continued until 1914. Spiers and Tozer were cousins. In 1887, during
Spiers' occupation of the premises, the Jubilee Hall was constructed
to provide extra accommodation and was named after the Royal
Jubilee.
When, in 1902, Parliament transferred all the London water
undertakings to the Metropolitan Water Board, this reservoir and the
house and land also became their property. At Michaelmas, 1914, the
Metropolitan Water Board leased the Roserville for a term of 21 years
to William Tozer who, with the consent of the Board, transferred the
remainder of the lease to William Riggs Limited in 1919. Thus William
Riggs, whose earlier retreat on Wellington Hill had been destroyed by
fire in 1916, was enabled to continue his business as the proprietor of a
retreat. As stated earlier, Riggs continued here until 1926. The features
of these buildings at that time were a sweet shop at the northern end
of the range of buildings known as the Jubilee Hall while at the
opposite end was a restaurant earlier known as the Beech Hall in the
front of which was a balcony built round a large beech tree. The
property was again transferred in November, 1926, from Riggs to
L.W.E. Marden who had previously been the licensee of the "King's
Oak" at High Beach. The latter wished to make considerable alterations
to the drainage system and so asked the Board for further security of
tenure. The Board then agreed to the surrender of the 1914 lease and
from Midsummer, 1928, granted Marden a new lease for a period of
28 years determinable by the lessee at the end of every seventh year.
During Marden's tenancy the retreat was managed for him by a Mrs.
Newman who resided in the house.
At Midsummer, 1941, Marden exercised his option of determining
his lease and a Mr. Dickason took a new lease for 21 years. In 1959
he asked to be allowed to surrender his lease at an early date. The
house, then at least 150 years old was not thought suitable for re-
letting and so the Metropolitan Water Board accepted the surrender
and in February, 1959, decided to sell the house and curtilage by
public auction. After the Second World War the Jubilee Hall and
other buildings at the northern end were for many years used as a
store for brewers crates and bottles. These premises were demolished
and the site used by the Board for their own purposes.
The purchaser in 1959 was a Mr. F.J. Speakman who occupied
the house and used the old restaurant in Beech Hall on the south side
as a schoolroom for parties of children visiting the forest for nature
study. When he retired in 1971 the school use terminated. In the
meantime, the balcony had been removed and the beech tree felled.
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