The ‘waste’ at Crunnells Green
Today, the lane at Crunnells Green is used mainly for access to Back Lane and Preston Hill
Farm and is at its busiest when the ‘School Runs’ are made. It is a tangle of trees and
undergrowth which is occasionally ‘tidied’ by volunteers. This is its history.
Shown above is the ‘waste’ of Crunnells Green Lane - forlorn and forgettable; unmemorable, neglected
and occasionally discussed at Preston Parish meetings.
Although the property of the Lord of the the Manor, it was shown as unassigned in the detailed maps of
1811, 1844 and 1898. It was even omitted in the lots for sale when Temple Dinsley was placed on the
market in 1873. Its ownership was belatedly transferred when William Henry Darton released the land to
the purchaser of Temple Dinsley, Henry MaClean Pryor, for £30 on 20 November 1875. It was defined in
the Manor Court book by the diagram below:
On 10 April 1902, Henry Pryor conveyed the waste to his son, Ralston de Vins Pryor ‘in consideration
of the natural love and affection’ for his son. Less than three years later, Ralston sold the waste
(measuring 2 rods and 18 perches) to the incumbent of Temple Dinsley, James Barrington-White for
£10.
The waste remained in the hands of Barrington-White and then his trustees until the episode that saw
the felling of the trees at Preston Green in 1946. Then, the village green, the verge between St Albans
Highway and the eastern boundary of Temple Dinsley was sold to the village for £5.
And that is all that can be written about the waste of Crunnells Green.