Page 16 - Froghall Drive Our Story

38/40 Froghall Drive
North of 40 Froghall Drive was a walled garden, which also contained a glass house. Mr. J D

Andrews purchased this area plus other land from Telling and he then built what is now 74

Waterloo Road. Later on Andrews built a house within the walled garden and subdivided this plus
the barn from the original parcel. The Andrews then moved into this house (Nether Staples 38

Froghall Drive). A further house was also built, again accessed from the private road off Waterloo
Road.

For £150 a strip of land 12ft by 41 ft was sold by the owner of 40 Froghall Drive to the owner of No.
38, Mr Andrews, to give him a vehicular access from his house to Froghall Drive. However a

covenant was applied so that no further building on 38's land except for a one-storey garage
without the written consent of the owner of 40 Froghall Drive. At this time the barn was part of 38

Froghall Drive and used as a general-purpose store and garage. The vehicular access was up the

private road from Waterloo Road.

42 Froghall Drive
When Tilling built Buckhurst Grove he brought his foreman carpenter George Tapsel with him as

general foreman. He moved into and eventually purchased a building, which was line of rooms to
the east of the Hall. These rooms were originally sleeping quarters for the servants of visitors to the

Hall. At one time a generator and storage accumulators were installed in the end room to provide

electricity to the hall and the cottage. Eventually these were removed when the buildings were
connected to the mains supply. Tapsel also purchased the old fruit storage building with the

chimney stack at one end, which he used as a general (junk) store.

Tapsel carried many alterations and additions to the rooms and lived there with his wife and three

sons for many years. This became 42 Froghall Drive. When he died in 1987 he left the house to his
wife and the store to two of his grandsons (sons of the two of his sons who were still in the UK - the

third son had already emigrated to Perth WA). Eventually his wife who had difficulty moved into
sheltered accommodation and the house stood empty for a long time. In 1995 it was sold to a

developer, knocked down and a four-bedroom house built in its place. At the same time the storage

sheds were recombined with the property and used by the builder as a store etc. However the first
purchaser of the new house did not want the store and eventually it was sold off and was split into

two. The end nearest the barn was rebuilt and became a garage for it. The other part was
purchased by the owner of the house on the private road behind thus giving him access to the right

of way alongside Froghall Drive.

The Lake

Early maps, from 1883 at least, show that the grounds of the Hall included a Fish Pond, with an
island. A lawn led down to the lake from the Hall. This is now in the grounds of No 70, Waterloo

Road.

Frog Hall
Below is a list of the owners of Frog Hall, followed by a collection of historic maps.