A cul-de-sac road off of the west side of London Road, opposite Figges Marsh, built around 1919/1920.

1953 OS map

The houses are numbered sequentially, clockwise, from number 1 on the south side to number 20 on the north side. They all have the postcode CR4 3LH.

According to Tom Francis, it was named after the Poplars School that was situated there, facing the Figges Marsh. This school was demolished after the outbreak of fever.

Occupants from the 1925 street directory

South Side

1, Stanley BACON
2, James R HUNT
3, Thomas HUMPHRIES
4, Arthur McGAHEY
5, Joseph Walter THOMPSON
6, Benjamin YEOMANS
7, Chester James CAPON
8, Alfred HEALY

West Side

9, Charles GALE
10, Joseph BAMFORD
11, Godfrey STONE
12, Charles Thomas UTTON

North Side

13, Mrs M. UTTON
14, Percy John LAMB
15, Frederick John CHARD
16, John James MEPHAM
17, Thomas PARKER
18, Albert Henry HOOPER
19, Samuel HART
20, Leonard George DREWETT

News Articles

Gloucester Citizen – Saturday 25 June 1927

DOUBLE MOTOR FATALITY

Mr John J. Mepham, Poplar-avenue, Mitcham, died on Friday from injuries received in a motor crash at Godstone, which his wife was killed.

1st September, 1944
Mitcham Man’s Gallantry – Awarded the M.M.

The name of the road was suggested in a Housing Committee meeting of the Mitcham Urban District Council, dated 7th September 1920, volume V, page 202. It was part of the post-WW1 housing scheme on London Road, which included Lavender Avenue, Rose Avenue, Camomile Avenue and Biggin Avenue.

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