Bushey Manor Field was originally part of the Royal Masonic School for Boys which opened 1903 and was used by the school for sports including rugby, hockey and cricket.
A natural grass area surrounded by a wide variety of indigenous trees, bushes and shrubs, including oak, ash and apple trees; blackberry and raspberry bushes.
1903
1977
In 1977 the Royal Masonic School for Boys closed and the site became known as the United States International University (Europe).
1977
2001
Although promised in 2001 as part of a planning application for hundreds of homes on the neighbouring International University site, following a decade of campaigning by several dedicated Bushey residents, including Carey Keates, Judge Joseph Gosschalk, Sir Rodney Sweenam and Mary Carreras, the field was officially handed over to the Bushey Manor Field Trust on 6th November 2008.
2008
Judge Joseph Gosschalk led the legal process and it is due to his endeavours that Bushey Manor Field has been protected in perpetuity for the people of Bushey. Judge Gosschalk was the founding Chairperson of the Trust. At the handover ceremony Sir Rodney Sweetnam paid tribute to Judge Gosschalk : ‘We owe an enormous debt to judge Joseph Gosschalk and will remain indebted to him forever.’
The handover of the field to the Trust was reported in the Watford Observer 28th October 2008.
Mary Carreras, secretary of the Bushey Residents Action (BRAG) said ‘after ten years and so many setbacks I can hardly believe it’s going to happen. There have been so many problems but at least we’ve got there in the end.’
Chairman of the Bushey and Aldenham Planning Committee, Councillor Seamus Quilty, another member of the trust, agreed the handover had taken a long time but said it was now a “win-win situation” for everyone involved.
He said the land was now ‘totally protected’
Bushey Park Councillor Lynne Hodgson said: “We wanted to have that field so that it can never be built on. Given the size of that development you need an amount of green space. Who knows what the trust will do with it. Even if it is just dog walkers using it it’s fine.”
2008
With thanks to these people, we continue to enjoy the beauty of the field today.
