 |
|
|
| |
urrants was formerly farm
land tenanted by one Simon Duraunt and dating back to 1278 AD.
It was part of the Manor of Croxley which Offa, the Saxon King
of Mercia, gave to St. Alban's Abbey c.790 AD. This was in remorse
and recompense for murdering his daughter's bridegroom, King
Ethelbert of East Anglia, at their wedding and for annexing
the victim's kingdom!
hen Henry VIII dissolved the
Abbey in 1539 the Manor became Crown property and was leased
to William Baldwin, a name perpetuated in the existing Baldwins
Lane. Elizabeth I sold the Manor to Dr John Caius, Physician
to the Royal Household. Caius founded Gonville and Caius College
Cambridge in 1557 and endowed the Manor on the College in whose
possession it has remained to this day.
bout 1860 Thomas Hoade Woods,
the doyen of fine art auctioneers, became tenant of Durrants.
Woods was a partner in the great firm of auctioneers - Christie,
Manson and Woods (now known as "Christie's"). He purchased
some of the land from the College and commissioned what The
Times described as "a red brick, stone and tiled moderate
sized mansion in the Tudor style". It was built in 1866-67.
Woods' initials are engraved in stone over the front door. He
continued to purchase land from the College and by the time
he retired to Bournemouth in 1903 Durrants was an impressive
estate of 223 acres.
oods died unmarried in 1906
aged 76. His estate and superb collection of paintings and drawings
were valued at half a million pounds. Durrants was sold to Charles
Morland Agnew of Thos. Agnew & Sons, Fine Art Dealers. He
died in 1931 and in 1933 Durrants was sold to the Watford building
company, Headstone Manor Estates Ltd., who developed most of
the estate with semi-detached houses to accommodate the growing
population of Metroland.
n 1936 the Old Merchant Taylors
purchased about 25 acres of the estate from Headstone to replace
their War Memorial ground at Teddington. The grounds were laid
out as a sports ground by Bracey (Roads) Ltd., of Watford and
the mansion was converted into a clubhouse. On the outbreak
of war the clubhouse was requisitioned by the local council
and it was not until 1949 that the whole clubhouse was returned
by the council to the O.M.T. Society (formed 1947). In 1964
the conservatory was demolished to make way for two squash courts,
thereby broadening the club's appeal.
n 1977 the Society was reorganised
and responsibility for the running of Durrants was transferred
to a newly formed company, Durrants Club Limited, and membership
of the new club was opened to non-OMTs. Since then Durrants
has been run successfully both as a country club and as a sports
club, providing rugby, cricket, hockey, squash and snooker.
It is the headquarters of the O.M.T. Society with 3300 members
worldwide.
J.W.
BIRCH (Hon. Librarian and Archivist O.M.T. Society).
|
|
| |
|
