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A History of Preston in Hertfordshire
Preston housing and the national picture
The change to Preston’s social landscape from 1945
This article continues the examination of Preston’s housing from 1911 to 2025. (Link: Housing)
It examines the social change which followed the increase in high-cost homes which were built in
the village from the end of the second world war and its effect on Preston.
A local news article in 1970 is instructive about Preston’s housing after the 1950s. It featured the
Blanchards of Rose Cottage, Chequers Lane. The reporter observed that they were ‘one of the first
infusions of new blood into a village where your neighbour was probably your cousin and the school
teacher, your aunt.’ Of their home, Rose Cottage, he commented ‘its cash value has rocketed since
the war’. Frederick Blanchard: ‘Preston's a very nice place to live — if you can afford it’.
The article continued, ‘Situated three miles south of Hitchin, the village has not been engulfed in urban
sprawl. Nor is it likely to be for many years. Helpful development has to take place within the existing
boundary surrounded as it is by Green Belt. While this helps to retain Preston's character, it has
presented problems. Younger villagers have to move out when they marry unless they can afford to
buy one of the few houses for sale. Slowly, the proportion of children among Preston's estimated 500
population has dropped.’
How national housing policy affected Preston’s housing
After WW1 the UK government was lobbied by many departments who were desperate to repair the
ravages wreaked on the nation.
A robust housing programme was a priority. Men returning from the battlefields needed a place to live;
Londoners were leaving the capitol in droves and there had been little new building during wartime.
There was a housing shortage of 600,000 homes - a quarter of these were needed in rural areas. In
addition, the Minister for Heath warned of a TB epidemic because of the nation’s insanitary housing
problems. However, despite the known need there were obstacles. Money was tight; building supplies
(such as timber) were limited and the war had claimed the lives of countless tradesmen.
Parliament’s answer was to pass new legislation. The Tudor Walters Report (1918) recommended
new design standards which demanded space, light and modern amenities. These were a far cry from
the conditions found in the hovels of many a country village, including Preston.
The impact of the Housing Act (1919) filtered down even to Preston. Hitchin’s Housing and Town
Planning department announced the building of 1,073 council houses at an average cost of £900
each. A ‘new garden city’ of 600 homes was set aside for Letchworth.
Local rural villages were not forgotten - Ippollitts was allocated fifty-six new homes; Kings Walden,
twenty, St Pauls Walden (including Whitwell), thirty two and Preston, twelve. Out of all the villages, six
were assigned priority. They included Preston. The plan was implemented! A dozen new council
houses were earmarked for Preston at Chequers Lane.
Six of the new council houses at Chequers Lane, Preston in the late 1920s
The new homes conformed to many of the Tudor Walters recommendations such as low density,
wider frontages and being grouped around open space. As they backed onto Preston’s cricket
ground, it’s hard to imagine a better outlook.
Preston’s social landscape in 1939
It may come as a surprise for many to know that less than ninety years ago, Preston as a whole was
still home mainly to the lower classes.
The 1939 Register provides a snapshot of the house names, and the ages and occupations of all the
parish’s residents. Here we are using a common class classification of A, B, C1, C2, D and E. A/B
includes to individuals in higher and intermediate managerial, administrative, or professional
occupations. The C1 category includes skilled people who are possibly in white-collar occupations with
some qualifications; D, folk in semi-skilled jobs and E, labourers, gardeners and others on low incomes.
In 1939, there were 311 people living in Preston parish. This includes fifty-one children whose details
were redacted and adults and children who has already evacuated to Preston as WW2 had begun.
There were seventy-seven homes. 120 villagers were in paid work.
If one excludes the staff at Princess Helena College, there were probably five workers in the higher
classes of A /B. Slightly more than half Preston’s work force, sixty-one, may be are classed as D/E.
The remainder, around a half were in skilled or semi-skilled jobs. The list can be viewed at this link:
1939 Register
To understand what happened, once again the nation-wide housing picture should be considered. Just
as Preston benefited from the 1919 Housing Act, so the parish housing was moulded by the economic
climate of the nation.
From 1945, successive governments firstly had to clear the widespread and devastating effects of
German bombing missions. For many years there were gaping, nettle-infested bomb craters in my
home town of Portsmouth. In one road in a residential area where we lived which was some miles
from the bombing target of the Dockyard, a landmine took out a dozen houses. This destruction took
around ten years to rebuild.
Then, there was the national priority of slum clearance. Urban re-generation took precedence over
council homes in rural villages. Preston had to be satisfied with, and grateful for, its ten Swedish
Houses along Chequers Lane. Possibly the new housing which replaced tumble-down cottages in the
village after 1911 reduced the need for later social housing.
Small, parochial builders like the Wallers played a crucial part in the development of rural housing
across England after 1945. It was they who had the local knowledge and connections. They typically
constructed houses at a modest rate - just one or two houses at a time.
In Hertfordshire, The Town and Country Planning Act (1947) introduced planning controls which
constrained development in country villages like Preston. It limited inappropriate development both
within the ‘Green Belt’ and in the rural area beyond the Belt. As a result larger building firms found it
difficult to undertake significant housing projects in villages which left the door open for established
builders who understood the local planning environment. Planning policies also affected the
availability of suitable land for development; land prices increased as did competition for appropriate
sites. All in all it was a ‘golden confluence’ for the Wallers.
The influx of more affluent residents has changed the character of Preston - a pattern which can be
seen in many rural communities near London.
The social picture of the village changed
gradually after WW2. It might be argued that
this transformation was driven by the activity of
Bert and Dennis Waller who, for around thirty
years, built only high-cost detached houses
and homes around Preston. These were
intended for occupation by the middle classes
because they were more likely to be able to
afford them - but the Wallers had no agenda to
change the social face of the village. The
Hollies at Church Lane, Preston cost £3,500 in
the mid-1950s. At that time the average annual
wage for a farm labourer was roughly £560.
Bert (standing) and Dennis and family (1988)
A view of some of the houses built by the Wallers along Butchers Lane, Preston
By 2021, Preston parish had a population of 425 - an increase of 114 people since 1939 (37%)
although that figure may be inflated a little by evacuees as WW2 had just begun.
There were 187 homes in the parish - an increase of 143% in the eighty-two years since 1939 when
there were 77 homes including Princess Helena College and Poynders End. The number of
occupants to homes in 1939 was four; in 2021, it was 2.3.
Preston’s proportion of class A/B to the rest of the village is conservatively estimated at 45 - 50%,
which is roughly double the national rate and 10 - 15% above the district figure. This figure has been
extrapolated from, firstly, information provided by the 2017 parish survey which found 63% of working
adults were in occupations matching the A/B criteria (although, retired folk were not included in that
figure by definition). Secondly, the number of detached newly-built houses marketed over £850K
between 2023-25, although it does not necessarily follow that purchasers were in the A/B class.
From personal knowledge and experience, perhaps the number of A/B households is higher than the
estimate. It is understood that there is a degree of guesswork in these conclusions, but probably most
would not contest them. The point of this is to establish the fact of the change in Preston’s socio-
economic landscape between 1945 and 2025 - and then to examine the effect of this on the village.
Preston’s social landscape in 2021
Analysing the effects of the change in the social composition of the village between 1945 and 2025
Reference has already been made to a news article of 1970 which featured Preston. In it, Preston
School headmaster, Mr Orchard, declared, ‘During that time (seventeen years) I can honestly say the
people here have been friendly, kind and helpful. If you want to make friends you will find them here.’
The article also noted, ‘Friction in the village between older inhabitants and newcomers is not
pronounced - but it’s there’. ‘There’s no real hostility towards us, its more a subject of conversation’,
said one newcomer. “‘All the old ones have died. We don’t seem to know many people now’, said
Mrs Annie Currell who has lived in the village for more than fifty years.”
Perhaps Mrs Currell makes an important point. Today there are few folk living at Preston who have
family roots in the village. One - perhaps two. So, any antipathy towards the ‘A/B population’ cannot
be reasonably based on the fact that they are interlopers because the rest of the village are also
relative newcomers.
The generally high-cost, new estates of Sadlers End and Chiltern View and their effect on the space
in the village may be issues. However, it is too soon to know how well their occupants integrate into
the village. The same is true of the large influx of people anticipated at Temple Dinsley.
Now, a tale to illustrate how an A/B newcomer to Preston who lived in a detached house made an
impact for the better on the village.
Harry and Nora Holdsworth fell in love with Preston and moved there with a young family. Harry
attended a Preston parish meeting in the mid to late 1950s. The ‘Best Kept Village’ competition
(small class) was discussed. Preston had entered the competition in previous years without success
and the general feeling was that the village should not be entered again. Harry made a plea that, ‘the
resulting improvement in the appearance of our village and the integration of the community and the
improved spirit it would produce’ would be beneficial to Preston.
The whole village, including the Horticultural Society and PHC, became involved, many worked hard
until dusk. A fair raised £100 when, ‘..the spirits of the villagers (were raised) and more friendships
were made’. The result was that the village won competition that year and the next. Perhaps the
present-day litter-picking days are an echo of those days. This illustrates how middle-class
newcomers can integrate and even galvanise a village.
There are many examples of how well the village has integrated - though not to the extent of popping
next door for sugar or tea bags. The communal buy-out of The Red Lion by the majority of villagers is
clearly enthusiastically supported as shown by the assembled crowd at key moments in its history:
Fortieth anniversary celebrations of the community ownership of the Red Lion.
During a weekend in early July 2023 there was ‘a day of festivities with live music,
a hog roast and a beer festival’. (Photograph used with the kind permission of Mark Waters)
This image describes the integration of the village far better than any words.
This is not an isolated example. The monthly Parish News Letter spreads information about village
activities. Details of Parish meetings are regularly posted online. The village also has events such as
The Preston Trust Great Easter Egg Hunt, Preston Village Day, the Preston Scarecrow Festival, The
Christmas Tree Light Switch On and the occasional Beating of the Parish Bounds which foster good
relationships within the community. There are several homes participating in ‘Open Garden Schemes’
and the Preston Cricket Club, while having many players from outside the parish also has an uptake
of local cricketers.
On a personal level, when the book The History of Preston in Hertfordshire was launched, it was
noticeable and appreciated that a broad spectrum of classes purchased the book.
All of this is not to suggest that Preston people ‘live in each other’s pockets’. In fact, there is an
example of a household moving home within Preston to avoid a neighbour. Additionally, many
households have boundary disputes with neighbours, which does not make for good relations. This is
common in the countryside when boundaries are unclear even when deeds are consulted.
Overall, it might be suggested that the change of socio-economic balance since 1939 has actually
had an overall positive outcome in that many villagers of all classes have worked together, enjoying
communal projects and events.
This is substantiated by the Preston Parish Neighbourhood Plan. It reported that as a result of a
survey conducted in 2017, which was completed by 302 adults out of 336 residents, there is a high
satisfaction with living in Preston. Its inhabitants ‘love it for the green spaces and access to the
countryside…(and)…satisfaction with the environmental, cultural or intellectual conditions under
which we live’. It continued, ‘there is a good community spirit and neighbours are considered friendly,
helpful and welcoming’. 92% of participating residents said that they liked living at Preston because
they felt ‘part of the community’
These comments are eight years old. Much has happened since then in the village with the infill of
open plots and more high-cost housing. This has been opposed by a section of the community. The
Temple Dinsley development looms on the horizon. It must be hoped that Preston continues to have a
positive community spirit to the advantage of everyone.