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| Bushey | |
|---|---|
 Bushey High Street in 2005 | |
  Bushey Location withinHertfordshire | |
| Population | 28,416 (2021 census, built-up area)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ132952 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bushey |
| Postcode district | WD23 |
| Dialling code | 020, 01923 |
| Police | Hertfordshire |
| Fire | Hertfordshire |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Bushey is a town in theHertsmere borough ofHertfordshire in theEast 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 in Hertsmere.Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with theLondon Borough of Harrow reaching elevations of 165 metres (541 ft) above sea level.[2]
Bushey is first attested in theDomesday Book of 1086 in the formBissei. Although there has been some debate,[3] modern, scholarly commentary has concluded that the name originated as acompound of theOld English wordsbysc ('bush, thicket') andhæg ('enclosure'). Thus it once meant 'enclosure made of bushes'.[4]
The first written record of Bushey is its entry in theDomesday Book of 1086, which describes a small agricultural village named 'Bissei' (which later became 'Biss(h)e' and then 'Bisheye' during the 12th century). However, chance archaeological findings ofStone Age tools provide evidence that the area was inhabited as far back as thePalaeolithic period. The town also has links to theRoman 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.[5]
Bushey Heath's story begins in theNapoleonic Wars 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; the land was more generally known as Bushey Common. Whilst the original aim was to produce food, being close to a railway and up to 500 ft above sea level with beautiful and broad views made the area attractive for housing developers.
The 19th and 20th centuries marked the time of most change in Bushey, especially between 1860 and 1960. The population rose 28-fold within 200 years, from 856 in 1801, to just under 24,000 today. The expansion was for 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 was that many new jobs were created in and aroundWatford, 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 inStanmore andNorthwood. The expansion eventually died down because much of the land in and around Bushey was protected under theMetropolitan Green Belt after theSecond World War.
This same Green Belt legislation was also partly responsible for the abandonment of the pre-warEdgware toBushey Heath extension as part of theNorthern Heights programme of theNorthern line underground railway. TheMetropolitan Green Belt put great restrictions on new development, and the plan had been 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 Green Belt coming into force, it was converted into theAldenham bus depot (ofCliff Richard'sSummer 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°38′24″N0°18′31″W / 51.639954°N 0.308561°W /51.639954; -0.308561).Bushey Heath station would have been located at the intersection of Elstree Road andNorthwestern Avenue (51°38′33″N0°19′12″W / 51.64245°N 0.3200°W /51.64245; -0.3200). Conceptual plans existed in the 1903Act of Parliament for anEdgware toWatford railway that would have seen the railway extended at a later date though Bushey village and on to Watford market, but even less came of that than the partially completedEdgware toBushey Heath stretch. In the 1830s, theLondon and Birmingham Railway cut through the area between London and Watford though it did not initially serve Bushey. The railway passes to the north west of the town and crossesBushey Arches Viaduct, an original feature dating from 1837.[6]
The highest point in the historic county ofMiddlesex was in Bushey Heath on the border between Hertfordshire and Middlesex at the junction of the A4140 and the A409. At 153 m (502 ft) above sea level, the grid reference was TQ 152937.
The lack of farming in Bushey Heath meant that it was a heavily wooded area up to the 18th century; 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'sRobberies on Bushey Heath, the road from Bushey Heath toStanmore 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 theBoot Inn atEdgware and theThree Crowns at Bushey Heath so they did not have to venture through the pass alone. Although one of the highwaymen responsible for the attacks is rumoured to have been the notoriousDick Turpin, evidence suggests that he was in fact more active in the region ofEssex.
Bushey has two tiers of local government, at district and county level:Hertsmere Borough Council andHertfordshire County Council. There is no parish or town council in Bushey, which has been anunparished area since 1974.
| Bushey | |
|---|---|
| Urban District | |
 Council offices, Rudolph Road, Bushey | |
| Population | |
| • 1911 | 6,978 |
| • 1971 | 22,830[7] |
| History | |
| • Created | 1 April 1906 |
| • Abolished | 31 March 1974 |
| • Succeeded by | Hertsmere |
| • HQ | Council Offices, Rudolph Road, Bushey |
| Contained within | |
| • County Council | Hertfordshire |
Historically, Bushey was a parish in thehundred ofDacorum.[8] Bushey was included in theWatfordPoor Law Union from 1835.[9] When the WatfordLocal Board of Health was established in 1850, its territory included a part of the parish of Bushey where the urban area of Watford crossed the parish boundary.[10] Under theLocal Government Act 1894 the Watford Local Board became WatfordUrban District, and parishes that straddled urban district boundaries were divided. Bushey parish was therefore split with effect from 4 December 1894 into two parishes: "Bushey Urban" for the part of the parish within Watford Urban District and "Bushey Rural" for the remainder. Bushey Urban did not have its own parish council, being governed directly by Watford Urban District Council. Bushey Rural Parish Council held its first meeting on 2 January 1895 at Merry Hill School, with Edward Fithian being appointed the first chairman of the parish council.[11] The parish of Bushey Rural was included in theWatford Rural District.
On 1 April 1906 the parish of Bushey Rural was renamed "Bushey" and was made an urban district, independent of the Watford Rural District. To avoid confusion, the separate parish of "Bushey Urban" within Watford Urban District was renamed "Oxhey" on the same day.[7] The first meeting of Bushey Urban District Council was held on 16 April 1906 at Merry Hill School, with Richard Prowse being appointed the first chairman.[12] The council built itself new offices and a fire station on Rudolph Road in Bushey, which were completed in 1909.[13]
Bushey Urban District was abolished under theLocal Government Act 1972, becoming part of thedistrict ofHertsmere on 1 April 1974. Nosuccessor parish was created for Bushey, and so it became an unparished area. The council's former offices on Rudolph Road later becameBushey Museum & Art Gallery.
Local events include theBushey Festival and quarter marathon, held each July, and the Horticultural Society's flower and produce show.
Being located near several filmstudios 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 theCannon and Ball film[clarification needed], and in the 1957 filmLucky Jim. Several historic buildings in Bushey, notably the oldRoyal Masonic School for Boys, later the International University, in the Avenue, have been used in films over a long period of time, includingNuns on the Run,Out of Bounds,Children of Men andHarry Potter. It has also been the set for several television comedy series, includingMonty Python's Flying Circus andLittle Britain. This site is currently[when?] being redeveloped for residential usage, with the 1960s additions to the site having been demolished.
Many ofThe Avengers episodes include location shots around the Bushey area, and the latter half of theConfessions of a Driving Instructor is entirely shot on the roads between Elstree and Bushey, finishing in the car dump at 'Bushey Breakers'.
Pupils from local schools includingBushey Hall andBushey Meads have taken part as extras in productions such asMy Dad's the Prime Minister.
Warren Lake, a duck pond on Bushey Heath, was restored in 1992 after falling into a poor state of repair.
In 2021, Jews formed a plurality of the population in Bushey Heath ward. A majority (192 of 342) of those who came under 'Other' wereJains.
| Area | All people | Christian (%) | Buddhist (%) | Hindu (%) | Jewish (%) | Muslim (%) | Sikh (%) | Other (%) | No religion (%) | Not stated (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 56,490,048 | 46.3 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 6.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 36.7 | 6.0 |
| Bushey | 28,416 | 37.44 | 0.55 | 7.69 | 19.68 | 4.25 | 0.39 | 1.20 | 22.43 | 6.36 |
The area contains a mix of primary schools and linked infants and junior schools (seeschools in Bushey).
The state secondary schools areQueens' School,Bushey Meads School andThe Grange Academy, of which the first two generally do well in comparison with other schools in the county. Bushey is also the site of the famousPurcell School, a school for young musicians well known for turning out many successful musicians. It was formerly theRoyal Caledonian School. There are also two private girls' schools, St. Hilda's andSt Margaret's in the area.
Hubert Herkomer was a poor immigrant fromBavaria, who grew up in Southampton and studied art in London before moving to Bushey in 1874. His painting and portraits earned him fame and fortune, and he died in 1914 asSir Hubert von HerkomerRACVO. Herkomer had visited a friend who lived in Bushey in 1873, and returned to rent a pair of cottages and a studio near Melbourne Road. He founded Herkomer's Art School at Bushey in 1883, which, in its 21-year life, attracted some 500 students to the area, including the miniaturistElsie Higgins. Some of those students stayed after establishing their own studios. Their paintings are on display in theBushey Museum. A street, Herkomer Road, was named in his memory.
At around 1888, he builtLululaund (51°38′38″N0°21′38″W / 51.643908°N 0.36065°W /51.643908; -0.36065), a 'Bavarian castle', which was named after his second wife Lulu Griffiths. After being married for only a year she died. Lululaund dominated the Bushey skyline until 1939 when it was almost entirely demolished; a lot of the building was used as hardcore forBovingdon Airfield, and much of the woodwork and carvings from the castle were burnt.
In 2014 the surviving remnant of Lululaund was converted into luxury apartments.[14][15]
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 cars in Germany.
In 1904 Herkomer closed his school and sold the building. The school was re-opened in 1905 on the same site by the artistLucy Kemp-Welch as the Bushey School of Painting. In 1912 Herkomer bought back the school building and demolished it. Arose garden was laid out on the site to a design byT.H. Mawson.[16] It is listed grade II on theRegister of Parks and Gardens.[17]
There is a gallery named after Kemp-Welch close to the village church. It is more usually used as a village hall today, with occasional exhibitions such as one in September 2006 by students from theChelsea College of Art.
Bushey Film Studios in Melbourne Road were originally built by Hubert Herkomer and operated between 1913 and 1985. For much of its existence the studios focused on low-budget productions.
There are twoJewish cemeteries, Old and New Cemeteries, both active, serving the north-west London Jewish communities.[18] In 2018 an extension was built to provide for 50 further years of interment covering 16 acres (6.5 ha) of new landscaping and including prayer halls, offices and mortuary.[19]
Bushey has been twinned with German townLandsberg 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.
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