Penny
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Penny
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Nyn Park (The Grange)
"The Grange."
On March 9th '06 I received an email from a Mr. Francis Fielding now living in New Zealand. He told me that he'd recently met a woman from Hertfordshire who knew Northaw. As he had lived in Northaw between 1954 and 1958 his curiosity prompted him to check on the Net and attempt to find out what had happened to "The Grange" (the house I mentioned earlier in my article). Mr. Fielding had then found my website. He tells me that he had occupied the Servants' Wing of The Grange and used to take Sunday walks in Nyn Park. He wondered what had become of The Grange and whether the area had been swallowed up by London.
I'm very pleased to say that "The Grange" is indeed still standing and that the area has changed very little over the years. Potters Bar and Northaw Village have increased in size but neither has encroached on Coopers Lane; on the contrary, the area immediately surrounding the old house is, in fact, much improved in that the old houses have been refurbished and little detrimental new development evident.
Mr. Fielding had heard about the alleged 'secret' passageway that was rumoured to run between Nyn Manor and The Grange, quite a considerable distance. He had also been told of a skeleton having been discovered in The Grange end of this passage but was skeptical as to the truth of that. Subsequently I've received some very interesting information from a gentleman who used to spend holidays at Nyn Park and knew of a well (Griffin's Hole) in which was discovered a door to a passageway that appeared to lead in the direction of the foundations of the first Abbey that had occupied the Nyn Manor site. So wherever this passage may have lead and whether or not it was a priests' escape route/hiding place during Henry VIII's persecution of Catholic priests, it seems clear that such a passage did exist.
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This is a map of the area showing the distance between The Grange and The Manor-house - excavating such a long tunnel would have been quite an undertaking indeed. I've been able to find out very little of the history of either The Grange or the plot where it now stands but it's perfectly feasible that a separate passageway may have been located there, again connected with priests' hiding places ...
Mr. Fielding very kindly sent me two photographs, the first showing the rear elevation ...
and the second showing the very attractive pond area to the rear boundary of the property ...
Two photographs of The Grange as the house looks today.
I'd like to thank Mr. Fielding very much indeed for his valuable contribution to my little potted-history of the Nyn Park area.
When I first started my search on the Net for information about Nyn Manor, I was saddened to find nothing apart from general information about the park; there was absolutely nothing regarding the house itself other than references to the sale of the Estate in the 1930s and to it's purchase by St. Barts. That's when I decided to write about my memories of the area simply as a personal record. At no time did I expect such a response from both Martin, his daughter Wendy and Francis Fielding all the way from New Zealand. To see Martin's wonderful photographs, to read his description of the house as it used to be when a family home is wonderful and has made the whole exercise worthwhile. Thank you all so very much.
Penny
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