Victoria Works | Mitcham History Notes

Three pumps that were erected in the early 1930s on the grounds of the Victoria Works, on what became known as the Windmill Trading Estate, today the Meadows housing estate, corner of Windmill Road and Commonside East.

1940 OS map reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland, reuse CC-BY

This 1934 ad from the Croydon Times, via the British Newspaper Archive.

WARDOLEUM MOTOR OIL 10/- FOR 5 GALLS CAN FREE TAX FREE XL WARDOLEUM MOTOR OIL
medium heavy HIGH QUALITY ENGINE OIL. XL QUALITY Free delivery in the county of Surrey. Cash with order on delivery. MITCHAM COMMON FILLING STATION WINDMILL ROAD, MITCHAM

From The Merton Historical Society Local History Notes 18: by Iris C Marshall, née Overy on page 3 : “In Samuel Ward’s grounds was the house known as the Woodite Villa. A family by the name of Skinner had lived there and when they vacated the premises, the property served as an office dealing with customers calling at three pumps that were erected in the foreground in the 1930s.”

Factory at 2/10 Commonside East producing ‘Margarine, Cheese, etc.’ according to the 1963 Borough of Mitcham List of Factories.

This factory was on the corner of Commonside East and Windmill Road, which is a housing estate today called Talbot Close. This 1954 OS map shows two named factory buildings: Victoria Works and Towers Works.

1954 OS map

The Victoria Works was registered with the Land Registry by Mitcham Foods Ltd in 1959, according to the London Gazette, publication date 12th June 1959, issue 41737 page 3831.

According to Eric Montague in his book Mitcham Common, page 77, Mitcham Foods Ltd left the premises in 1965 which was then taken over by S. & R.J. Everett & Co., surgical instrument manufacturers. The factory estate was later known as the Windmill Trading Estate.

The brand name ‘Mitcham Maid’ was used on its cheese spreads, as shown in these box tops:

Mitcham Maid Cheese celery spread

Mitcham Maid cheese spread

The boxes contained segments of spreadable cheese, as seen in ‘Dairylea’ products today:

Mitcham Maid cheese spread segment

An evening shift of 4 hours at three shillings, nine pence and a farthing per hour came to fifteen shillings and a penny. Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to sixteen pounds in 2018, or around £4 per hour.

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

Mitcham History Notes

Some notes about history of Mitcham, Surrey

Tag Archives: Victoria Works

Mitcham Common Filling Station

Mitcham Foods, Ltd.