Inside The Oaks

A Memory of Carshalton.

I too remember The Oaks House with fondness. Aged 12 yrs old I used to cycle there from Purley & found a hole in the boarding on a window, so crept inside. The staircase was stunning but damaged, there was a fire hose left trailed down it and I understood that there had been a fire there some time before, so I never dared climb far upstairs in case the stairs or floors above gave way. The room that really caught my imagination was what looked like a Ballroom. A very large long room with an immensely high ceiling and of course completely empty, the windows were boarded up. I remember the walls & ceiling were decorated & even though the pictures or mirrors had been removed it still held an air of dilapidated grandeur. The building on the whole fascinated me & for a whole summer I kept returning. Then life took a turn & I went off to Boarding school, never to be able to return. Especially as it was obvious that I wasn't supposed to go inside. I still treasure my memories of the house & am sad to think that it had to be demolished.