Road off west side of London Road, north of Arnold Road.

All houses have the postcode SW17 9HY.

Possibly built between 1865 and 1882 in what was part of Tooting. This 1865 OS map shows the V-shaped boundary line that extended to Tooting Hall, roughly where Woodley Close is now.

1865 OS map

As Eric Montague said in his book Mitcham Histories:2 North Mitcham, page 36, this boundary …

had become illogical by the late 19th century. .. It had marked the division between the (pre Norman Conquest) hundreds of Brixton and Wallington since the time of King Alfred … In 1899 the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was formed and, after a public enquiry, the boundary was moved, following the northern fence of the railway line, and the land south of that line was transferred in April 1903 into Mitcham.

An ad in the South London Press, 13th October 1883, is for apartments to let in Claremont Terrace, Finborough Road.

Ad from South London Press, 13th October 1883

Occupants from 1891 street directory:

North Side
Sherborne cottage, Henry WOOD
1, Walter Thomas NEWMAN
2, William West WARE
3, Mrs GOODBOURNE
4, Felix LEDGER
6, Frederick BUNNING
7, William WREN
8, David George COOPER

South Side
16, Mrs HATFIELD
Claremont Villa, Charles FINCK

In an 1893 auction, four houses, numbered 13 to 16, were put up for auction. The houses were described as substantially built with 8 rooms. The buyer would pay £21 a year for the lease from the freeholder, and get £93 12s. from the tenants.

TOOTING.—Four substantially-built 8-roomed Houses, close to Tooting Junction, Nos. 13 to 16, Finborough-road; let to most respectable tenants (one on agreement), and producing £93 12s. per annum ; lease 86 years at £5 5s. each.—Solicitors, Messrs. Mackrell, Maton, and Godlee, 21, Cannon-street, E.C.

1895 OS map

This OS map of 1911 shows the district boundary north of the railway line (Union and Rural District), but the parliamentary borough boundary remaining where the original division was. The map also shows more houses at the London Road end of the road.

1911 OS map

The houses were renumbered at some point and are even on the north side, starting at 2 at the London Road end to 26 at the western end, and odd on the south side from 1 to 23.

1950 OS map

The houses on the north side don’t have bay windows, while those on the south side do. The original houses, numbered 7 to 23, have Corinthian style pilasters on either side of the bay window and front door.

Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.