The Underground Map

The Underground Map is a project which is creating street histories for the areas of London and surrounding counties lying inside the M25.

Kenway Road (1970)
Credit: British History Online

In a series of maps from the 1750s until the 1950s, you can see how London grew from a city which only reached as far as Park Lane into the post war megapolis we know today. There are now over 85 000 articles on all variety of locations including roads, houses, schools, pubs and palaces.

You can begin exploring by choosing a place from the dropdown list at the top.

As maps are displayed, click on the markers to view location articles.

Latest on The Underground Map...

Kenway Road, SW5

Kenway Road was, after 1803, called North Row. Kenway Road was originally part of a country track linking the Manor House at Earl’s Court with Kensington village, via what are now Wright’s Lane and Marloes Road. It may be an abbreviation of ’the Way to Kensington’.

In 1797, one Thomas Smith bought a local piece of land called ’Pound Field. At Earl’s Court Smith began building in 1803 along established thoroughfares - today’s Kenway Road and Hogarth Place.

In 1856, Charles William Wallgrave (of King’s Road, Chelsea) invested in a plot of land at Earl’s Court. Four years later he decided to build Wallgrave Road but wrote to the local Parish Vestry to say that the drains at Earl’s Court appeared to be blocked, since all the sewage from the cottages in Kenway Road was overflowing onto his ground. The vestry replied that this was not surprising, since there were no sewers at Earl’s Court. Nor did they intend to do anything ab...

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SEPTEMBER

2022

George Lane, E18
George Lane is the main road of South Woodford South Woodford’s original name was Church End. This continued as the electoral ward for the part of South Woodford north of the Central Line railway.

There were five inns in Woodford in 1753: The George, The White Hart, The Ship and Castle, New Wells, and Old Wells. The George at Church End, already existed as Horns Inn in 1657. It faces High Road at the junction with George Lane - the road is named after the inn.

In the early 19th century, the upper and lower roads of Woodford, together with Snakes Lane and George Lane were the only thoroughfares through the parish.

George Lane originally crossed the railway with a level crossing immediately to the north of the station. This was closed and the road split into two when the line was electrified.

The first cinema in the district was the South Woodford Cinema, opening in 1913 at 170 George Lane.

George Lane station became a Central Line underground station ...
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SEPTEMBER

2022

Agincourt Road, NW3
Agincourt Road dates from 1881 Thomas E. Gibb, a developer from Kentish Town, purchased a large area of land and proposed to build 120 small houses for middle-class residents (at ’the lower end of middle-class respectability’), as well as a sewer. He laid out several roads, including Cressy Road, Agincourt Road, and Lisburne Road - Agincourt and Cressey were both notable battles.

However, the closure and reopening of a local smallpox hospital caused land values to decrease, and little housing was built initially.

In 1886, the Church Commissioners recognised the social change and allowed Gibb to build 215 houses on the remaining land. This led to the construction of Constantine Road in 1887, which provided a direct route from Gospel Oak and Kentish Town to South End Green and the heath. Building then began, and after Gibb’s death in 1894, his successors built an additional 153 houses in Constantine Road, Cressy Road, and Mackeson Road.
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SEPTEMBER

2022

The Adelphi
The Adelphi is a small district surrounding the streets of Adelphi Terrace, Robert Street and John Adam Street The Adelphi district gets its name from the Adelphi Buildings, a collection of 24 neoclassical terrace houses located between The Strand and the River Thames in the parish of St Martin in the Fields. The buildings were constructed between 1768-72 by the Adam brothers (John, Robert, James, and William Adam) and also included a headquarters building for the "Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce," now known as the Royal Society of Arts. The Greek-derived name of the buildings honors the Adam brothers’ architectural design. The ruins of Durham House were removed to make way for the Adelphi Buildings. The nearby Adelphi Theatre takes its name from the Adelphi Buildings. Robert Adam was inspired by his visit to Diocletian’s Palace in Dalmatia, and some of that inspiration is reflected in the design of the Adelphi Buildings.

The Adelphi district is not strictly defined by boundaries, but generally, it is considered to be situated betwee...
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SEPTEMBER

2022

Ainsty Street, SE16
York Street until 1873, Ainsty Street was one of a group of Rotherhithe Streets commemorating royal names Built in the early 19th century, York Street - before it was Ainsty Street - was named for George III’s second son, the Duke of York.

It was typical of many other streets of workers’ terraces.

Destroyed in the Blitz, Ainsty Street originally ran to what is now Albatross Way. It was redeveloped when the Ainsty Estate was built.
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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Christine D Elliott Blockhouse Street, SE15 Added: 20 Mar 2023 15:52 GMT	The Blute Family My grandparents, Frederick William Blute & Alice Elizabeth Blute nee: Warnham lived at 89 Blockhouse Street Deptford from around 1917.They had six children. 1. Alice Maragret Blute (my mother) 2. Frederick William Blute 3. Charles Adrian Blute 4. Violet Lillian Blute 5. Donald Blute 6. Stanley Vincent Blute (Lived 15 months). I lived there with my family from 1954 (Birth) until 1965 when we were re-housed for regeneration to the area. I attended Ilderton Road School. Very happy memories of that time. Reply
Pearl Foster Dukes Place, EC3A Added: 20 Mar 2023 12:22 GMT	Dukes Place, EC3A Until his death in 1767, Daniel Nunes de Lara worked from his home in Dukes Street as a Pastry Cook. It was not until much later the street was renamed Dukes Place. Daniel and his family attended the nearby Bevis Marks synagogue for Sephardic Jews. The Ashkenazi Great Synagogue was established in Duke Street, which meant Daniel’s business perfectly situated for his occupation as it allowed him to cater for both congregations. Reply
Dr Paul Flewers Hawthorne Close, N1 Added: 9 Mar 2023 18:12 GMT	Some Brief Notes on Hawthorne Close / Hawthorne Street My great-grandparents lived in the last house on the south side of Hawthorne Street, no 13, and my grandmother Alice Knopp and her brothers and sisters grew up there. Alice Knopp married Charles Flewers, from nearby Hayling Road, and moved to Richmond, Surrey, where I was born. Leonard Knopp married Esther Gutenberg and lived there until the street was demolished in the mid-1960s, moving on to Tottenham. Uncle Len worked in the fur trade, then ran a pet shop in, I think, the Kingsland Road. From the back garden, one could see the almshouses in the Balls Pond Road. There was an ink factory at the end of the street, which I recall as rather malodorous. Reply
KJH Andover Road, N7 Added: 7 Mar 2023 17:14 GMT	Andover Road, N7 (1939 - 1957) My aunt, Doris nee Curtis (aka Jo) and her husband John Hawkins (aka Jack) ran a small general stores at 92 Andover Road (N7). I have found details in the 1939 register but don’t know how long before that it was opened.He died in 1957. In the 1939 register he is noted as being an ARP warden for Islington warden Reply
The Queens Head Added: 2 Mar 2023 13:50 GMT	The Queens Head Queens Head demolished and a NISA supermarket and flats built in its place. Reply
Mike Elia Street, N1 Added: 28 Feb 2023 18:09 GMT	6 Elia Street When I was young I lived in 6 Elia Street. At the end of the garden there was a garage owned by Initial Laundries which ran from an access in Quick Street all the way up to the back of our garden. The fire exit to the garage was a window leading into our garden. 6 Elia Street was owned by Initial Laundry. Reply
Fumblina Whitfield Street, W1T Added: 21 Feb 2023 11:39 GMT	Error on 1800 map numbering for John Street The 1800 map of Whitfield Street (17 zoom) has an error in the numbering shown on the map. The houses are numbered up the right hand side of John Street and Upper John Street to #47 and then are numbered down the left hand side until #81 BUT then continue from 52-61 instead of 82-91. Reply
P Cash Woburn Place, WC1H Added: 19 Feb 2023 08:03 GMT	Occupants of 19-29 Woburn Place The Industrial Tribunals (later changed to Employment Tribunals) moved (from its former location on Ebury Bridge Road to 19-29 Woburn Place sometime in the late 1980s (I believe). 19-29 Woburn Place had nine floors in total (one in the basement and two in its mansard roof and most of the building was occupied by the Tribunals The ’Head Office’ of the tribunals, occupied space on the 7th, 6th and 2nd floors, whilst one of the largest of the regional offices (London North but later called London Central) occupied space in the basement, ground and first floor. The expansive ground floor entrance had white marble flooring and a security desk. Behind (on evey floor) lay a square (& uncluttered) lobby space, which was flanked on either side by lifts. On the rear side was an elegant staircase, with white marble steps, brass inlays and a shiny brass handrail which spiralled around an open well. Both staircase, stairwell and lifts ran the full height of the building. On all floors from 1st upwards, staff toilets were tucked on either side of the staircase (behind the lifts). Basement Floor - Tribunal hearing rooms, dormant files store and secure basement space for Head Office. Public toilets. Geound Floor - The ’post’ roon sat next to the entrance in the northern side, the rest of which was occupied by the private offices of the full time Tribunal judiciary. Thw largest office belonged to the Regional Chair and was situated on the far corner (overlooking Tavistock Square) The secretary to the Regional Chair occupied a small office next door. The south side of this floor was occupied by the large open plan General Office for the administration, a staff kitchen & rest room and the private offices of the Regional Secretary (office manager) and their deputy. First Dloor - Tribunal hearing rooms; separate public waiting rooms for Applicants & Respondents; two small rooms used by Counsel (on a ’whoever arrives first’ bases) and a small private rest room for use by tribunal lay members. Second Floor - Tribunal Hearing Rooms; Tribunal Head Office - HR & Estate Depts & other tennants. Third Floor - other tennants Fourth Floor - other tennants Fifth Floor - Other Tennants except for a large non-smoking room for staff, (which overlooked Tavistock Sqaure). It was seldom used, as a result of lacking any facities aside from a meagre collection of unwanted’ tatty seating. Next to it, (overlooking Tavistock Place) was a staff canteen. Sixth Floor - Other tennants mostly except for a few offices on the northern side occupied by tribunal Head Office - IT Dept. Seventh Floor - Other tenants in the northern side. The southern (front) side held the private offices of several senior managers (Secretariat, IT & Finance), private office of the Chief Accuntant; an office for two private secretaries and a stationary cupboard. On the rear side was a small kitchen; the private office of the Chief Executive and the private office of the President of the Tribunals for England & Wales. (From 1995 onwards, this became a conference room as the President was based elsewhere. The far end of this side contained an open plan office for Head Office staff - Secretariat, Finance & HR (staff training team) depts. Eighth Floor - other tennants. The Employment Tribunals (Regional & Head Offices) relocated to Vitory House, Kingsway in April 2005. Reply

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MARCH

2018

Finsbury Square, EC2A
Finsbury Square is a 0.7-hectare square in central London which includes a six-rink grass bowling green. Finsbury Square was developed in 1777 on the site of a previous area of green space to the north of the City of London known as Finsbury Fields, in the parish of St Luke's and near Moorfields. It is sited on the east side of City Road, opposite the east side of Bunhill Fields. Named after it, but several kilometers away, are Finsbury Park and its eponymous neighbourhood.

In 1784, Vincenzo Lunardi achieved the first successful attempt at hot air balloon flight from Finsbury Square.

Past residents of the square include Pascoe Grenfell Hill, Thomas Southwood Smith and Philip Henry Pye-Smith. It has also been the site of the bookshop of James Lackington and the first home of the rabbinical seminary that became the London School of Jewish Studies (1855–81), of the Greek Orthodox church of Saint Sophia and of the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary Moorfields (1820–1900).

From 1907 to 1914, 39 Finsbury Square was the home of the City of London Y...
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MARCH

2018

Tempsford Green
Tempsford Green was created from an area of rough ground in 1951. This park is mainly laid out as football pitches. There is a changing pavilion there.

The site also has a car park.
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MARCH

2018

The King’s Field
King George V donated the King's Field site to the National Playing Fields Association in June 1927 for use by local children. The park has two tennis courts, football and cricket pitches, play equipment for children of all ages as well as a café and a skate park.

The cafe was for many years a boarded up, a decaying parks pavilion with changing rooms. This building was transformed into a café during 2008. The Park is well known for its skate park and children’s play area.

The King’s Field’s position next to Bushy Park and surrounded by avenues of trees already means that it has an important value as a corridor for wildlife. The site’s proximity to the river is also significant. With its small patches of bramble and the 17 mature trees on site food and shelter is provided for insects, birds and mammals.
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MARCH

2018

Temple Bar
Temple Bar is the point in London where Fleet Street, City of London, becomes the Strand, Westminster, and where the City of London traditionally erected a barrier to regulate trade into the city. In the Middle Ages, the authority of the City of London Corporation reached beyond the city’s ancient walls in several places (the Liberties of London). To regulate trade into the city, barriers were erected on the major roads wherever the true boundary was a substantial distance from the old gatehouse. Temple Bar was the most famous of these, since traffic between London (England’s prime commercial centre) and Westminster (the political centre) passed through it. Its name comes from the Temple Church, which has given its name to a wider area south of Fleet Street, the Temple, once belonging to the Knights Templar but now home to two of the legal profession’s Inns of Court.

Commissioned by King Charles II, and designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the fine arch of Portland stone was constructed between 1669 and 1672. Rusticated, it is a two-storey structure consisting of one wide central arch for the road traffic, flanked on both sides by narrower arches f...
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MARCH

2018

Old and New London: Temple Bar
Temple Bar was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1670–72. [[3212|Temple Bar]] was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1670–72, soon after the Great Fire had swept away eighty-nine London churches, four out of the seven City gates, 460 streets, and 13,200 houses, and had destroyed fifteen of the twenty-six wards, and laid waste 436 acres of buildings, from the Tower eastward to the Inner Temple westward.

The old black gateway, once the dreaded Golgotha of English traitors, separates, it should be remembered, the Strand from Fleet Street, the city from the shire, and the Freedom of the City of London from the Liberty of the City of Westminster. As Hatton (1708—Queen Anne) says,—”This gate opens not immediately into the City itself, but into the Liberty or Freedom thereof.” We need hardly say that nothing can be more erroneous than the ordinary London supposition that Temple Bar ever formed part of the City fortifications. Mr. Gilbert à Beckett, laughing at this tradition, once said in Punch: “Temple Bar has always s...
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MARCH

2018

Lisle’s Tennis Court
Lisle’s Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse during two periods, 1661–1674 and 1695–1705. During the early period, the theatre was called Lincoln’s Inn Fields Playhouse, also known as The Duke’s Playhouse, The New Theatre or The Opera. The building was demolished and replaced by a purpose-built theatre for a third period, 1714–1728.

The tennis court theatre was the first public playhouse in London to feature the moveable scenery that would become a standard feature of Restoration theatres.
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MARCH

2018

Regent’s Park
Regent’s Park - not the park itself but the tube station. Regent’s Park tube station is a London Underground station near to Regent’s Park, located on Marylebone Road between the two arms of Park Crescent.

The station was opened on 10 March 1906 by the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (BS&WR); In the original parliamentary authority for the construction of the BS&WR no station was allowed at Regent’s Park. Permission was granted to add it to the already partially constructed line in 1904.

Because of this same rule and unlike most of the BS&WR’s other stations, Regent’s Park has no surface buildings and is accessed from a subway.

The station is served by lifts - there is also a staircase which can be used and which has 96 steps.

Great Portland Street station is within easy walking distance for interchanges to the Circle and Metropolitan lines.
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MARCH

2018

Hillside Avenue, WD6
Hillside Avenue was a pre-war road laid out from 1937 onwards. Hillside Avenue follows the contours of high ground running parallel to Shenley Road/Elstree Way.

It was the site of one of the major Boreham Wood schools, Hillside School, which first opened in 1939.
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MARCH

2018

Hillside School
Hillside School existed between 1939 and 2000. Hillside School was officially opened for just one day in October 1939, due to the outbreak of World War 2. The intake of pupils was postponed until November of that year.

It was the first secondary school to open in Boreham Wood and during the Second World War was the only school in the village. The school continued education throughout the war, pupils having regular air raid drill.

Dennis Gernat was headmaster until the late 1950s and then Mr O’Keefe until the school was sold (to become Yavneh College, opened in 2006).

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MARCH

2018

Foster House
Foster House and Brent Lodge were two 18th-century brick houses at the corner of Butcher's Lane and Brent Street. Butcher's Lane later became Queen’s Road Foster House became a Christian Science reading room in 1930. Brent Lodge, enlarged in the early 19th century and renamed St. Peter’s Ouvroir, was demolished in 1957.
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MARCH

2018

Beaumont Arms
The former Beaumont Arms at 170 Uxbridge Road has been known by later names such as "Edwards" and "The Defectors Weld". The present building dates from 1884/5 but there has been a public house on this site from at least 1826.

The former name probably relates to John Thomas Barber Beaumont, a builder, or his family who owned land in the area from 1811.
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MARCH

2018

Neagle Close, WD6
Neagle Close is named after Dame Anna Neagle (1904–1986), born Florence Marjorie Robertson, a popular English stage and film actress. Neagle was a successful box-office draw in the British cinema for 20 years and was voted the most popular star in Britain in 1949. She was known for providing glamour and sophistication to war-torn London audiences with her lightweight musicals, comedies and historical dramas. Almost all of her films were produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox, whom she married in 1943.

In the 1930s and 1940s Deacons Hill was a wealthy area of Elstree and many people associated with the film industry lived there. The most famous of these was the prolific film producer Herbert Wilcox and the actress Anna Neagle. They formed a personal and professional relationship in the early 30’s and helped to make Borehamwood the British Hollywood.

They lived in a house at the top of Deacons Hill Road called Hilltop, and from there in 1936 they watched as The British & Dominions Imperial Studios that Wilcox had built in 1929, went up in flames - it was never rebuilt. Anna was marrie...
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MARCH

2018

Hampstead
Hampstead though now considered an integral part of London, has retained much of its village charm. Hampstead is on a steep hill and the tube station platforms are the deepest on the London Underground network, at 58.5 metres below ground level. It has the deepest lift shaft on the Underground.

Although early records of Hampstead itself can be found in a grant by King Ethelred the Unready to the monastery of St. Peter's at Westminster (AD 986) and it is referred to in the Domesday Book (1086), the history of Hampstead is generally traced back to the 17th century.

Trustees of the Well started advertising the medicinal qualities of the chalybeate waters (water impregnated with iron) in 1700. Although Hampstead Wells was initially successful, its popularity declined in the 1800s due to competition with other London spas. The spa was demolished in 1882, although a water fountain was left behind.

Hampstead started to expand following the opening of the North London Railway in the 1860s (now on the London Overground), and expanded further after the tube station opened in 1907.
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MARCH

2018

St Mark Street, E1
St Mark Street was built on the old Goodman’s Fields. A House of Minoresses (from where the street name Minories derives) was established in Aldgate in 1293, by Edward I’s brother Edmund, Duke of Lancaster and his French wife Blanche of Navarre. The King granted them freedom from taxation and tithes. After Edmund died in 1296, many significant medieval figures, particularly women, were buried within the convent walls, including in 1360 Elizabeth de Burgh, Countess of Clare and founder of Clare College Cambridge in 1360, and Anne Mowbray, Duchess of York and wife of the younger prince murdered in the Tower in 1481. The House continued to attract the widows and daughters of the wealthy, and gradually increased its holdings of land, rents and tenements.

After the Dissolution, the nunnery was surrendered to Henry VIII by the last abbess, Dame Elizabeth Salvage, in 1539, who was subsequently granted a pension of £40, and the nunnery became the residence of John Clark, Bishop of Bath and Wells, Henry VIII’s ambassador to th...
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MARCH

2018

Goodman’s Fields Theatre
Two 18th century theatres bearing the name Goodman’s Fields Theatre were located on Alie Street, Whitechapel. The first opened on 31 October 1727 in a small shop by Thomas Odell, ’Deputy Licenser of Plays’. The first play performed was George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer. Henry Fielding’s second play The Temple Beau premièred here 26 January 1730. Upon retirement, Odell passed the management on to Henry Giffard, after a sermon was preached against the theatre at St Botolph’s, Aldgate. Giffard operated the theatre until 1732. After he left, the theatre was used for a variety of acrobatic performances.

Giffard constructed a new theatre down the street designed by Edward Shepherd who also designed the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The theatre opened with Henry IV, Part I, 2 October 1732 that included actors Thomas Walker, Richard Yates and Harry Woodward. A dispute at the Drury Lane Theatre bought the actress Sarah Thurmond and her husband to the theatre. With the passing of the Licensing Act of 1737, the theatre was forced to close. Giffard rented Linc...
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MARCH

2018

Dowgate Hill, EC4R
Dowgate Hill is a continuation of Walbrook along the west side of Cannon Street Station, leading to Dowgate Dock. In records from 1150 and 1312 the name appears as Douegate. Also named Downgate by Stow “from its steep descent to the River.”

The supposed antiquity of Dowgate as the Dwr-gate or water gate to Watling Street of the Britons (Welsh Dwr = water gate) is somewhat doubtful as there is no evidence that this place existed previous to the Roman occupation.

In Wren’s Parentalia it is stated that the Romans had a gate in the wall next the Thames and this gate was called Dew-gate or anciently Dour-gate which signified the water gate into the City. The Walbrook joined the Thames at this Dock. Here was the water gate where the ferry from Surrey landed the travellers for the City.

Dowgate was the old port of the Normans and was utilized by the citizens of Rouen. Earlier anchorage for ships belonging to the merchants of the Hansa Steel Yard. In Dowgate Hill are three City Company’s Halls.
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MARCH

2018

Amersham Workhouse
The Amersham Workhouse was situated on the site of Amersham Hospital. The Union Workhouse was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott who also designed the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park and St Pancras Station in London. It was built in 1838 and served a number of local parishes and provided basic care of the elderly and those unable to work.

It was built following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 which obliged parishes to form a "union" to build a workhouse. The Amersham Union included the parishes of Chesham, Beaconsfield, the Chalfonts and Penn. Typically, a Union Workhouse was built in the largest town of the Union. In Amersham’s case this should have been Chesham, but Amersham was chosen.

The Union Workhouse replaced the many work houses around the parishes, with the "inmates" being moved from their local towns, sometimes leaving them for the first time in their lives. Owing to the location of the "union" Workhouse, Whielden Street was for a time known as Union Street. The name reverted to Whielden Street (named a...
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MARCH

2018

Park Grove, DA7
Park Grove is part of the Martens Grove Estate, build in the 1930s. The Martens Grove Estate was built by Aylings, but many other builders firms were active nearby, including Ellingham, H. Owen and New Ideal Homesteads.

The Estate was built on what had been ancient woodlands, part of the grounds of Martens Grove, a very large house of the 1850s.
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MARCH

2018

South Kenton
South Kenton is an area of the London Borough of Harrow which is served by South Kenton station. South Kenton is situated on the southern fringe of Northwick Park in an area which was previously open farmland with virtually no settlement.

Its station opened on 3 July 1933 with access from both sides of the railway via a footbridge to the single island platform serving. The further growth of South Kenton was stimulated by the arrival of the railway.

South Kenton’s station footbridge was later replaced by a pedestrian tunnel, cutting out a long climb for passengers entering the station. The station was designed by the architect William Henry Hamlyn and built in concrete and glass.
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MARCH

2018

Moor Park
Moor Park takes its name from a country house which was originally built in 1678–9 for James, Duke of Monmouth, and was reconstructed in the Palladian style circa 1720 by Giacomo Leoni. The house was built on what used to be an area of Ruislip Moor, which is where the name Moor Park originates. The house and grounds are now occupied by Moor Park Golf Club.

The Moor Park Estate was built after Moor Park and Sandy Lodge station was opened on 9 May 1910 after, in September 1887, the Metropolitan Railway’s extension opened from the previous terminus at Pinner, en route to Rickmansworth.
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MARCH

2018

Figges Marsh
Figges Marsh is a park in Mitcham. Figges Marsh is just over 10 hectares in size and its open space has an outdoor gym and outdoor table tennis.

It was named after William Figge who occupied the land from 1357. Present-day Carlingford Gardens and Manship Road mark the boundary between Figge’s property and that of the medieval Biggin Farm estate.

As part of Mitcham Common, Figges Marsh was used for grazing until 1923 when the urban district council assumed control. Most of the land was left as meadow until mechanical mowing became possible in the 1940s. Around this time, the surrounding area began to be built up with housing, much of which was erected by the council.
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MARCH

2018

George Court, WC2N
George Court is named after George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Villers acquired York House which formerly stood on this site; his son sold the area to developers on condition that his father and titles were commemorated on the new streets.

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MARCH

2018

Devonshire Hill Lane, N17
Devonshire Hill Lane was laid out along the line of a former farm track. Much of the modern road pattern of Tottenham had been established by 1619. High Road ran northward in the east and Green Lanes, dividing at the later junction of Wood Green High Road and Bounds Green Road, in the west; between them routes corresponding to the later White Hart and Lordship lanes and West Green and St. Ann’s roads crossed the middle of the parish.

The western part of White Hart Lane was then called Apeland Street as far as the parsonage house, whence a lane later marked by the modern Devonshire Hill Lane led to the Edmonton border at Clay Hill.

Up to the 1920s, the area north of White Hart Lane from the site of Rectory Farm was a landscape of fields with few houses. Devonshire Hill Lane wound its narrow, tree-lined way northwards for half a mile from White Hart Lane, terminating at Devonshire Hill Farm.

After WW1, Local Authorities, under Government direction and subsidy, embarked on a programme of Public Housing developme...
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MARCH

2018

Brownlow Road, WD6
Brownlow Road was built together with Drayton Road. Drayton Road was laid out to run parallel to Furzehill Road from a junction with Shenley Road. To enable traffic to traverse Drayton Road, a second street - Brownlow Road was built to connect the southern end with Furzehill Road.

In 1896, Charles Braithwaite who owned the Boreham Wood Engine Works and Loco Packing Company in Drayton Road, built houses for employees in Furzehill Road and Brownlow Road.
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