IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Downton Avenue, LONDON, SW2 3TU

These attractive edwardian terraces are in Wyatt Park Rd which runs from Streatham Hill the A23 to Normanhurst Rd.

Cricklade Avenue is part of the ABCD Estate - so called after its principal roads, Amesbury, Barcombe, Cricklade and Downton Avenues. It is more properly known as Leigham Court Estate. The original part of the ABCD Estate was built on the 66 acre estate of Leigham Court which had been purchased by the Artisans, Labourers and General Dwellings Company in 1890. Development took place in the 1890s. Suburban houses were later built further away from the main road as here in Cricklade Avenue.

The brick corner block was built c1955 after the previous occupier of the spot was destroyed by a flying bomb on 24th June 1944. It was extended in the same style to the right, c1962. The building on the far right is a recent addition on the former site of Warwick Wright garage which preserves the scale, but is otherwise without merit.

A contrasting mix of brick and terracotta in this parade of shops, with flats above. It is within the Leigham Court Estate Conservation Area. The Leigham Court development was one of the first model housing estates, designed for and built specifically to house the middle classes at the end of the C19th, and anticipated the garden suburbs of the early C20th. The estate was organised so that it had a sufficient mix of maisonettes, flats and houses (around 1,000 in total), as well as shops (seen here), and a church. It was built by the Artisans', Labourers' and General Dwellings Company, whose architect was Rowland Plumbe, in 1894-1905. Although built on a grid-iron street pattern, variety was provided by the details of elevations, e.g. porches, bay windows, gables, dormers, and by the use of different materials, e.g. red, yellow and glazed bricks, clay tiles, terracotta. The estate was purchased by the London Borough of Lambeth in 1966. Information from Lambeth Council (http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/exeres/CE4B5CE1-0387-40ED-B5A9-273A5160C34A.htm ).

No. 39 is a small two-storey rendered house. The building on the right is a 1960s office block currently used as a healthcare centre. They are within the Streatham High Road and Streatham Hill Conservation Area for their group value. The course of Streatham High Road has been a major highway between London and Sussex since Roman times. Its current appearance is largely attributable to two major spells of development. The first was during the late C19th following the opening of Streatham Hill station in 1856, and the second was after 1911 when the line to Victoria was electrified. Though much-maligned and undoubtedly blighted by heavy traffic, closer examination reveals that the road is lined with a number of interesting buildings, some of which reflect the period between the wars when Streatham was a fashionable centre of entertainment. Information from Lambeth Council (http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/exeres/CE4B5CE1-0387-40ED-B5A9-273A5160C34A.htm ).

A photograph of the garden can be seen at www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7487365

A photograph of the garden can be seen at www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7487365 and the information board at www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7487369

A road from Hailsham Street, divides here. Downton Avenue leads left to Streatham Hill and right to Hillside Road. Normanhurst Road (upper left) heads to Wavertree Road. Also Nuthurst Road (upper right) heads to Wavertree Road.

Just before midnight on 27th July 1944, a V1 landed here and killed Charles Kerby, a nearby resident living at 23 Wavertree Road. The site was neglected for many years but this garden has now been created by local residents. See photographs for close ups of the information board at the entrance www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7487369 and the plaque on the right www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7487375

Just before midnight on 27th July 1944, a V1 landed here and killed Charles Kerby, a nearby resident living at 23 Wavertree Road. The site was neglected for many years but this garden has now been created by local residents. See photographs for close ups of the information board on the left www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7487369 and the plaque on the right www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7487375