Benhilton, All Saints Church c1955 (ref. B67002) | This view is taken from the west, near the north-east corner of the Green, at the foot of Angel Hill. The fine west
tower of All Saints dominates the scene. The chancel east window was blown out by bomb blasts in 1944, and the
vicarage severely damaged. The Victorian school also suffered a direct hit and was totally destroyed, but nothing in
this view was affected.
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Benhilton, the Hilton 1904 (ref. 51193) | As befitted a growing Victorian
town, the spiritual needs of the new
citizens were vigorously addressed.
Where once there were just a single
crumbling, partly medieval, parish
church and a small Wesleyan Chapel
built in 1841, numerous churches of
numerous Christian denominations
soon sprang up. We have already
seen All Saints in Benhilton, and this
view shows the old parish church of
St Nicholas, which did not escape
the church building fervour - it was
entirely rebuilt in the 1860s.
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Raynes Park, Coombe Lane c1955 (ref. R355006) | The architecture of
Raynes Park is in
general suburban and
undistinguished. This
view looks northwest
along Coombe Lane,
with a bus turning left
into West Barnes Lane.
On the right are 1930s
and 1950s shopping
parades. The concrete
plank fence on the left is
still here, and screens a
Thames Water depot.
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Carshalton, Benyon Road c1955 (ref. C38003) | This view is taken looking north-
west along Benyon Road towards
the junction of Pound Street and
Carshalton Road. The high brick wall
in the distance belongs to Carshalton
House. This was the village's grandest
house, a mansion designed by
Giacomo Leoni in the early 18th
century for Edward Carlton, who
was a London tobacco merchant.
Its fine landscaped grounds with a
lake include the important garden
buildings, the Hermitage and the
Water House, now part of a school.
St Philomena's Convent School was
founded in 1893 by the Daughters of
the Cross.
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Hackbridge, the Triangle c1955 (ref. H425006) | Here the photographer looks north from the southern part of The Triangle. The Hackbridge Road junction is on the left,
and the tree, now gone, is in the waste ground between Hackbridge Junior School and the road. The shopping parade
on the right is in a competent neo-Georgian style, with box sash windows and a brick dentilled cornice to the parapet,
and a centrepiece triangular pediment. The opposite parade is considerably less architecturally distinguished.
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Mitcham, Lower Green c1962 (ref. M296092) | Mitcham is a town with
two greens. This view is of
Lower Green, and on the
right, out of view, is Cricket
Green. In the middle of the
green is the Vestry Hall, built
in 1887, which has a cupola
and clock tower. Around
Cricket Green and along
Church Road are some
good late 18th- and early
19th-century houses. To
the south-east is Mitcham
Common, which offers
more open space and
increased rural character.
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Sutton, Worcester Road 1913 (ref. 65222) | This view looks east from
Cornwall Road along
Worcester Road towards the
town centre. This was another
desirable residential road, with
prosperous Victorian villas at
its eastern end. Edwardian
and later houses can be seen
in the foreground, including
Dumbreck House on the left
hand corner. This house was
built in the Arts and Crafts
style around 1910. As is the
case with Mulgrave Road, a
few modern blocks of flats
replace the earlier houses.
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Sutton, Cavendish Road 1903 (ref. 49177) | The next views are of the
residential roads laid out to the
east of Brighton Road. Cavendish
Road, which runs from Brighton
Road east to Langley Park Road,
is a good example of the earlier
phases of suburban growth in
Sutton. Its development in the
early 1870s was facilitated by
the Sutton Water Company,
which was founded in 1864.
Their deep boreholes could be
used to pump piped water to
the neighbourhood, without
the need for individual house
wells, which were not a practical
proposition on the chalk plateau.
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Sutton, Grange Vale 1904 (ref. 52975) | The Epsom Downs railway
line was opened in 1865, and
branched south from Sutton
station to its first stop, which
was Belmont. This view looks
east, and shows the bridge
across Grange Vale, a road
that connects the Brighton
Road with the residential areas
of Grange Road, Worcester
Road and Mulgrave Road.
Since the photograph was
taken, houses have been
built to the right, and a
block of flats to the left. The
bridge now has a metal mesh
balustrade, but the cast-iron
spans are unchanged.
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Sutton, Mulgrave Road 1913 (ref. 65221) | The next sequence of views
shows the Victorian and later
development of Sutton to the
south of the railway line. We
begin with Mulgrave Road, which
started as shops and flats, but
soon became entirely residential.
The road runs south and parallel
to the railway as far west as
Belmont Rise. In this view the
photographer is looking east
past the junction with Cornwall
Road, with the Edwardian houses
numbered 152 and 150 nearest
to the camera on the left. At
this end of the road the houses
have been spared demolition by
developers, and have not been
replaced by blocks of flats.
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Sutton, Christchurch Park 1903 (ref. 49180) | The next three Edwardian
views show Christchurch
Park, which was the
southern limit of
development at that date.
The views are remarkably
evocative of a past era of
the town, as the road has,
with one notable exception,
been entirely redeveloped.
The replacement buildings
are, without exception,
blocks of flats, mostly three-
storey, built between the
1950s and the present day.
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Sutton, Langley Park Road 1903 (ref. 49179) | Roads like the one shown
here have fared less well.
In this view, looking south
just past the junction
of Cavendish Road and
Albion Road, the two large
houses on the left remain,
but flats and a close of
small modern houses,
Milestone Close, have
replaced the rest. These
large houses were packed
closely together, unlike
in the more prosperous
neighbourhood of
Benhilton, which is to the
north of the railway.
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Sutton, The Ridgway 1913 (ref. 65218) | Over the parish boundary in
Carshalton in what was named
Carshalton Beeches, lavender
fields were developed in the years
after after 1905. Lavender had
been grown for the distilleries in
Mitcham. The plant was cut when
in flower, and crushed in mills
to extract its oils for the perfume
industry - hence the name 'Mitcham
Lavender'. The Ridgway is one of
the roads that was laid out to replace
these lavender fields. The area is
known as the Highfields Estate, and
its popularity was assured when
Carshalton Beeches station opened
in 1907.
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Sutton, the South Metropolitan District Schools 1896 (ref. 38943) | These imposing Victorian
buildings were constructed
in 1853 and extended in
1871. They were the South
Metropolitan District Schools,
where over 1,500 pauper
children from south London
were sent, as well as any
vagrant children spotted by the
authorities. The school closed
in 1902 and had a variety of
uses, including acting as a
workhouse. Finally it became
an industrial neurosis unit and
psychiatric hospital, before
being demolished in 1982.
It was replaced by a housing
estate, Belmont Heights, with
access across the railway line
from the Brighton Road, north
of Belmont Station.
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Sutton, Manor Park War Memorial 1932 (ref. 85083) | East of Throwley Road is
Manor Park. It grew in area
as a result of purchases and
gifts, but started out as a
war memorial park. The War
Memorial itself, dedicated
in June 1921, was built
with the proceeds of public
subscription and designed
by the architect, J Burmester.
Behind, Manor Park House
can be seen before it was
demolished in 1976. The
site was used for the new
Central Library.
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Sutton, Albion Road 1904 (ref. 52977) | Albion Road, the most
easterly of the Victorian
developments south of the
railway, has its back garden
fences along the parish
boundary with Carshalton.
Here the photographer
is looking east from the
junction with Langley Park
Road. There are substantial
houses with large dormers
on the right, some of which
still remain. The left hand
villa in the distance has
succumbed, but the one
beside it, partly screened
by trees, still survives as a
substantial family house.
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Sutton, The Cock Hotel and High Street c1955 (ref. S233029) | The Cock Hotel was
demolished in 1961, six
years after this view was
taken. Its replacement was an
uninspiring office block called
Old Inn House. The terrace
of shops stepping down the
High Street, beyond the busy
junction with Carshalton Road
and William Pile Ltd (the
stuccoed corner building),
was erected in 1880. Beyond
are the cupola and turret of
the Municipal Offices of 1900.
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Sutton, Manor Park 1932 (ref. 85082) | This view is taken further west
in the park. This curiously
old-fashioned Victorian style
fountain was installed in June
1931 on land acquired that
year. According to a bronze
plaque, the fountain was
given to the town in 1925 by
Councillor Charles Yates, the
then Chairman of the Urban
District Council,. However,
it was not erected until six
years later. There was also a
bandstand in the park, but
this became unsafe and was
dismantled in the 1950s.
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Sutton, Stonecot Hill c1955 (ref. S233050) | Continuing from Grand Drive
into Tudor Drive the route briefly
re-enters the parish of Sutton at
Stonecot Hill. This follows the
course of the old Roman road
from London to Chichester,
called Stane Street, which is
nowadays the busy A24 road
from London to Worthing. On
the left traffic waits to cross the
junction of Stonecot Hill with
Sutton Common Road. The
Stonecot Garage has been rebuilt
since the time of this picture and
is now a Shell petrol station. In
the parade of shops Frederick W
Paine, the undertaker, is still in
business, although his trademark
showing an oversized lantern has
gone, leaving just its bracket.
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Sutton, Public Baths 1903 (ref. 50284) | These baths are around the
corner from where Throwley
Road once turned to the north
(it is now Throwley Way and
acts as an inner relief road or
High Street by-pass). In the
background is the chimney for
the boiler house which was
used to heat the pool water and
the slipper baths. Every week I
used to walk to the baths in a
crocodile of schoolboys from
Sutton High School for Boys
in Cheam Road, for swimming
lessons. The building was
demolished in 1971.
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