Page 4 - Froghall Drive Our Story

The History of Frog Hall Drive

Chris French, May 2020

Introduction

The history of Frog Hall Drive (FHD) and its houses are of course dominated by the history of Frog
Hall. The date of construction of Frog Hall is not known although it has been referred to as Queen

Anne in a sale document. Queen Anne was on the throne of England from 1702 until 1714. There

have been a number of alterations and additions to the main building. The main entrance was
originally on the west side but later on further building added a new front and the entrance was

moved to its present position. It is possible to see the different type of architecture where the new
front was added on. It is thought the later parts are Georgian. When in the 1970s the hall was

converted into twelve flats the servants wing on the east side was extended.

The houses numbered 38/40/42 have had a more unusual history than most of the rest of those in

the drive, and Les Roland (No 40) has researched the history of his house in much depth. His
findings have contributed greatly to this document, for which I am greatly indebted.

In the 50s there was much legal wrangling when "The Cottage" (No. 40) was kept a separate entity
to the hall and the rest of its grounds and not sold as part of the estate. There were many boundary

disputes.

Froghall Drive or Frog Hall Drive?

The premise is that there was a house, in a marshy area near where the Three Frogs pub is now -
called Frog Hall. The area around it was called Froghall Green (and still is - though successive maps

show it further east or west and sometime north or south of the main road!). Whether the house

was named after the Green or vice versa is not clear. This house was eventually demolished and the
pub created in the same place.

After initially being called Waterloo Lodge for many years, since the 1850's, then Frog Hall and then
briefly Buzzacott House, the hall was finally renamed Frog Hall in the 1950's. The name of the drive

then became Frog Hall Drive. (Why the pub is called the Three Frogs has yet to be discovered).

In the early days the hall was surrounded by its estate of grounds and fields, bounded to the north

by the London Road, to the west and east by Rances Lane and Clay Lane and it went south beyond
Waterloo Road. In time the estate itself shrank, leaving just the gardens surrounding the hall and a

few adjacent buildings. Eventually these buildings were also sold off, leaving just the hall as we
know it today.