Ryder House, 27 Holywell Hill, St Albans

Image: © Jo and Steve Turner Taken: 20 Apr 2013

Grade II Listed offices built for Samuel Ryder (of Ryder Cup fame) by Miskins to a Percival C. Blow design 1910-11. In St Albans Museums, ‘Talking Buildings’ project, 2016, Sue Lobatto tells us that 27 and 29 Holywell Hill replaced an early coaching inn called The Bull shown by a deed dating from 1548 and in the Parish Records of St Peter’s, stood on the site before becoming a private residence called the Priory. It seems this building was demolished prior to the building of Ryder's offices. The 1872 map shows trees in the location of 29 so I assume the Bull Inn must have been under No.27. The oldest directory of St Albans I have, 1855, has no Bull in St Albans. Ryder and Sons were seed and bulb merchants and under the foundations is a Bottle containing packets of seeds, a seed catalogue and a history of the firm. The building cost approximately £6,000 and came with a magnificent oak and mahogany hall and staircase leading up to Samuel Ryder’s office. Eventually the company was taken over by Suttons Seeds and later the building served as the Post Office sorting office from about 1971 to 1991/2 leased from St Albans Council. CI Group then used it as offices and spent more than £15,000 on refurbishing the severely neglected building. In 1999 the newly refurbished building opened as the Comfort Hotel then Clarion Collection Hotel both now part of Quality Hotels Ltd.

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