THE HOUSE
Location
Danesbury House and the Danesbury Park estate is to the North of Welwyn Village in Hertfordshire, UK, about 40 kms North of London
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Background reading
A definitive account of the history of Danesbury has been researched by local historian Gordon Longmead in his book: The History of Danesbury, the House and its Lands¹ which should be required reading for any student of the history of Danesbury.
Gordon’s book provides a fascinating and detailed account of the peoples who lived in and around Danesbury in the pre-Roman period, long before the House was built in 1776, and chronicles its subsequent transitions of ownership and family residency, its use through two World Wars, its ultimate use as a long stay Hospital in the grounds of which Welwyn village used to hold annual Summer Fetes, to the present time when after a period of dereliction, it has been restored and converted to apartments, with Mews Houses at the rear where hospital wards used to be sited.
Danesbury House was originally named St Johns Lodge, and was built in 1776 for Mary St John the wife of Captain the Hon. Henry St John RN. He was later killed at sea in action against the French in 1780, and Mary died in 1784.
William Blake FRS and his wife Mary rented the house in 1819 for their out of town residence (when in London they lived in Portland Place) and finally they bought St John’s Lodge at Christmas 1824, and renamed it Danesbury House. William Blake was a banker and water colourist.
At that time the estate comprised some 500 acres of countryside.
The House itself suffered a catastrophic fire in 1916 requiring a major structural rebuild ² but it has remained largely unaltered since then.
In 1964 some of Danesbury Park land was sold to developers who built the Danesbury Housing Estate, which was further extended in 1985. At this later time, in 1985, the remaining land on Danesbury Park, (some 32 acres) was acquired by the (then) Welwyn Hatfield District Council for agricultural purposes.
In 1993, facing the costs of major buildings repair, Danesbury Hospital moved out to new premises on the land of the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in School Lane, Welwyn. Danesbury House then became derelict until 1998, when it was restored and developed into apartments, with mews houses at the rear where the Hospital wards had once been sited.
In 1998 the land which had been acquired by the (now) Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council was designated a Local Nature Reserve, comprising two main fields: the ‘Park Field’ in the West from the B656 Codicote Road, to the (North Ride) entrance to Danesbury House, and the ‘Fernery Field’, or simply ‘The Motorway Field’, to the East from Danesbury House and Danesbury Park Road to the A1(M) Motorway.
THE FAMILIES
The Blakes were the third owners of Danesbury, and it was William John Blake, son of William Blake, who in 1859 directed their Head Gardener, Anthony Parsons, to build a Fernery. It was completed in 1860 and later gained wide acclaim.
The Blakes moved out of Danesbury in 1902 and, after renting it out, eventually sold the house in 1919 to the Dewar family. The Dewars were destined to be the last family to live there.
The Dewars moved out in 1937 and in 1939 the House became a TB Hospital. Danesbury Park itself was requisitioned by the Army in 1943 and operated as a Command Bakery run by the Royal Army Service Corps.
In 1944 the Dewars sold the estate to the Barnet (Hospital) Management Group and the House became home for long stay hospital patients.
¹ Published in 1999 by New Concept Publishing, Welwyn
² The History of Danesbury, the House and its Lands, p. 17.
³ The Gardeners’ Chronicle 1881, January 1st, p.22
I can confirm that my grandparents Michael and Dorothy Dewar, who owned Danesbury, had no connection to the Scotch Whisky family.
Their money came from her father’s Yorkshire textile mills, being she was the only child.
I request you remove the Scotch Whisky comment.
Thanks
Dear Mr Dewar. Thank you for pointing out the error and, with apologies, we have removed the reference as requested. We had made the mistake of repeating a quote from an earlier local publication on the false assumption that it would have been supported by evidence.
Having done a little more research myself now, would you object if added that Michael Bruce Urquart Dewar OBE was an eminent engineer and industrialist? This would add to general interest in Danesbury’s early ownership, and researchers could learn very much more about Michael Dewar’s work and career from other sources.
Whilst writing, might I ask if anybody in your family has early records of life at Danesbury? We are lacking any family records or photographs of the families who lived there; we have no photographs of the Blakes who commissioned the Fernery in 1859/60. It would add enormously to local interest value if we could include a photo of the Dewar family at Danesbury if such exists. I have heard stories that Michael Dewar built the first golf course at Danesbury – is this true and are there any plans of the design? I have heard stories that boys (not girls!) could earn half a crown caddying for players? I also recall stories that Mrs Dorothy Dewar was very generous to children in the village and arranged games for them at Danesbury. Is it true that she organised a football team? Was it the Dewars who built a cricket square and pavilion at Danesbury? Do you have any tales relating to the arrival of the military when Danesbury was sold and then requisitioned in WW2? Do you have a published Family History that we could provide a link to, and perhaps publish a potted social history of the Dewars’ lives at Danesbury on our website under the Research heading.
I will be pleased to hear from you.
With thanks and best wishes,
John Roper
Chair of the Friends of Danesbury Nature Reserve/Fernery, and editor of the website.