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O'Connorville

O'Connorville was the first settlement to open as part of Feargus O'Connor's Land Plan, which was a "side-show" from the main Chartist movement. In March 1846, he bought 103 acres of neglected farm land at Heronsgate near Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire for £1,860 and renamed it O'Connorville. The land was divided it into thirty-five allotments of between two and four acres each. O'Connor planned the estate and each house cost just over £100 to build. Although the design varied from estate to estate depending on the local building materials, the same basic quality and layout were maintained. The kitchen had a tiled floor, an iron grate with an oven and boiler for water, a table and wall dresser. One or two living rooms were adjoining, lined with shelves for books. Each house had one or two bedrooms and a privy, a range of outbuildings, some pig sties, woodsheds and workshops. In comparison to homes in the industrial cities they were luxurious and some critics of the Land Plan said the houses were too good for ordinary people.

O'Connorville