Tag Archives: Commonside West

Commonside West houses near Windmill pub

A postcard from around 1910 shows houses on either side of the Windmill pub:

c1910 Commonside West

An OS map of 1932 shows the houses and the pub marked as P.H. :-

1932 OS map

The 1925 street directory describes the occupants, from north to south, starting at Cold Blows (not named, but mentioned as footpath to lower green):

.. footpath to Lower green ..

George Oliver NASH (North Lodge)
Lawrence Thomas BODLE, builder (Avenue Cottage)
James JORDAN
Alfred KILLICK
Harry LOCK
George WEST
Benjamin HILLS
Thomas HIGGS, confectioner
James BOXALL, beer retailer
Charles Thomas SEARS
George SAWYER
Mrs ODELL
John THOMPSON, dairy
William Charles HINES
News of the World Sports Ground (Leonard WHITE, hon. sec.) (Park Place)

The beer retailer is the licensee of the Windmill pub.

The houses before the Windmill aren’t shown on the 1950s OS maps, but two to the south are. See 51 and 52 Commonside West.

News of the World Houses

Houses built along Madeira Road and Commonside West, possibly between 1922 and 1926.

These photos, taken in May 2016, show houses along Commonside West. Most of the houses in Madeira Road have been extended to the front with porches etc.

Commonside West

Commonside West

Commonside West

Commonside West

This photo is from the 1926 article referred to below.

1926 NotW Houses

Architects CULPIN and BOWERS

COST: Approximately £600 per house.

MATERIALS: The external 9 inch brick walls are covered up to the cill levels of the first floors, above which the front has a projecting stucco band and a felt-floated cream-white plaster finish; the chimney stacks are faced with red sand-faced bricks; the window casements throughout are of wood; the halls and sculleries have red composition floors, and the roof is covered with variegated sand-faced plain tiles.

Source: an unnamed architectural magazine being sold on ebay


Building application no. 350 submitted by the News of the World for ’28 cottages, Commonside East (sic) and Madeira Road’ was approved by Mitcham Urban District Council on 12th September, 1922. Source: Proceedings of the council Volume VIII 1922 – 23.


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