Rosenau Road, SW11

Road in/near Battersea, existing between 1874 and now.

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(51.47655 -0.16553, 51.476 -0.165) 
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Road · * · SW11 ·
October
4
2020
Rosenau Road was named after Schloss Rosenau, the birthplace and boyhood home of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who became the consort of Queen Victoria.

After the opening of Albert Bridge in 1873 offered the prospect of easy access to Chelsea and the West End, development along its approach road became more attractive. Hedworth Williamson, a speculator then acting as building contractor for the bridge, saw the potential. A cousin of his better-known namesake, the diplomat Sir Hedworth Williamson, he had a somewhat doubtful record in property speculation. A warrant for his arrest issued in 1865 over a questionable sale of shares described him as ‘5ft 6in high, of florid complexion, and very stout face, with projecting front teeth; wears no whiskers or moustache’.

He employed as his architect and surveyor John Robinson. Robinson drew up the initial plans for Williamson, writing in November 1871 to the Commissioners:
At the present moment I think it cannot be denied that the Locality has a bad
name, but, as most of the Building Ground surrounding the Park is still unlet
and as it is in most parts of considerable width, the opportunity I think
presents itself of raising the character of the neighbourhood by limiting the
number of houses to be erected and by requiring those to be erected to be of a
superior class.


On these lines, Williamson agreed to take most of the ground on the west side of the park (about twelve acres) at £80 per annum per acre, promising to build five detached or ten semi-detached villas facing Albert Bridge Road by 1874–5, with terraces behind, and to repeat this rate of building annually until there were 16 detached or 32 semi-detached houses and a further 65 houses in the hinterland.

Robinson devised two new roads behind Albert Bridge Road (Rosenau and Anhalt Roads) to be lined with terraces. In addition, Petworth Street was extended to its east, but plans to straighten out Marsh Lane (later Ethelburga Street) and create a new park entrance opposite came to nothing. Among the first houses on Albert Bridge Road was Park House (demolished), built in 1873 at the north corner of Ethelburga Street for Benjamin Cooke, a former Lincolnshire farmer turned builder, who also took other plots near by.

A century later, a scheme came before the London County Council in November 1960. A mixed development on a site of some 14 acres, it comprised 578 dwellings distributed between one 23-storey block (the highest yet mooted in Battersea), three blocks of seven-storey flats, and a multitude of lower groups. The main element delayed was the future Ethelburga Tower, to whose height local residents had objected. A tribunal upheld their case, forcing the LCC to lop off six storeys. Otherwise the construction phase seems to have gone well, most of the estate being occupied in 1965.




Main source: Survey of London
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

Comment
Peter H Davies   
Added: 17 Jun 2021 09:33 GMT   

Ethelburga Estate
The Ethelburga Estate - named after Ethelburga Road - was an LCC development dating between 1963�’65. According to the Wikipedia, it has a "pleasant knitting together of a series of internal squares". I have to add that it’s extremely dull :)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Reply

LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Comment
Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

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Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

Reply
Comment
Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

Reply
Comment
Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

Reply

NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

Reply
Comment
Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

Reply
Comment
Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

Reply
Comment
Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

Reply



LOCAL PHOTOS
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Badric Road, SW11 (1950s)
TUM image id: 1647278035
Licence: CC BY 2.0
Petworth Street sign
TUM image id: 1493989872
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In the neighbourhood...

Click an image below for a better view...
Albert Bridge opened in 1873 and was immediately designated as a dangerous structure. It was noticed early on that vibrations could threaten the structural integrity of the bridge.
Credit: The Underground Map
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Battersea Bridge (1860s) James Hedderly was a photographer active in Chelsea before the building of the Embankment and afterwards. This is a view taken from the tower of Chelsea Old Church. It shows the tangle of closely-packed houses and wharves between Cheyne Walk and Beaufort Street before the embankment. Beyond are the larger houses of Lindsey Row and the trees of Cremorne Gardens.
Credit: James Hedderly
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The Fascination of Chelsea
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Battersea Park Road (1900). Looking east through the double railway arches. Just beyond the bridges would be the later site of the modern dogs and cats home.
Old London postcard
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Rowena Crescent
Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Winders Road
Credit: The Underground Map
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Petworth Street sign
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Battersea Bridge, a painting by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1885)
Credit: The Maas Gallery
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Albert Bridge Road at the former end of Ethelburga Street (1958)
Credit: Gwyneth Wexler
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Zulu Mews - glimpsed through a gate This mews is the last street alphabetically in London
Credit: The Underground Map
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