, have been used in films over a long period of time, including, Nuns on the Run
Nuns on the Run
Nuns on the Run is a 1990 British comedy film starring Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane, also featuring Camille Coduri and Janet Suzman. It was written and directed by Jonathan Lynn and produced by HandMade Films. Many of the outdoor scenes were shot in Chiswick...
, Out of Bounds
Out of Bounds (2003 film)
Out of Bounds is a 2003 British psychological thriller starring Sophia Myles and Sophie Ward. It is the directorial debut of Merlin Ward, who also wrote the screenplay.-Plot:...
, Children of Men
Children of Men
Children of Men is a 2006 science fiction film loosely adapted from P. D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2027, two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Illegal immigrants seek sanctuary in England, where the last...
and Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
. and also the comedy series Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
. It has also been the set for several television series, including Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
and Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
. This site is currently being redeveloped for residential usage, with the 1960s additions to the site having been demolished.
Many of The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
episodes include location shots around the Bushey area, and the latter half of the Confessions of a Driving Instructor
Confessions of a Driving Instructor
Confessions of a Driving Instructor is a 1976 British sex-farce film. This was the third instalment of the Confessions sequence on the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based on the novels published under the name by Christopher Wood.-Premise:...
is entirely shot on the roads between Elstree and Bushey, finishing in the car dump at 'Bushey Breakers'.
The University of London, located in the Bushey area has been used in the filming of BBC's Grange Hill
Grange Hill
Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
and also for various other programmes, such as family business
Family business
A family business is a business in which one or more members of one or more families have a significant ownership interest and significant commitments toward the business’ overall well-being....
. Students from local schools including Bushey Hall
Bushey Hall School
The Bushey Academy is an academy in Bushey, Hertfordshire, UK, which opened in September 2009 to replace Bushey Hall School. The principal is Andy Hemmings, who joined Bushey Hall School in January 2009. The academy is co-sponsored by businessman David Meller and Sir John Lawes School in Harpenden...
and Bushey Meads
Bushey Meads School
Bushey Meads School is a foundation secondary school in Bushey, Hertfordshire, UK. The current head teacher is Mr Keith Douglas, B.A. Hons, M.A., who started as a new member of staff in the school in December 2005....
have taken part as extras in productions such as My Dad's the Prime Minister
My Dad's the Prime Minister
My Dad's the Prime Minister is a British sitcom written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman. It centres around the life of the Prime Minister, his family and his spin doctor...
.
Bushey Heath is known to nearby places for its duck pond (Warren Lake) which was restored in 1992 after falling into dereliction.
Schools
The area contains a mix of primary schools and linked infants and junior schools (see Schools in Bushey).The state secondary schools are Queens' School
Queens' School
Queens' School, near Watford, Hertfordshire, is a state funded secondary school.It is currently designated a Specialist Sports and Science College.-History:The story of Queens' begins with two schools in Watford in the early 20th century....
, Bushey Meads School
Bushey Meads School
Bushey Meads School is a foundation secondary school in Bushey, Hertfordshire, UK. The current head teacher is Mr Keith Douglas, B.A. Hons, M.A., who started as a new member of staff in the school in December 2005....
and Bushey Academy, of which the first two generally do well in comparison with other schools in the county.
Bushey is also the site of the famous Purcell School
Purcell School
The Purcell School is a specialist music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal in 2003, which was received on behalf of the school by Prince Charles, who...
, a school for young musicians well known for turning out many successful musicians.
It was formerly the Royal Caledonian School.
There are also two private girls schools, St. Hilda's School, Bushey
St. Hilda's School, Bushey
St Hilda's is an independent boarding school for girls aged 3 – 11 and boys aged 3–4 in Bushey, Hertfordshire, UK.-Notable alumni:* The daughters of Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.* Charlotte Rampling, actress....
and St Margaret's School, Bushey
St Margaret's School, Bushey
St Margaret's School is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 4–18 in Bushey, Hertfordshire.As well as day places for all age groups the school offers a range of flexible boarding options for both UK and international pupils from year 7 and is situated in of countryside...
in the area.
Herkomer’s Art School
A man who definitely deserves a mention in the history of Bushey was Hubert Herkomer, a poor immigrant from BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
who arrived in Bushey in 1874, and ended life in 1914 as Sir Hubert von Herkomer
Hubert von Herkomer
Sir Hubert von Herkomer , British painter of German descent. He was also a pioneering film-director and a composer. Though a very successful portraitist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered for his earlier works that took a realistic approach to the conditions of life of the poor...
RA
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
CVO
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
. Herkomer had visited a friend who lived in Bushey in 1873, fell in love with the nearby Bushey Village, then rented a pair of cottages and a studio near Melbourne Road. With his artistic talents, he founded Herkomer’s Art School at Bushey in 1883, which, in its 21 year life, attracted some 500 students to the area, some of whom stayed after establishing their own studios. Herkomer is sometimes referred to as 'having founded' Bushey, giving it an artistic reputation and leaving us with the many paintings by his pupils of past life in the town, a lot of which are on display in the Bushey Museum
Bushey Museum
Bushey Museum is in Bushey, Hertfordshire. It was officially opened as a volunteer-run museum in October 1993, having achieved Full Registration with the Museums and Galleries Commission...
. During his life Bushey became the world centre for the peculiarly British art of Watercolour. A street, Herkomer Road, is named in his honour.
At around 1888, he built Lululaund
Lululaund
Lululaund was the house of German-born British artist Hubert von Herkomer, in Bushey, Hertfordshire. It was designed in c.1886 and inhabited in 1894. Nevertheless von Herkomer wrote in the 1911 second volume of his autobiography :...
(51.643908°N 0.36065°W), a ‘Bavarian castle’, which was named after his second wife Lulu Griffiths. Unfortunately, after being married only for a year, she died. Lululaund dominated the Bushey skyline until 1939 when it was demolished; although it is said that it was demolished in fear of the running cost, there is speculation as to whether it was destroyed in a fit of anti-German rage at the start of the Second World War. Only the brick arched portal and the ornamental rose garden remains today; a lot of the building was used as hardcore for Bovingdon Airfield
RAF Bovingdon
RAF Bovingdon was a Royal Air Force station, located to the west of Bovingdon, two and a half miles south of Hemel Hempstead and two and a half miles south east of Berkhamsted, in Hertfordshire, UK....
, and much of the grand carvings inside the castle were burnt. The inhabitants of Bushey have been bitter about the demolition of the castle ever since; not only is it a beautiful building lost, but it would have stood as a symbol of Bushey’s artistic past.
Sir Hubert is mainly remembered as an artist today, but in his time he was a polymath, becoming involved in some of the earliest film productions in Europe and starting a series of races and time trials for automobiles in Germany which at their time had the popularity of today's Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
races.
On Sir Hubert's death leadership of his Art School was taken over by Lucy Kemp-Welch
Lucy Kemp-Welch
Lucy Kemp-Welch was a British painter who specialized in painting working horses. She is best known for her illustrations to the 1915 edition of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty...
, who became famous for her paintings of horses. The last remnant of an artistic connection in the village is in fact a gallery named in her honour close to the village church. It is more usually used as a Village Hall today, but a recent exhibition there (September 2006) by students from the Chelsea College of Art holds promise that it may revive.
Notable people
- R. D. BlackmoreR. D. BlackmoreRichard Doddridge Blackmore , referred to most commonly as R. D. Blackmore, was one of the most famous English novelists of the second half of the nineteenth century. Over the course of his career, Blackmore achieved a close following around the world...
, novelist, lived briefly in Bushey - Freddie BunceFreddie BunceFrederick Bunce, also known as Freddie or Frank Bunce was an English footballer. He played as a left winger in England and later South Africa...
, footballer - Dave CashDave Cash (disc jockey)Dave Cash is a veteran British radio presenter who works for BBC Radio Kent, having had previous spells at Radio London, BBC Radio 1, Capital Radio, Radio West , Country 1035 and PrimeTime Radio.-Radio career:Cash was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, U.K...
, disc jockeyDisc jockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, born in Bushey - Helen CherryHelen CherryHelen Cherry was an English stage and film actress.-Career:Helen Mary Cherry was born at Thurgarton, Worsley, Lancashire, the daughter of John William Cherry, a works manager then serving as a captain in the 45th Provisional Battalion, and his wife, Annie Nall.Educated in Harrogate, Helen Cherry...
, actor, born in Bushey - Peter CopleyPeter CopleyPeter Copley was a British television, film and stage actor.-Biography:Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain....
, actor, born in Bushey - John GaleJohn Gale (poker player)John Gale is an English professional poker based in Bushey, Hertfordshire.Gale is a relative newcomer to poker, having only begun playing Texas hold 'em in mid-2004. He first made a name for himself by qualifying for the World Poker Tour 2005 PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure tournament in The...
, poker player - Divina GalicaDivina GalicaDivina Mary Galica MBE is an English sportswoman, best known for her Olympics career and her motorsport racing career.-Skiing career:...
, skier and racing driver, born in Bushey Heath - Phil GilliesPhil GilliesPhilip Andrew Gillies is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1987 as a Progressive Conservative, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Frank Miller.Gillies was educated at Queenborough in Kent, England...
, Canadian politician, born in Bushey - Hubert von HerkomerHubert von HerkomerSir Hubert von Herkomer , British painter of German descent. He was also a pioneering film-director and a composer. Though a very successful portraitist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered for his earlier works that took a realistic approach to the conditions of life of the poor...
, artist, owner of LululaundLululaundLululaund was the house of German-born British artist Hubert von Herkomer, in Bushey, Hertfordshire. It was designed in c.1886 and inhabited in 1894. Nevertheless von Herkomer wrote in the 1911 second volume of his autobiography :... - Shirlie HollimanShirlie HollimanShirlie Holliman , is an English former pop singer, who found fame in the 1980s with Wham! and as part of the duo Pepsi & Shirlie....
, musician, of Pepsi & ShirliePepsi & ShirliePepsi & Shirlie were a British pop duo who released two albums, All Right Now in 1987 and Change in 1991.-Career:The act comprised Helen "Pepsi" DeMacque and Shirlie Holliman , who had been Wham! backing vocalists. Holliman's original singing partner, Dee C...
, attended Bushey Meads SchoolBushey Meads SchoolBushey Meads School is a foundation secondary school in Bushey, Hertfordshire, UK. The current head teacher is Mr Keith Douglas, B.A. Hons, M.A., who started as a new member of staff in the school in December 2005.... - Trevor HowardTrevor HowardTrevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...
, actor, lived in Bushey in later life until his death - Lucy Kemp-WelchLucy Kemp-WelchLucy Kemp-Welch was a British painter who specialized in painting working horses. She is best known for her illustrations to the 1915 edition of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty...
, artist - Simon Le BonSimon Le BonSimon John Charles Le Bon is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia.-Early life:...
, musician, Duran DuranDuran DuranDuran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, born in Bushey - A. E. MatthewsA. E. MatthewsA.E. Matthews OBE was an English actor who played numerous character roles on the stage and in film for eight decades, and who became known for his longevity.-Biography:...
, character actor, lived in Bushey until his death - George MichaelGeorge MichaelGeorge Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
, musician, attended Bushey Meads School - Dr Thomas Monro, Principal Physician of Bedlam and who attended on King George III in his last illness, settled his family here in the 19th century
- Tony O'MalleyTony O'Malley (musician)Tony O'Malley is a British composer, singer, arranger, and keyboard player. He was the keyboardist for Arrival who had a #8 UK hit with "Friends" in 1970, and the hit "I Will Survive", written and arranged by fellow Arrival member Frank Collins...
, musician, born in Bushey - Josef PerlJosef PerlJosef Perl is a Holocaust survivor who dedicated twenty years of his life to educating people about the Holocaust. He was born in Czechoslovakia and now lives in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England...
, Holocaust survivor, lives in Bushey - Sid PhillipsSid Phillips (musician)Isador Simon "Sid" Phillips was an English jazz clarinetist, bandleader, and arranger.Phillips learned violin and piano as a child, and played reeds in his teens as a member of his brother's European band. He got into the music business as a publisher and director for the Edison-Bell Gramophone...
, musician, band leader, lived in Bushey Heath - Simon PhillipsSimon PhillipsSimon Phillips is an English jazz, pop and rock drummer.-Career:Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar...
, musician, drummer TotoToto (band)Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...
, lived in Bushey Heath - Roy PlomleyRoy PlomleyFrancis Roy Plomley , OBE was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist.-Early life:Plomley was the son of a pharmacist and was educated at King's College School, Wimbledon...
, radio presenter, created Desert Island DiscsDesert Island DiscsDesert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...
whilst living in a cottage at Little Bushey Lane - Michael PortilloMichael PortilloMichael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
, journalist, broadcaster and former politician, born in Bushey - Mark RamprakashMark RamprakashMark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...
, cricketer, born in Bushey - William Hurst ReesWilliam Hurst ReesWilliam Hurst Rees was a leading British valuation surveyor, a Member of the Lands Tribunal from 1973 until his retirement in 1989...
, surveyor - Andrew RidgeleyAndrew RidgeleyAndrew John Ridgeley is an English former pop singer-songwriter, guitarist and environmentalist. Andrew was a member of the 1980s pop music duo Wham!.-Early life:...
, musician, Wham, attended Bushey Meads School - Michèle RobertsMichèle RobertsMichèle Brigitte Roberts is a British writer, novelist and poet. Roberts was the daughter of a French Catholic teacher mother and English Protestant father ; she has dual UK-France nationality.-Early life:She was raised in Edgware, Middlesex and educated at a convent, expecting to become a nun,...
, writer - Gilbert TaylorGilbert TaylorGilbert Taylor, B.S.C. , is a cinematographer.After six years service during World War II as an officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, he became an Operational Cameraman flying in Avro Lancaster bombers, documenting the damage after British bombing raids.He worked on a number of films...
, cinematographer, born in Bushey Heath - Henry WyldeHenry WyldeHenry Wylde was a conductor, composer, teacher and music critic.Henry Wylde was born at Bushey, Hertfordshire, the elder son of Henry Wylde and Martha Lucy née Paxton. His father, then the organist at St Mary's Watford, was himself a music teacher...
, conductor and musician
Notable places
Bushey was also home to Hillside Studios where various programmes were made including The Tube and Pob's ProgrammePob's Programme
Pob's Programme was a children's television programme, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 and BBC between October 1985 and 1990...
.
Twin town
Bushey has been twinned with German town Landsberg am LechLandsberg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech is a town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg am Lech....
in Bavaria (Southern Germany) for its historical link. To Landsberg belonged the native village, Waal, of artist Herkomer detailed above. The towns retain links for mayoral duties and school exchange trips.
See also
- Bushey railway stationBushey railway stationBushey railway station serves the towns of Bushey and Oxhey and is situated on the Watford DC Line, north of Harrow & Wealdstone. The station was renamed from "Bushey & Oxhey" to "Bushey" on 6 May 1974, even though it is actually sited in the neighbouring town of Oxhey, and the nearest part of...
- Bushey MuseumBushey MuseumBushey Museum is in Bushey, Hertfordshire. It was officially opened as a volunteer-run museum in October 1993, having achieved Full Registration with the Museums and Galleries Commission...
- Bushey Hall Golf ClubBushey Hall Golf ClubBushey Hall Golf Club, founded by Robert Stewart Clouston in 1889, is one of the oldest parkland golf courses in Hertfordshire. Originally opened as a nine hole course, it was extended to the full 18 holes by 1893 and is now a 6,005 yard course....
- RAF Bushey HallRAF Bushey HallRAF Bushey Hall is a former World War II non-flying facility in England. It was established at a private golf club and was used as a headquarters facility for the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom. It was situated close to its Royal Air Force counterpart at RAF...