Devons Road, E3
Devons Road
Devons Road is a road in Bromley-by-Bow and part of the B140 road.

The Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum was established in Devons Road in 1868. This institution was renamed St Andrew’s Hospital in 1921, after a nearby church that was destroyed in the First World War. It housed a School of Nursing from 1875 to 1991. It was demolished in 2008 and the site was redeveloped as housing including a smaller health centre.

The North London Railway established a large motive power depot at Bow around 1850, which was demolished in 1882 and incorporated into Bow railway works. Two larger locomotive depots were then built at Devons Road nearby. The No.1 shed was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War. It was rebuilt in 1946 by the London Midland and Scottish Railway, and then converted into the first UK diesel maintenance depot by British Railways in 1958. It was closed in 1964 and demolished.

The closure of Devons Road Number 1 shed by British Railways in the 1960s freed up the land for development as social housing. This led to a new street layout with streets and buildings named in honour of Britain’s railway heritage. As a result, the north end of Devons Road, adjoining Bow Road, was changed into a pedestrian area and renamed Stroudley Walk in honour of the locomotive engineer William Stroudley.


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