Theobalds Grove

 

The railway line from Bury Street Junction, north of the current Edmonton Green station, to Cheshunt was opened by the Great Eastern Railway on 1 October 1891. It was known as the Churchbury Loop. Theobalds Grove station is named after Theobaldds Park and Manor. The manor was originally called Cullynges, later Tongs (after William de Tongge), and since 1440, Thebaudes, Tibbolds and finally Theobalds. The original house was surrounded by a moat. A new house was built between 1564 and 1585 to the order of Lord Burghley, senior councillor of Elizabeth I. The location was ideal in that it lay just off the main road north from London to Ware. Burghley's intention in building the mansion was partly to demonstrate his increasingly dominant status at the Royal Court, and also to provide a palace fine enough to accommodate the Queen on her visits.[3] The formal gardens of the house were modelled after the Château de Fontainebleau in France, the English botanist John Gerard acting as their superintendent. The Queen visited eight times between 1572 and 1596. Robert Cecil inherited the house and arranged for James I to visit in 1603 when he received the homage of the Privy Council. In 1606 Cecil entertained James and his brother-in-law King Christian IV of Denmark at Theobalds. Both monarchs were notoriously heavy drinkers, and according to some of those present, the occasion was simply an orgy of drunkenness, as few English or Danish courtiers had their rulers' capacity to hold their drink: an attempt to put on a masque of Solomon and Sheba descended into farce, as most of the players were too inebriated to remember their lines, or even to stand up. In 1607 James I exchanged Theobalds for Hatfield Palace, also in Hertfordshire. Hatfield was old-fashioned and Cecil promptly demolished most of it to make way for a new house designed to entice the King to stay. Theobalds Palace quickly became a favourite country seat of the King James I of England (James VI of Scotland), who eventually died within its walls on March 27, 1625. With the execution in 1649 of James I's son, Charles I, Theobalds was listed amongst other royal properties for disposal by the Commonwealth. This was achieved speedily and by the end of 1650, the house was largely demolished, but it was rebuilt after the Restoration and came to be in possession of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle.

 

It was given by King William III to William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland. Theobalds Palace was replaced in the Georgian period by yet another stately mansion, known as The Cedars, parts of which still survive. It is about a mile to the north west of the original palace. This was built by George Prescott, a merchant and MP who had bought the estate from the 3rd Duke of Portland in 1763. The Cedars passed from the Prescott family to the Meux family of Meux's Brewery fame in about 1820, and they made alterations and added extensions during the 19th century. These included a remodelled entrance based on Sir Christopher Wren's Temple Bar, which had been dismantled and stored in a yard at Farringdon Road. In 1888, it caught the eye of Lady Meux (formerly a banjo-playing barmaid); the gateway was purchased from the City of London and the 400 tons of stone was transported by horse-drawn carts to The Cedars, where it was carefully rebuilt at a cost of £10,000. Lady Meux often entertained in the gateway's upper chamber; guests included King Edward VII and Winston Churchill.

The station was much changed in the early 1980s along with several other stations on the line. The roofs on both platforms were removed and modern shorter replacements were installed (similar structures were built at Seven Sisters Station at the same time). Steel stairs replaced the wooden stairs leading up to the north-bound platforms though the wooden cover was retained. The London-bound staircase was left unaltered. The ticket office was also partially reconstructed. On 31 May 2015 the station and all services that call here, transferred from Abellio Greater Anglia to London Overground Rail Operations. This change to London Overground will mean that Freedom Pass holders will be able to use their passes at any time, as on the Underground, thus avoiding the need to additionally carry an Oyster card when making journeys prior to 9:30a.m. The station is in Travel Card Zone 7. The station has wi-fi, payphones, a car park and help points but no toilets.

 

Connections: Bus routes 242, 245, 251, 255, 310, 310A, 311, C2 and C4 (Sundays) serve the station. There is no taxi rank.

• Next Train