A terrace of 5 houses that were on Tamworth Lane at the corner with Grove Road. Possibly built around 1870, they were demolished in the early 1980s.

This 1974 photo by Eric Montague shows the terrace as occupied.

Clip of photo taken by Eric Montague in 1974. Reproduced by kind permission of the Merton Historical Society. Image reference mhs-em-em-ph-l-12
The photo appears in Eric Montague’s book Mitcham Histories : 3 Pollards Hill Commonside East and Lonesome, on page 92.

On this 1952 OS map, four houses are seen with the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, and number 10 may have been part of the terrace.

1952 OS map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

In the 1919 electoral register, the houses were numbered 1 to 5 Sherbourne Cottages:

1, (Sherbourne House), Nellie Antoinette and Lizzie Louisa ALLEN
2, Henry and Louisa WELLER
3, George Henry and Rose WOODS
4, Frank and Emily LINEKER; Alexander Moir THOMSON
5, Charles William and Emma BLACKBURN

The houses were possibly renumbered in the 1920s as 2 to 10 Tamworth Lane.

Sherborne House was larger than the rest, and on the Grove Road side had a bay window, as shown in this photo by Eric Montague, taken in 1980, prior to demolition.

Photo taken by Eric Montague in c.1980. Reproduced by kind permission of the Merton Historical Society.

Eric Montague said in his book Mitcham Histories : 3 Pollards Hill Commonside East and Lonesome, on pages 91 and 92, that these houses were blighted in the 1960s and 70s by the proposed M23 motorway extension. In the event, that extension didn’t happen but these houses had been listed under the Housing Acts in 1963 for demolition. After the tenants moved out, they were vandalised prior to demolition.

Photo taken by Eric Montague in c.1980. Reproduced by kind permission of the Merton Historical Society.