Category Archives: Roads

Anstey

A house and market garden that was reached by a track on the west side of Cedars Avenue, and occupied by Mr Pinnock and family.

1955 OS map Anstey

The name ‘Anstey’ was discovered in this news article:

Source: Mitcham Advertiser, 26 January 1928, p. 1 (British Newspaper Archive; rights holder unknown).

Death of Miss Pinnock.

Mitcham Market Gardener Bereaved.

The funeral took place at Mitcham Cemetery on Wednesday of Miss Annie A. Pinnock, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Pinnock, of Anstey, Cedars-avenue, Mitcham.

Miss Pinnock, who was forty-three, had been in indifferent health for some time, but her death on Saturday was totally unexpected. She became seriously ill on the previous Wednesday. Her death is deeply regretted by a wide circle and especially by the Vicar and members of St. Mark’s Church, where she had been an active worker for many years.

Mr. and Mrs. Pinnock are among the best known and most respected inhabitants of Mitcham, where Mr. Pinnock has been in business as a market gardener for over twenty years. Previously he was in the employ of Messrs. Mizen Bros. Mr. and Mrs. Pinnock have resided in Mitcham over half a century.

The funeral service was conducted at St. Mark’s Church by the Rev. W. K. Roberts, who also officiated at the graveside.

The chief family mourners were Mr. and Mrs. Pinnock (father and mother), Mr. W. Pinnock (brother), Mr. W. Webb (uncle), Mrs. Gillingham and Miss Gibson.

The many beautiful floral tributes included wreaths from all members of the family, Ald. A. Mizen and the Misses Mizen, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Mizen, Mr. Edward Johnson Mizen, Mrs. Hicks and family, Mrs. Edwards, Messrs. T. and Charles Turner, Mrs. Huntingford and family, Mr. Pinnock (Hammersmith) and family, Mr. and Mrs. Cottis (cousins), Mr. and Mrs. A. Webb (cousins).

Sold around 1930 according to this news article:

Source: Mitcham Advertiser, 5 January 1950, p. 5
(British Newspaper Archive; rights holder unknown).

Mrs. M. Pinnock

At the age of 90, Mrs. Mary Pinnock, of 3, Mitcham Garden Village, died on New Year’s Eve.

The funeral service takes place to-day (Thursday) at St. Mark’s Church, at the opening of which, 50 years ago, Mrs. Pinnock was present. She rarely missed a service there. The service will be conducted by the Vicar, the Rev. A. E. Smart. Interment will be in the parish churchyard.

For most of her life Mrs. Pinnock and her late husband lived in St. Mark’s Parish, and had a flourishing market garden business off Cedars Avenue. The land was sold about twenty years ago, when the Pinnocks retired, and is now covered with houses. Mr. Pinnock, like his widow, died in the Garden Village. Mrs. Pinnock was a member of the Red Cross and the Darby and Joan Club, which meets in St. Mark’s Parish Hall. She was active in the district until a few weeks before Christmas.

Her brother, Mr. Thomas Turner, a retired Mitcham postman, who lives with her son in St. George’s Road, is 92.

Source: Mitcham Advertiser 2nd January 1930
Right margin torn; missing letters restored in the transcription below (notably “East Ward”).

Mr. Thomas Pinnock.

Mitcham Octogenarian Market Gardener Retires.

Mr. Thomas Pinnock, who has been a market gardener in Mitcham for over half a century, retired from business this Christmas at the age of eighty-three.

Mr. Pinnock is a Wiltshire man and came to Mitcham to work for the late Mr. Thomas Allen, of Sherborne Farm, Eastfields. Later he was employed by the late Mr. Edward Mizen, father of the three partners of the firm of Mizen Bros., for whom he worked twenty years. Since then Mr. Pinnock has been in business for himself at Cedars-avenue, where he did a great deal of the work himself. He has enjoyed excellent health. Few men are more respected, especially in the East Ward where all Mr. Pinnock’s days in Mitcham have been spent. He well remembers the lavender blooming in hundreds of acres in Mitcham, and helped to grow it himself.

Mrs. Pinnock, who is a Mitcham woman, is not so old as her husband by thirteen years. At present she and her husband are enjoying a long and well deserved holiday in Yorkshire.

5th November 1936 Mitcham Advertiser

Mr. Thomas Pinnock

Death of Mitcham’s Oldest Market Gardener.

Mitcham has lost its oldest nurseryman and market gardener by the death on Tuesday of Mr. Thomas Pinnock, aged ninety.

He was a market gardener in Mitcham for over half a century—until his retirement seven years ago. He died in Mitcham Garden Village.

Mr. Pinnock was a Wiltshire yeoman farmer’s son and he came to Mitcham to work for the late Mr. Thomas Allen, of Sherborne Farm, Eastfields. Later he was employed by the late Mr. Edward Mizen, father of Messrs. Mizen Brothers, for whom he worked twenty years. Afterwards he started in business as a market gardener and nurseryman in Cedars-avenue, Common-side East, where he remained till he retired.

Mr. Pinnock enjoyed excellent health throughout his long life. He enjoyed life itself and a joke as much as anything. Always cheery and ready to tell a good story, he was a very popular member of the Garden Village circle, and he was esteemed generally, especially in the East Ward, where all his working life in Mitcham was spent. He remembered when lavender bloomed in hundreds of acres of Mitcham, and he helped to grow it himself.

Mrs. Pinnock is a Mitcham woman and is younger than her husband by thirteen years. She has received many messages of sympathy.

The funeral will take place on Saturday. Mr. Donald S. Drewett, Upper Green, Mitcham, is carrying out the arrangements.

Pinnock’s Pond

Pinnock’s Pond was 0.13 acre (5380 sq ft) pond near the corner of Cedars Avenue and Commonside East.

1955 OS Map Pinnocks Pond

According to H.G. Winbow writing in 1962, the pond was named after Market Gardener Mr Pinnock.

Janet Morris, in her booklet Mitcham Common A short history, said:

Drainage water from the tip alongside Cedars Avenue polluted Pinnock’s Pond and a
nearby roadside ditch along Commonside East. The pond was emptied in an effort to
stop the terrible smell and the tip was closed. For years afterwards the pond bred plagues of mosquitoes that made summer evenings a misery for people over a wide area, stretching as far as Mitcham Park. The pond was eventually filled in.

Searches of minutes from Conservator meetings revealed:

Historical records for the pond at the corner of Cedars Avenue and Commonside East (OS Pond 5257) detail its naming, water source, maintenance history, and eventual infilling:

1. Naming and Identification

The “Pinnock’s” Name: The name “Pinnock’s Pond” appears only once across all Conservators’ minutes, dated 8 July 1959, regarding a request to spray for midges.
Official Terminology: The Conservators otherwise strictly referred to it by its geographic location, such as “Pond at Cedars Avenue,” “pond at the corner of Cedars Avenue and Commonside East,” or “Pond, Commonside East”.

2. Water Source and Hydrology

Surface/Ditch Runoff: A key minute from 13 January 1927 details that the pond was fed by an inlet from the Commonside East ditch with a return pipe to the ditch on Cedars Road.
Rain Dependence: Both the inlet and outlet pipe were noted as choked, requiring heavy rain for any fresh water to enter.
No Spring or Borehole Feed: There is no record of the pond ever being supplied by a spring, well, borehole, or piped water system.

3. Maintenance and Public Complaints (1926–1964)

Cleanings & Rubbish: The pond suffered from recurring silt, stagnant water, and dumped rubbish (tins, bottles, paper), prompting multiple cleared-out operations in 1927, 1937, 1938, 1940, and 1962.
Requests to Fill In: Local residents requested the pond be filled in as early as October 1926 and July 1939 due to mud and safety concerns for children. The Conservators initially rejected these requests, noting in 1939 that it was not intended as a paddling pond.

4. Infilling and Site Conversion (1964–1965)

Decision to Fill: On 9 September 1964, following reports of offensive smells and unperformed drainage works, the Board officially agreed to fill in the pond via a contractor free of charge.
Site Reclamation: By November 1964, infilling was nearly complete. In 1965, the site was grass-seeded and temporarily fenced to prevent illegal flytipping and car parking.

5. Related Distinctions in the Records

Cedars Avenue Borehole (1996–1997): A Thames Water observation borehole was installed nearby in 1996 for London Underground to monitor rising groundwater in the deep chalk aquifer; it had no connection to the former pond’s water supply.