Carpenders Park is a suburb of

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in the

Watford Rural Watford Rural is a civil parish in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is an urbanised parish characterised by suburban residenti ...

parish of the Three Rivers district of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is located in the south western corner of

and close to the boundary with

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

. It is bounded to the West by a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

that separates it from

South Oxhey South Oxhey is an estate in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers (district), Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. At th ...

, to the East by the

A4008 The A4008 is a local road in south east England. Route It starts at Hatch End in the London Borough of Harrow at a roundabout on the A410. It runs North from the roundabout and is known as Oxhey Lane. After it passes over the route of the G ...

to Harrow Road (Oxhey Lane), to the South by the B4542 (Little Oxhey Lane), Green Belt and the boundary with the

London Borough of Harrow The London Borough of Harrow () is a London boroughs, London borough in northwest London, England; it forms part of Outer London. It borders four other London boroughs London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the east of ancient Watling Street, Watl ...

and to the North by woodland (Margeholes Wood and Sherwood Wood).

History

Carpenders Park was originally an estate based around a manor house of the same name. This was later a girls school, Highfields, which was demolished in 1960 to make way for

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

married quarters. These were in turn demolished in 1997/98. The base was also known as Highfields. The houses and bungalows of Carpenders Park were originally built in the 1930s. There was subsequent development in the 1950s including some council housing built for the Watford Rural District Council. The vast majority of the dwellings, though, are privately owned. The estate was significantly enlarged in the late 1960s. Many of these later houses have flat roofs. The area gained some notoriety as the fictional ''Plummers Park'', the setting for

Leslie Thomas Leslie Thomas, OBE (22 March 1931 – 6 May 2014) was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel ''The Virgin Soldiers''. Early life Thomas was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. His parents were David James Thomas and Dorothy Hilda ...

' 1970s novel ''

Tropic of Ruislip Tropic of Ruislip is a 1974 novel by British author Leslie Thomas. It explores the British class system, British class divide and themes such as wife swapping. The title refers to Ruislip, one of London's outer suburbs, but the book is set in an ...

'', which had

wife swapping Swinging (earlier commonly known as, wife-swapping, husband-swapping, or partner-swapping) is a sexual activity in which both singles and partners in a committed relationship sexually engage with others for recreational purposes. Swinging is a f ...

as one of its themes.

Local facilities

Carpenders Park railway station Carpenders Park is a London Overground station on the Lioness line, located between the Hertfordshire suburb of Carpenders Park and the South Oxhey housing estate, south of Watford Junction Watford Junction is a railway station serving the ...

Attenborough Doctors' Surgery
Harrow Way *Carpenders Park Community Hall, next to the station *Post office and shops on Delta Gain *Fish & chip shop Other facilities may be found in

Carpenders Park Cemetery

Carpenders Park

Lawn Cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many dead people are buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ) implies tha ...

is owned and operated by the

London Borough of Brent Brent () is a London boroughs, borough in north-west London, England. It is known for landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London, Swaminarayan Temple and the Kiln Theatre. It also contains the Brent Reservoir, W ...

. It was opened in 1954. The Hartsbourne stream meanders through fourteen acres of mature woodland - the key feature of the cemetery - and there is a small lake. Brent has provided an area in the cemetery for the Muslim community since 1980. The cemetery is a lawn type cemetery which means there are no upright memorials allowed, only approved bronze resin plaques set into the ground.

Education

St Meryl Primary School
(the name is derived from that of the wife of the builder, not from any religious affiliation) *Woodhall School (in

but serves the area) *There are no secondary schools; the nearest are located in nearby

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It had a population of 25,328 in the 2011 census, rising to 28,416 in the 2021 census, an increase of 12.19%. This makes Bushey the second most populated town ...

Religion

Carpenders Park Spiritualist ChurchCarpenders Park Church
* Carpenders Park is in the Church of England Parish of All Saints', Oxhey and is served by the Parish Church of All Saints' in neighbouring South Oxhey.Website for All Saints Church, Oxhey
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External links

Neighbourhood policing strategyCarpenders Park Horticultural SocietyLondon Borough of Brent Carpenders Park Cemetery Carpenders Park Residents' Association

References

{{reflist Three Rivers District