LANSDOWNE WAY AREA
Nos. 339–343 (odd) Wandsworth Road
and Nos. 141–149 (odd) Lansdowne
Way
Formerly Nos. 1, 2 and 3 The Priory
This building originally comprised three houses
and was built around 1843 (ref. 28) in the Gothic taste
of that time. The three-storeyed fronts towards
Wandsworth Road and Lansdowne Way are
faced with coursed stucco and form a balanced
composition centred on the octagonal battlementcrowned bay at the corner, to which the threesided bays terminating each front form responds.
The windows have “Gothic” casements and over
those to the first floor are moulded labels. Modern
shop-fronts have obscured most of the ground
storey, but No. 141 retains its original archheaded doorway, framed by a moulded arch and
rising from clustered and banded shafts. The
property was owned in 1850 by John Cooke; it
was purchased in 1866 by John Diplock of Walworth, tea-dealer, whose descendants still
retain a partial interest. (ref. 29)
Priory Primary and Secondary
Schools, Priory Grove
This school was built for the London School
Board; the contractor was W. Tongue of Plum-stead,
and his tender for a school for 1,200
children was for £11,675. (ref. 30)
The architect was
E. R. Robson (ref. 31)
and the date of opening was
January 11, 1886. (ref. 32)
The school is a plain three
storey stock brick building with red brick and
stone dressings.
Stockwell Garage, London Transport
Executive, Lansdowne Way
This garage was erected in 1950–4, and
was designed by Adie, Button and Partners, in
association with Thomas Bilbow, architect to
London Transport Executive. An illustrated
article appeared in the Architectural Review for
March 1954.
St. Francis of Sales and St. Gertrude
Roman Catholic Church, Larkhall
Lane
This church was erected in 1902 (ref. 33)
and is a
plain stock brick slate-roofed building. It
has stone lintels over the windows and over the
two front entrances, the latter bearing carved
crosses. The east elevation, with a corbelled
gable and containing a large circular window, is
surmounted by a tall metal cross. The architect
was probably F. W. Tasker.
CLAPHAM ROAD WEST SIDE
St. Augustine's Church
This church stands on the site of a congregational chapel, an iron building erected in 1875
and called the Augustine Independent Church. (ref. 28)
The latter was founded by Dr. Urijah Thomas (ref. 34) ,
who was helped by his father, Dr. David Thomas,
minister of Stockwell New Chapel. (ref. 35)
The venture did not prosper, however, and in 1882 the
building was purchased for a chapel of ease for
the parish of All Saints, and dedicated to St.
Augustine. A new building was erected on the
site and opened on March 2, 1899. (ref. 34)
The architect was Sir Arthur Blomfield, who had recently
restored Southwark Cathedral. The church was
not consecrated until January 1, 1915. (ref. 34)
On the
alteration of parish boundaries in 1950 St. Augustine's
was transferred to St. John's, Clapham, and
now serves as a parish hall.
St. Augustine's is a Perpendicular Gothic
building finished with red brick and stone dressings
of plain and rather unimaginative design.
It has a clerestoried nave and lean-to aisles with a
lean-to entrance lobby across the Clapham Road
front, the chancel being situated at the west end,
all roofed with red tiles. On the flanking elevation
a somewhat arbitrarily-placed gable is grouped
with an awkwardly shaped bellcote. The interior,
finished with red and stock brick, is architecturally
very dull. The nave clerestory is carried
on four-bay arcades which rest on circular
columns.
Trinity Presbyterian Church
The foundation stone of this church (Plate 26b)
was laid by John Henderson of Park Glasgow
on February 13, 1862. The architects were
W. G. Habershon and A. R. Pite. (ref. 33)
A Bath stone
portico of coarse Roman Corinthian columns
crowned by a massive pediment, forms the frontispiece
to a plain stock brick building with tall
arch-headed windows in its side elevations. At
the time of writing the church is disused.
CLAPHAM ROAD, EAST SIDE
The plan of Stockwell Manor on Plates 74 and 75
shows an estate on the east side of Clapham Road
marked “Mrs. Lads Ld.” In 1736 Sir John
Lade, baronet, purchased from Dennis Roundell
20 acres of land in Stockwell which abutted west
on Martin Lane (ref. 36)
(Clapham Road). Probably
the property was originally part of Stockwell
Manor. In 1782 Sir John Lade sold the estate
to William Malcolm, nurseryman, (ref. 37)
and for a
time it was known as Malcolm's Nursery Grounds.
William Malcolm also had a lease of land near the
Oval.
Nos. 159 and 161 Clapham Road
Formerly Nos. 9 and 10 Montague Place
This pair of houses appears to have been erected
shortly before 1809. (ref. 38)
The houses contain three
storeys over a semi-basement, and exhibit an
interesting variation from the normal plan in that
the coach-houses are incorporated in the main
structure. The front of each house, therefore,
presents an unusual appearance, the dominant
feature being the large arch-headed doorway to the
coach-house. This is flanked by three smaller
arched openings—the entrance doorway and two
windows—all being set in a face of coursed stucco.
Above the first-floor bandcourse the wall face
is of stock brick and contains two tiers of four
evenly spaced windows of rectangular form, those
to the first floor being surmounted by stucco
cornices and frieze panels with Soanic frets. A
simple entablature and blocking-course completes
the front.
Nos. 163–169 (odd) Clapham Road
Formerly Nos. 11–14 (consec.) Montague Place
The site of these houses was conveyed by
William Malcolm's son James to trustees in
1799. In 1807 the trustees sold it to Thomas
Corpe of Kennington, builder, (ref. 39)
and these houses
were erected within the next few years. (ref. 38)
They
are grouped in pairs, originally uniform in appearance, and are nearly identical with several other
contemporaneous houses in Clapham Road, all
being probably the work of one builder. Each
house has a semi-basement, three storeys, and a
mansard attic. On the ground and first floors are
two rooms, the back projecting in a segmental
bow, and alongside is a coach-house wing, now
generally altered. The exterior is of stock brick,
the front being three windows wide. The ground-storey windows and doorway are set in recesses
with arched heads rising from moulded imposts.
The door is framed by elegant Doric columns
supporting key-ornamented entablatures, and the
arched head contains a fanlight of circular motifs
(Plate 68b). The tall first-floor windows open to
a balcony with a cast-iron railing of conventional
fret pattern. The interior of No. 165 is probably
typical and contains a cross-vaulted hall leading to
the staircase which has a balustrade incorporating
cast-iron standards of Classical and Gothic design
used alternately. The doors and windows have
reeded architraves with lion-head stops, and there
are good Regency chimneypieces of grey marble.
Nos. 171 and 173 Clapham Road
Formerly Nos. 15 and 16 Montague Place
These were originally built as one house
(Plate 55a), which was erected in 1802–3 and
first occupied by Edward Shewell (ref. 38)
who moved
here from No. 179 Clapham Road. Shewell purchased an estate to the east of Clapham Road in
1806 (see page 88) but by 1832 had moved to
Notting Hill. (ref. 40)
The division of the house into
two separate dwellings dates from about this
time. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the
20th century the house was occupied by an
Anglo-French college for ladies; (ref. 28)
it is now used
by the Transport and General Workers' Union.
When first built it was a large double-fronted
house containing a basement and three storeys,
spaciously planned with, on the ground floor, a
large entrance hall leading to an oval staircase
hall, flanked on either side by two reception
rooms (fig. 28). Stock brick was used for the
exterior facings except for the front which is of
“white” brick, and the design has the spare elegance typical of its period. The entrance front is
a symmetrical composition with a slightly recessed
centre, three windows wide, flanked by narrow
wings, each one window wide, that to the ground
storey being set in a recess with a segmental-arched head rising from moulded imposts. Before
the centrally placed doorway is an imposing porch,
finished in stucco, with paired Doric columns
supporting a pedimented entablature. The shafts
of these columns, and the respondent antae, have
channels instead of the customary flutes. The
wide caves of the low-pitched slate roof are supported, at wide intervals, by plain mutules. From
the east flank of the house projects a small two-storeyed extension, probably built when the property was subdivided, having a shallow porch of
Ionic columns paired with antae and framing an
arch-headed doorway.
Figure 28:
No. 173 Clapham Road, ground-floor plan
Nos. 175 and 177 Clapham Road
Formerly Nos. 19 and 18 Stockwell Common
These houses were erected between 1831 and
1840. (ref. 38) They are three-storeyed terrace houses
of stock brick, with a coursed stucco facing to the
ground storey which contains the arched doorway
and two rectangular windows. There are two
widely spaced windows in each upper storey and
the fronts are finished with a simple entablature.
Nos. 179–185 (odd) Clapham Road
Formerly Nos. 17–14 (consec.) Stockwell Common
About four acres of Malcolm's nursery grounds
were bought in 1792 by Christopher Fall of
St. Mary, Newington. (ref. 36) He had four houses,
Nos. 179–185, erected in 1792–4. (ref. 38) The
land in the rear containing about three acres was
used as paddocks and was occupied together with
No. 185. Christopher Fall died in 1811 and
left his property in trust for members of his
family. The three acres of land in the rear were
purchased in 1867 from Henry Cheswright by
the Trustees of Stockwell Orphanage. (ref. 36) These
houses are in many respects similar to Nos.
163–169 described above, being grouped in pairs
linked by coach-houses. Each house front is
three storeys high and three windows wide, and
built of stock brick with an arcaded ground
storey containing two arch-headed windows and
the doorway. This last has an ornamental radial-patterned fanlight over a door flanked by Ionic
columns. The fronts finish with a mutule cornice
and the mansard attic is lit by two lunette windows. A narrow recession marks the party wall
between the paired fronts. Nos. 183 and 185 are
now derelict.
Spurgeon's Homes
Formerly Stockwell Orphanage
In 1866 Mrs. Hillyard, a clergyman's widow
living in Islington, (ref. 41) gave C. H. Spurgeon
£20,000 for the foundation of a home for fatherless boys. (ref. 42) Twelve Trustees were appointed to
administer the fund. (ref. 43) In 1867 and 1879 land
between Clapham Road and Stockwell Park
Road was purchased by the Trustees for the site
of the Orphanage. (ref. 44) Their plan was to accommodate the children in “family” houses, (ref. 42) which
when completed were arranged in a quadrangle
around a garden, approached by a narrow way
from Clapham Road (fig. 29). The Trustees
were successful in 1867 in their appeal for
subscriptions to augment Mrs. Hillyard's gift, (ref. 45)
and they immediately started building on the
north-east side of the quadrangle (ref. 46) (Plate 32b).
The date of the foundation of each house is
marked on fig. 29.
In the north-east block the houses were all
designed by James Cubitt. (ref. 47) Those founded in
1867 were named the Silver Wedding House, to
commemorate the gift of £500 by Mr. and Mrs.
Tyson on the occasion of their silver wedding
anniversary; (ref. 48) the Merchant's House, in honour
of a benefaction from a London business man;
the Workmen's House, after William Higgs, the
builder, and his employees, who provided the
materials and labour respectively; (ref. 49) and Unity
House, which was paid for by Thomas Olney
and his sons in memory of Mrs. Unity Olney.
Those houses founded in 1868 were called
Wigner House, named after Pastor J. T. Wigner,
secretary of the Orphanage, and erected by the
Baptist brethren as a token of regard for C. H.
Spurgeon; the two Testimonial Houses, presented as a testimonial of esteem for C. H.
Spurgeon by the Baptist churches; (ref. 50) College
House, built by the subscriptions of gentlemen
educated at the Pastor's College; and Sunday
School House, subscribed for by teachers and
children of Sabbath schools. A building including
a lecture-and dining-hall was also erected in 1868
at the north end of the north-west block. (ref. 50)
The acquisition of additional land in 1879 made
expansion possible, and in 1880 the south-west
block was founded for the accommodation of
orphaned girls. The houses in this block were
designed by Alfred Wright and called the Reading
House in recognition of the liberality of friends
in Reading; the Trustees' House, erected by the
Trustees of the Orphanage; the Limes, given in
memory of the five children of W. R. Rickett;
Bray's Bricks, in memory of E. E. Bray; the
Sermon House, given by C. H. Spurgeon and
Messrs. Passmore and Alabaster; the Olives,
given by Samuel Barrow and his friends; and the
Liverpool House, named in remembrance of the
help given to the Orphanage by friends in
Liverpool.
The buildings in the south-east block were also
designed by Alfred Wright. (ref. 47) They consisted of
a girls' infirmary, given by Mr. and Mrs. H.
Wood, and baths and play halls for the girls, and
were opened on June 21, 1882. The block was
completed by the addition of a library at the east
end in 1911.
Figure 29:
Spurgeon's Homes, lay-out plan
The north-west block, which had been started
in 1868, with the dining-hall and gateway, was
completed in 1883 by the addition of a Master's
House; the architect was Alfred Wright and the
builder W. Johnson. In the west corner of the
quadrangle a laundry was opened in 1885. In
1893–4 the dining-hall was enlarged and renamed the Memorial Hall after C. H. Spurgeon.
When finished the hall was cruciform, the
transepts being formed by the ends of the old
hall. At one end stood a large statue of C. H.
Spurgeon, flanked by reliefs in terracotta; the
group was modelled by George Tinworth and
produced by Messrs. Doulton. (ref. 51)
The architects
of the new hall were James Cubitt and G. F.
Collinson, and the builders were Chessum and
Sons. The cost was nearly £5,000. (ref. 52)
When completed the orphanage accommodated some five hundred children between the ages
of six and ten. A country home for younger
children was opened at Birchington, Kent, in
1923. (ref. 51)
On September 1,1939, the children were
evacuated from Stockwell to Reigate, and in 1953
they were all moved from Reigate to Birchington.
The buildings at Stockwell were used by the secretary and office staff until April 30, 1953; (ref. 47)
they
are shortly to be demolished and replaced by a
comprehensive high school.
The buildings of the orphanage are grouped
about a large open garden; they have two and
three storeys and are built in red brick with stone
dressings and are liberally banded and diapered
in blue and yellow brick. The entrance archway
and the houses on the north-west side of the
square show northern Italian Gothic influence in
their design while the Memorial Hall, which is
surmounted by a galleried lantern and has a large
oriel balcony at the south-east end, and the
library, have simple English Gothic detail.
No. 209 Clapham Road
Formerly The Bays or No. 2 Stockwell Common
This is probably the oldest surviving house in
Clapham Road, but unfortunately nothing has
been discovered about its origin. It is a double-
fronted house of three storeys, its painted stucco
face clothing a front of mid or late 18th century
date. The central doorway is surmounted by two
windows and flanked on each side by a splay
sided bay rising through the three storeys. The
wood doorcase is of charming design, the arched
opening being framed by panelled pilasters with
consoles supporting an open triangular pediment.
The front finishes with a cornice and blocking
course.
Nos. 355–363; 369–385; and 391–393
(odd) Clapham Road
Nos. 355–363, formerly Nos. 317–325 (odd) Clapham
Road, previously Nos. 21–25 (consec.), originally Nos.
22–26 (consec.) Clapham Rise; Nos. 369–385, formerly
Nos. 329–345 (odd) Clapham Road, previously Nos. 27–35
(consec.), originally Nos. 28–36 (consec.) Clapham Rise;
Nos. 391–393, formerly Nos. 347–353 (odd) Clapham
Road, originally Nos. 1–4 (consec.) Bedford Terrace
These houses were erected on that part of
Stockwell Manor which came into the possession
of the Dukes of Bedford at the beginning of the
18th century. Most of them, if not all, seem to
have been built under an agreement made on
December 31, 1791, between the then Duke of
Bedford and Archer Willson, a Fulham builder. (ref. 53)
The evidence suggests that Willson erected some
of the houses (Nos. 391 and 393 were not built
till after his death), and that they were then let
by the Duke of Bedford to Willson's nominees.
These nominees were undoubtedly Willson's
financial backers, and in some cases they actually
lived in the houses built with their money. This
would account for the different tastes shown in
the designs of the houses. Willson also had two
mortgagees, Thomas Holloway of Chancery
Lane, and Christian Kidd, widow, of Marylebone.
No. 357 was first occupied in 1792, and Nos.
359 and 361 in 1794; No. 355 does not appear
in the rate books until 1806. The land on which
Nos. 359 and 361 stand was let to Robert Robeson
by the Duke of Bedford and Robson himself
occupied No. 359 between 1797 and 1808.
Nos. 355–361 are stylistically linked with Nos.
179–185, though they are not uniform in size.
No. 355 alone retains intact the doorway with
Ionic columns and elaborate fanlight that was
probably common to all these houses. No. 359
has a wing with a segmental bow and an added
entrance porch with anthemion-ornamented pilasters, while No. 361 has a five windows wide
frontage with a central doorway from which the
decorative fanlight is missing.
No. 363 was built in 1802. It is a much
mutilated house, three storeys high and three
windows wide, probably the survivor of a pair
originally similar in style to Nos. 371–377. The
site of No. 365 is now occupied by a garage.
No. 369 is the largest and finest of this group
of houses. It was also built on Robert Robson's
land and was first occupied by John Poynder,
who lived there from 1815 until 1825, when he
moved to No. 274 South Lambeth Road (see
page 73). It is a detached house, spaciously planned
and containing a semi-basement and three storeys.
The exterior is faced with yellow stock brick
dressed with painted stone or stucco. The unusual
composition of the road frontage suggests that the
original plans underwent enlargement at an early
stage of the building's history, the first design
probably being for a symmetrical composition
with a wide central bay rising above and projecting from narrow wings, a further bay being added
on the right. Each wing has one window to each
storey, those of the ground and first floors being
rectangular while that of the second floor is
segmental-headed. There is a frieze-band and
cornice above the first-floor window as well as
at the parapet level, both being at lower levels
than those ornamenting the two bays. From the
ground storey of the first bay projects a segmental
bow, containing two windows and surmounted
by a cast-iron railing of lattice pattern. The flat
wall face above contains two windows, that of the
first floor being set within a segmental-headed
recess, while that to the second floor is segmental
headed. Below the second-floor window runs a
plain bandcourse, and the crowning cornice is
surmounted by a pedimental blocking-course
adorned with Soanic frets. The bay on the right
of the recessed wing has the same projection but is
slightly wider than that just described. It is also
generally similar in design, except that the first-and second-floor windows are both rectangular and
set within a round-headed recess. The house is
entered on the north side, through a recessed
porch of Regency Greek design, with unfluted
Doric columns supporting a simple entablature
having a frieze decoration of wreaths and key
frets. The premises are now occupied by Messrs.
Ashton Brothers and a garden with seats extends
from the pavement edge back to the house.
Nos. 371–373 and 375–377 were let to John
Burrup, stationer, as Archer Willson's nominee
in 1802 and 1804 respectively. They are paired
houses, originally similar in design. The front
of No. 371 has been faced with stucco and a porch
added to No. 373, but Nos. 375–377 are reasonably free from alteration. The stock brick front
is of simple design, each house having three
storeys with two windows, those to the ground
floor being set in round-arched recesses. The
entrances are contained in side annexes, and a
porch has been added to No. 375.
Nos. 379 and 381 were also let at Willson's
direction, to William Mitchell in 1803. Mitchell
lived in one of them. They are a plain stock
brick pair, each two windows wide, with narrow
wings. The first-floor windows are set in round-arched recesses, and an attic storey surmounts the
main cornice.
Nos. 383 and 385 were erected in 1806;
they were let by the devisees of Willson to
Thomas Rippon, who also occupied one of them.
They are another plain pair with stock brick
fronts.
Nos. 391 and 393 are a range of four terrace
houses erected by William Novell of Clapham,
builder, and let to him by Willson's devisees in
1825. They have been converted into two blocks
of flats. They are four storeys high and each
three windows wide. The houses are uniform and
share a stock brick front of austere expression.
Before conversion, the ground storey probably
presented a range of round-headed door and
window openings slightly recessed within an
arcade, but the rhythm has been ruined by the
replacement of each pair of doorways by a single
entrance having a pedimented surround in stucco
of coarse Victorian design. Each upper storey
contains a range of twelve closely spaced rectangular windows, those of the first floor also being set
within an arcade.