Road that runs south-westerly off the west side of Church Road, south of, and parallel with, Liberty Avenue.

The land, described as a grove of trees, was offered for sale as freehold building plots in 1848.

Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle – Sunday 13th August 1848, via the British Newspaper Archive

FREEHOLD BUILDING LAND for SALE, may be PAID for by INSTALMENTS.

Plots of 20ft frontage, by a depth of from 80 to 100 ft. for £20 per plot.

The land is planted with trees to form a grove, to be called Palestine Grove. The soil is very rich, and situation healthy. It is situated opposite the Prince of Wales, near Phips Bridge, leading from Merton Gate to Mitcham Church. This is a good opportunity for those who wish to live in their own freehold, or for builders, as houses would readily let. In order to give the labouring man a vote for the county of Surrey, and to be his own landlord without having to resort to the expensive mode of borrowing from building societies. The purchase money would be received by instalments, or twelve months’ credit would be given.

See board on ground, or for further particulars apply to Mr Engleburtt, 4 Elizabeth-street, Hackney-road. Also two acres of freehold land for £100 at Frimley, two miles from the Farnborough Station.

An auction in 1890 referred to a terrace of five cottages.

Croydon Chronicle and East Surrey Advertiser – Saturday 11th October 1890, via the British Newspaper Archive

SALE THURSDAY NEXT.
By Order of Mortgagees.

Merton Abbey, near Mitcham, Surrey.

Compact Freehold Cottage Property worth £64 10s. per annum and piece of Building Land.

Robt FULLER, MOON and PULLER Have received instructions to Sell by Auction, at the Greyhound Hotel Croydon, on Thursday, October 16th, at Five for Six o’clock, a FREEHOLD PROPERTY, consisting of a terrace of five cottages (brick built and tiled), situate in Palestine Grove, within a few minutes walk of Merton Abbey Station, four of them are let at 5s. a week thus producing £52 0s., also an adjoining piece of building land having a frontage of eighty feet to Palestine Grove (in which there is a sewer), available for the erection of five more cottages.

May be viewed and printed particulars with conditions of sale, obtained of G. Carter Morrison. Esq., Solicitor, Reigate; at the “Prince of Wales,” Merton Abby; at the White Hart Hotel, Mitcham and at the Auctioneers’ offices, Croydon, Reigate, and Epsom.

Allotments on the north side and two rows of houses on the south side, with a row on the west can be seen in this OS map of 1894:

1894 OS map

This 1911 OS map shows the original name of Liberty Avenue, which was Phipps Bridge Road.

1911 OS map

Before being renumbered, the houses were grouped into named terraces, as shown in the 1925 street directory, described as from Church Road:

WEST SIDE

Willow View:

1, Charles O’CONNOR
2, William TANNER
3, John MARTIN
4, Thomas GREENAWAY
5, Walter GREENAWAY
6, Frank SIMPSON
7, Alfred ADAMS
8, Thomas Phipp BROWN
9, Albert Ernest BULL

SOUTH SIDE

Albert Terrace:

6, William HOUGHTON
5, Sidney STONE
4, Mrs JEWELL
3, John EVANS
2, Arthur Charles PAYNE
1, Geogre Henry BLACKALL

————-

1, Alfred BULL
3, Charles BULL
5, Stephen BLAKE
7, Henry William EVANS
9, James NORTON
11, Arthur HYDE (carman)
17, Charkes E. HOLMES
19, Mrs L. RUSSELL
21, Martin FERRIDGE
23, William PRIDDY
25, Albert WHITE
39, Henry James SHEPPARD
41, Alfred TILLER
43, Alfred BULLEN
45, Harry BULL

NORTH SIDE

Drayton Villas:

9, Joseph HOLGATE
8, Charles IVES
7, Arthur DENFORD
6, Frederick George HOWES
5, Charles L. BOWEN
4, George KINZETT
3, William KINZETT
2, John MILLER

Henry W. BUTLER (sack manufacturer)

Mitcham Urban District Council minutes of 6th November 1928, page 464, noted that the residents of the road were asked if they found the current numbering scheme a problem. Eighteen replied that there were inconveniences, ten said there were no inconveniences and eleven didn’t reply.

This 1952 OS map shows the houses renumbered, starting from the Church Road end. Even numbers are on the north, or right side as seen from Church Road, and odd on the other side.

1952 OS map

News Articles

The Scotsman – Friday 23 August 1929

Frank Simpson (55), carman, of Willow View, Palestine Grove, Mitcham, was killed on Wednesday night at Merton, London, when he tried to stop a runaway horse. He was unloading building materials from a horse-drawn trolley when a passing steam waggon scared the animal, which bolted. Simpson hung on to its head for some distance, when the horse kicked him with its forelegs, throwing him to the ground. The trolley passed over his body, with fatal results.

Minutes of meetings held by the Croydon Rural District Council are available on request from the Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.

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