Category Archives: Roads

Harewood Road

Road than runs south-easterley from Norfolk Road to Devonshire Road.

This Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1894 shows the road with some of the houses:

1894 OS map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland, reuse CC-BY

1953 OS map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland, reuse CC-BY

The houses are numbered from Norfolk Road, with odd numbers on the east side, even on the west. The street directories below show the sequence that the houses were built.

Occupants from Street Directories

Listed as starting from Norfolk Road.

1891

NORTH SIDE

Nixon Villa, Lieut. J. F. MILLS
The Laurels, Thomas Henry COTON

HAREWOOD VILLAS
1, Thomas HOWARD
2, William KINCAID
3, Miss PRIOR
4, Robert P. WHEELER
5, Ernest WINTOUR, district foreman Lambeth water works
6, Owen SHELLON
7, Mrs LANKSFORD

SOUTH SIDE

SEATON VILLAS
1, John JEFFERY
2, John HINTON

Seaton House, Samuel LEONARD, house decorator

IVY VILLAS
1, Taylor PALLETT
2, Thomas BATCHELOR

Aylesbeare Villa, Frederick Valentine GREEN
Holicot, John WATTS

1898

EAST SIDE

Park House, Thomas BATCHELOR
Nixon Villa, William INMAN
Muntzer Villa, Harry PEARSON
The Roses, John FORTUNE
The Laurels, William ROSS
Fairrlea, Percy DAVIDSON
Ellerslie, Thomas Charles HOWARD

HAREWOOD VILLAS
1, William H. WELLS
2, Miss HARRIS
3, Alfred H. GODFREY
4, James William FAUX
5, Henry Sampson RUNNALS
6, Mrs SHALES
7, Mrs LANKSFORD

Pulborough cottage, Benjamin ANDREW
Ambleside, Samuel SALKELD

SOUTH SIDE

Holmesdale, Harold MARSHALL
Clifton Villa, Job Samuel DOLLING
Martock Villa, Frank GROOM

SEATON VILLAS
1, Samuel C. ATHERTON
2, Walker TURNBULL

Seaton House, Samuel LEONARD
Cambridge, Joseph VANDERSTEEN

IVY VILLAS
1, Miss Ellen FOWLS, teacher of music
2, James W. ROSE

FERNDALE VILLAS
2, George HERBERT
1, George Michael FENNER

HOLLY VILLAS
1, Sidney John CLAYDON
2, Thomas FISHER

LIME VILLAS
2, Thomas FAGG

Aylesbeare Villa, Frederick Valentine GREEN

1904-1905

EAST SIDE

Park House, Mrs M.A. WHITE
Nixon Villa, Alexander DAVIES
Muntzer Villa, Mrs MAURICE
The Roses, William Charles DAY
The Laurels, Percy H. GOLDS
Furlea (sic), T. JOHNSTONE
Ellerslie, John TURTON

HAREWOOD VILLAS
1, Alfred TATTERSHALL
2, Miss HARRIS
3, Mrs HALL
4, Mrs EVANS
5, Charles G. RABBETTS, sanitary inspector to Croydon rural district council
6, Mrs SHALES
7, Mrs LANKSFORD

WEST SIDE

Clifton Villa, James WILLSON
Martock Villa, William Dixion GRAY
Essex cottage, Samuel C. ATHERTON

SEATON VILLAS
2, Mrs TURNBULL

Seaton House, Samuel LEONARD
Strathmore, Mrs JOSLING

IVY VILLAS
1, Frederick PALMER

FERNDALE VILLAS
2, Walter B. HOBBS
1, George Michael FENNER

HOLLY VILLAS
2, Thomas FISHER
1, William HOTHAM

LIME VILLAS
2, Thomas FAGG

Aylesbeare Villa, William Hadley WELLS B.A.

The 1912 street directory shows the houses have been renumbered, and these house names kept:

1, Park House
9, Nixon Villa
11, Muntzer Villa
13, The Roses
15, The Laurels
19, Ellerslie
39, Pulborough Cottage

6, Martock Villa
8, Essex Cottage
12, Seaton House
16, Strathmore
34, Aylesbeare Villa
36, Holicot

Houses that currently have name-stones with legible names

17, Fairlea
19, Ellerslie

Rowan Road Auxiliary Fire Service

From Wikipedia:

The Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) was first formed in 1938 in Great Britain as part of the Civil Defence Service. Its role was to supplement the work of brigades at local level. The Auxiliary Fire Service and the local brigades were superseded in August 1941 by the National Fire Service. After the war the AFS was reformed alongside the Civil Defence Corps, forming part of the UK’s planned emergency response to a nuclear attack. It was disbanded in the UK in 1968.

Members of the AFS were unpaid part-time volunteers, but could be called up for whole-time paid service if necessary. This was very similar to the wartime establishment of the police Special Constabulary. Men and women could join, the latter mainly in an administrative role. A first-hand account of the type of work they undertook is given by A S Bullock in Gloucestershire Between the Wars: A Memoir. (Available on Amazon.co.uk)

Mitcham was supported by three A.F.S. sub stations at:

Fortescue Road School

Pascalls Factory

Rowan Road School

Rowan Road A.F.S. 1940. Photo kindly provided by the son of G. Davis (back row, second from the left)

In this photo were:

At the back: C. BRAGG, T. SASSE

Back row: E. SHORTER, G. DAVIS, B. ACKERMAN, F. PEARCE, R. SAYERS, G. BROWN, B.SHED

Front row: B. POGE, B. PHILLIPS, B. SMITH, J.WARNE, Mrs. GOODWIN, C. BISHOP, L. WILLIS

The school in Rowan Road was opened in 1930 as the Rowan Road Central School. It changed its name to Rowan County Secondary in 1960, and in 1965 the boys left to go to the new school at Eastfields.

From local newspapers

Sporting events included Mitcham ATC vs. the Rowan Road AFS:

Streatham News, 18th July 1941, page 5.

and the AFS vs East Moitcham FC (at cricket):

Streatham News, 18th July 1941, page 5.