Tag Archives: Church Road

T.W. Palmer & Co., Ltd.

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Engineering company that was at 309 and 371 Church Road, Merton SW19.

Offices in Church Road, from their 1960s catalogue and colourised. It housed technical and admin staff of 50.

Listed as Constructional Engineers
in the 1963 Borough of Mitcham List of Factories,
(Available at Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.
Reference L2 (670) MIT)

In the 1939 electoral register, Thomas Walter PALMER of 371 Church Road is listed as living at 123 West Side, Clapham Common.

News Articles

Mitcham Firm Helps Solve A London Traffic Problem

Company history, from the Surrey History Centre:

The company was set up in 1894 by T W Palmer, R H Alderman and Alfred Botting, who found themselves unemployed when a company of fencing suppliers, for which they worked, had to close. All three were members of the Baptist Church in Victoria Road, Clapham.

Operating from a rented basement in Victoria Street, Westminster, the three men purchased and fixed themselves wire fencing, sailings and gates and very soon moved on to making their own iron standards, pillars and gates. By 1901 they were able to purchase a site in Merton which became known as the Merton Abbey Ironworks. The fencing business was eventually made into a separate company, called the Victoria Fencing Co Ltd, in 1919 and the original company branched out into steel constructional engineering projects of a wide variety. Among these were some of the pontoons used in the Mulberry Harbour Scheme for the D day landings in Normandy in 1945, the London County Council’s Hyde Park Corner Marble Arch development, the Elstree Film Studios, the Avonmouth oil boom, a power station at Dekhelia, Cyprus, Kingston upon Thames railway bridge, and various factories, iron stairways, railings and gates.

In 1966 the Greater London Council redevelopment plan included a proposal to reallocate land in Merton including the T W Palmer site, from industrial to residential purposes. In spite of objections raised this resulted in the compulsory purchase of the site and the closing down of the company and selling of plant in 1969.

Booklets and Brochures

Brochure

ABC of Fabricated Steelwork

Brochure

The following scans were provided by the son of an employee at the factory (photo below), who believes it is from the 1960s.

ABC of Fabricated Steelwork

10ft Guillotine

10ft Guillotine

Circular Saw clipped

Circular Saw clipped

Drawing Office

Drawing Office

Letterhead

Letterhead

Main Office Block

Main Office Block

Main Structural Shop

Main Structural Shop

Plate Flanging Machine

Plate Flanging Machine

Plate rolling

Plate rolling

Radial Drill Boring

Radial Drill Boring

Template floor

Template floor

This booklet listed the products fabricated.

A

Angle Frames
Angle Curbs
Arch Bars
Ash Hoppers

B

Baffle Plates
Balconies
Balustrading, Stair and Balcony
Basin Supports
Beams, Simple and Compound
Bedplates
Bench Supports
Boiler Platforms
Bolts, Purpose Made
Boot Scrapers
Brackets
Bridges
Bridge Bearings
Buckets, Tipping, Dumping, etc.
Buildings, Complete Structural Framework
Builders’ Ironwork
Bunkers, Plate

C

Cable Supporting Steelwork
Caisson Steelwork
Canopy Frameworks
Cantilever Brackets
Cat Ladders
Catwalks
Ceiling Supports
Chassis Frames
Chequer Plate Covers
Chequer Plate Framing
Chimneys
Chimney Bands
Chimney Step Irons
Chutes, Plate
Civil Engineering Temporary Steelwork
Clothes Posts
Cofferdams
Columns, Solid Steel or Tubular
Column Guards
Column Moulds
Constructional Steelwork
Conveyor Structures
Corbels
Coupling Boxes
Cowls
Crane, Beams
Crane, Jibs & Booms
Crane, Structures
Crane, Rails
Curbing, MS or CI
Cutting Edges
Cylinders

D

Davits
Dock & Harbour Steelwork
Door Frames,
Doors, Fireproof
Doors, Hinged
Doors, Sheeted
Doors, Sliding
Doors, Wicket
Down Pipes & Clips
Duct Covers
Duct Framing
Ducting

E

Electric Cable Supporting Steelwork
Escalator Trusses
Expansion Joints, Bridge & Road
Eyebolts

F

Fencing, Mild Steel or Wrought Iron
Fender Brackets and Fittings
Field Gates
Fire Escape Staircases
Fire Escape Ladders
Fire Resisting Doors
Flanges, Plate
Floodlighting Towers
Flower Boxes, Plate or Sheet
Flues
Footbridges
Formwork
Foundation Bolts
Fruit Enclosures
Furnace Steelwork

G

Galleries
Gangways
Gantries
Gates, Mild Steel or Wrought Iron
Gates, Tubular
Girders, Simple, Lattice and Compound
Grandstands
Gratings, Pavement
Grillages
Grilles
Guard Bars
Gutters
Gutter, Brackets and Straps

H

Handrailing, Mild Steel
Handholds
Hay Barns
Hoist Frames
Holderbats
Hook Bolts
Hoppers, All Types

I

Incinerator Steelwork
Ironwork, General Builders’

J

Jetty Iron and Steelwork
Jibs

K

King Rods

L

Ladders, Mild Steel or Wrought Iron
Lift Cages
Lift Components
Lift Structures
Lighting Brackets
Line Pole Steelwork
Liner Plates
Louvres

M

Machine Guards
Machining
Manhole Covers & Frames
Manhole Ladders
Masts, Steelwork
Mat Well Frames
Mechanical Handling Steelwork
Mooring Rings
Moulds, Plate or Sheet

N

Netting Stakes

O

Oven Steelwork
Overhead Crane Structures

P

Parapet, Bridge Railing and Fencing
Partitions, Mesh or Sheeted
Pavement Gratings
Pedestrian Guard Rails
Pile Driving Caps and Leaders
Pile Frames
Pile Shoes
Piling Gantries
Pipe Supports
Pipe Brackets
Pipe Bridges
Pipes, Plate
Pipe Saddles
Plate Rolling and Bending
Platework, Riveted or Welded
Platforms
Platforms, Railway Awnings and Canopies
Pole Lighting Equipment, Railway
Portal Frames
Power Stations, Structural and General Steelw
Pressure Vessels
Profiling, Gas
Purifier Box Covers
Purlins
Putlogs

Q

Quarry Plant Steelwork

R

Radiator Brackets
Rafts, Mild Steel
Railing, Mild Steel & Wrought Iron
Railing, Tubular
Reaction Tanks
Refuse Chamber Doors
Refuse Chutes
Refuse Hoppers
Ring Bolts
Road Form Stakes
Roof Straps
Roof Trusses
Rope Standards
Runway Beams and Supports
Rush Barriers

S

Safety Bars
Safety Cages
Safety Rails
Scraper Mats
Screens, Mild Steel or Wrought Iron
Screens, Wire Mesh
Screwed Rods
Self-Supporting Chimneys
Sheeting Rails
Shin Bar Railing
Shuttering, Plate
Shuttering, Tunnel
Signal Structures, Railway
Sink Supports
Skips
Sliding Doors
Smoke Pipes
Smoke Plates
Solid Steel Columns
Solid Steel Handrailing
Spiral Staircases
Splice Plates
Spray Booths
Stable Fitments
Staircase Balustrading
Staircases
Stanchions, Simple and Compound
Standards, Solid Forged
Standards, Tubular
Step Irons
Stillages
Storage Racks
Storage Sheds
Straps, Mild Steel or Wrought Iron
Structural Steelwork

T

Tanks, Plate and Sheet
Tank Saddles
Tennis Court Surrounds
Threaded Rods
Tie Rods
Trailer Framework
Tree Guards
Trench Covers and Framing
Trestles
Trolleys
Troughing
Truck Frames
Tubular Columns
Tubular Gates
Tubular Handrailing
Tubular Structures
Turnbuckles
Trunking

U

“U” Bolts
Undercarriages

V

Ventilator Ducting
Vessels, Plate and Pressure

W

Walkways
Walings
Wall Plates
Wall Ties
Washer Plates
Welter Tower Structures
Water Treatment Steelwork
Weather Cravats
Weed Screens
Weir Plates
Welded Structures and Platework
Wharf Iron and Steelwork
Wicket Gates and Sweeps
Wicket Doors
Wind Tunnels Steelwork
Window Guard Bars
Wire Mesh Screens

Allen Terrace

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Allen Terrace was the row of 39 houses on the west side of Church Road between Batsworth Road and the footpath opposite Lewis Road.

In the street directory of 1911 it was listed sequentially from 1 from on the corner with Batsworth Road, to 39.

Church Road was renumbered between 1912 and 1915, and so no. 1 Allen Terrace became 165 Church Road and no. 39 became 241 Church Road.

1952 OS map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland, reuse CC-BY.

Occupants in 1905

No. or name Terrace Resident
2 William FORD
3 Michael ROUT
4 Arthur William CAREY
5 Alfred BIRCH
7 William GILBERT
8 James BRYAN
9 George BIRCH
10 Ely STOPHER
11 Charles WARMAN
12 Arthur CARTWRIGHT
13 John HOWE
16 William THURSTING
17 Joseph PROCTOR
18 William OVER
19 William ROSS
20 Charles TIMMS
21 James GIBBS
23 John TAYLOR
24 James OXLEY
25 Benjamin PARSONS
26 Edward ROGERS
27 Richard TICKNER
28 John CURTIS
29 Cecil Octavius PURDEY
30 John PINEGAR
31 James LANGLEY
32 Charles Henry GARNER
33 Thomas STRUDWICK
34 Frederick LANGRIDGE
35 Matthew Henry BATEMAN
36 Joseph Henry MANCE
38 George FRASIER
39 Walter STRUDWICK

Occupants listed in street directories

1912
Houses numbered as Allen Terrace.

1, Joseph SIMMONDS, greengrocer
(no other entries)

1915-1916
Houses now renumbered.

165, Joseph SIMMONDS, greengrocer
(no other entries)
241, George BIRCH

1925

165, Mrs Caroline JENNER, grocer
167, Septimus Thomas INGHAM
169, Michael ROUT
171, Charles GARDNER
173, Charles COLE
175, Alec MOUNT
177, Charles Frederick CHALLIS
179, William GIBSON
181, Alfred Henry SHELLEY
183, Mrs Mary KILLICK
185, William SAYERS
187, Thomas THORNTON
189, Arthur Edward PETTIT
191, Walter JACKSON
193, John FRY
195, George THURGOOD
197, (no entry)
199, Harry STRUDWICK
201, Edward ROGERS
203, Edward GIBBS
205, James GIBBS
207, Mrs GREENAWAY
209, James STEVENS
211, James OXLEY
213, Mrs ASPLAND
215, Mrs HUNTINGFORD
217, Frederick PARSONS
219, John CURTIS
221, Harry CRADDOCK
223, Henry James PENEGER
225, Joseph SIMMONDS
227, Mrs GARNER
229, Douglas BISHOP
231, Mark WHEELER
233, Mathew BATEMAN
235, Arthur PARSONS
237, Thomas William SALES
239, Seymour FRASER
241, George BIRCH

The London Picture Archive has a photo of part of the terrace, from no.s 173 to 233, taken in 1977.

A photo Eric Montague took from the flats on the Phipps Bridge Estate in 1967 show the rear of houses from 241Church Road, as highlighted below:

Clip of photo taken by Eric Montague in 1967. Reproduced by kind permission of the Merton Historical Society. Image reference mhs-em-pb-11

Newspaper articles

Croydon Times – Saturday 20 May 1911

HAY ASTRAY.
MITCHAM MAN CHARGED.

Joseph Simmonds, 45, of Allen’s terrace, Mitcham, and George William Taylor, 36, of Ivy Lodge, Sutton-road, Mitcham, were charged with stealing and receiving two trusses of hay from a barn at Hill Farm, Mitcham, the property of Mr. Neighill, value 4s.

— A bailiff, in the employ of the prosecutor, said he was taken by a detective to Simmonds’s house and saw the two trusses of hay. He recognised them as being like those in the barn. The hay was of the same quality, and they were tied up with bands that be had made himself.

Taylor had been employed at the farm for eight years, and had always given satisfaction. He told witness on Saturday morning that he had taken two trusses of hay to Mr. Simmonds as a sample, and he thought it would help him a bit.

— Detective McMullen said that from information received on Saturday, he went to Simmonds’s house. He there saw the hay, and after telling witness that he was making enquiries about the hay, defendant said “That’s right; last Thursday morning a man came to my house and said ‘ I have two trusses of hay for you.’ I said ‘I don’t want them.’ He said ‘You must have them,’ and left them there.” Defendant said he gave nothing for them. On Saturday witness saw Taylor at his home, and told him he would be arrested. He said “Quite right, sir, I took the hay and gave it to Mr. Simmonds. I thought it would do him a bit of good.”

— Simmonds, on oath, said he was a greengrocer, and had been in Mitcham for about 40 years. He knew Taylor, having met him at the P.B.A. Brotherhood at Mitcham. About seven o’clock on Thursday morning Mr. Taylor brought the hay in a van, and said “There are two trusses of hay for you.” Witness replied that he did not want them. He said he must have them and took them out of the cart. After putting them in his stable, witness went on his round. On Friday morning he told his wife he would not touch the hay until he had seen Mr. Taylor. On Saturday the detective came.

— Taylor now pleaded guilty, saying he was very sorry.—The Bench discharged Simmonds. It was stated that Taylor had been in the army, and bore a good character. He was, therefore, also discharged with a caution, the Bench expressing a hope that his employer would take him back.