THE MANOR OF HEATHROW
The small Manor of Heathrow or Knight's was
held as freehold of the Manor of Lambeth, to
which a quit-rent of 12d. a year was paid. (ref. 216)
The name “Knight's” suggests that the area was
formerly occupied by the Knight family, who held
much land in Lambeth in the sixteenth century.
The Manor passed into the possession of Thomas
Wiseman and after his death to his son Thomas. (ref. 217)
The latter was a Jesuit priest in Rome and by
1594 he had sold the Manor to William Wiseman
who in his turn had sold it to Francis Fitch. (ref. 218)
It was subsequently acquired by Sir Francis
Goston (ref. 216) in whose family's ownership it remained
until 1658 when Francis Gofton conveyed
it to John Scaldwell. (ref. 219) By his will,
which was proved in 1679, Scaldwell left the
Manor and three adjoining acres of copyhold
of Lambeth Manor to his wife Dorothy for
life and then to his grandson Thomas Fox. (ref. 148)
No later reference to this Manor has been discovered, but by tracing the descent of the adjoining
copyhold in the Court Books the position
of Heathrow has been identified. (ref. 220) It
comprised some 70 acres south of Coldharbour
Lane on the east side of Effra Road and the
north-east side of Dulwich Road. The parcel
of land now covered by Geneva and somerleyton
Roads may also have been part of Heathrow
Manor; on the Lambeth Manor Inclosure map
of 1810 it is shown as freehold land belonging to
W. Angell. Between 1791 and 1806 Robert
Stone bought Heathrow in four parts; it was
then known as Effra Farm. (ref. 221) The value of the
land was greatly enhanced by the layout of Effra
Road in 1810 by the Lambeth Inclosure Commissioners,
and again a few years later by the
building of St. Matthew's Church. Stone divided
the northern part of the area into plots and
granted long leases. A few detached houses (none
of which now survives) were then built. Robert
Stone died in 1820, leaving a widow and seven
children, all minors. His estate was so heavily
burdened with debts that his executors refused to
act, and his affairs were finally settled under
Chancery supervision by a private Act of Parliament. (ref. 222)
Some 33 acres were sold by auction in
1824. The rest of the property was afterwards
let on building leases and sold at another auction
in 1826. (ref. 223) The southern portion of the estate
was bought by the Westminster Freehold Land
Society in 1855, (ref. 224) and what are now Effra
Parade, Chaucer Road, Spenser Road, Shakespeare
Road and Milton Road were laid out on a
much humbler scale than the northern portion of
the estate.
Brixton Unitarian Christian Church, Effra Road
In 1840 the congregation of Brixton Unitarian
Chapel obtained a long lease of a site on the east
side of Effra Road; (ref. 225) the chapel which was
subsequently built there was destroyed by enemy
acton in 1940, and was replaced by the present
temporary building.
Brixton Synagogue, Effra Road
The foundation stone of this synagogue was
laid by Sir Robert Waley Cohen on May 1, 1921;
Cecil Masey was the architect and W. J. Mitchell
and son were the builders. (ref. 145) The walls of the
building are rendered and painted white, and
there is a Tuscan-typed columned porch extending
across the front which is flanked by pedimented
pavilions. There is a gallery round three sides of
the interior.
St. Jude's C.E. Primary School, Railton Road
An inscription on the original building of this
school stated that “This Building dedicated by
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson and other contributors to
the Christian Education of the Infant Poor was
erected A. D. MDCCCXXXIV”.<It was designed by Alfred Bartholomew.> The school
was originally known as St. Paul's Infant School,
but on the formation in 1869 of the ecclesiastical
district of St. Jude's, the management of the
school was transferred from St. Paul's, Herne
Hill, in the parish of Camberwell, to a committee
of the vicar and parishioners of St. Jude's. (ref. 226)
The original building (Plate 35a), which is now
dwarfed by later additions, is a single-storey stock
brick structure with a slate roof; the wall facing
Railton Road is pierced by five groups of three
lancet lights.
Railton Methodist Church, Railton Road
This church was erected in 1874, R. Cable,
being the architect and Richardson Bros, the
builders. (ref. 145) Three years later schools were built
at the rear, the architects being R. and J. Cable,
and A. Peacock the builder. The church (Plate
27c) is built of stock brick with a steeply pitched
slate roof. The front, which is faced with coursed
Kentish ragstone, contains a centrally placed
Decorated Gothic window above the dual entrance,
and two narrow flanking windows above
the secondary doorways.
MILKWOOD
AND WICKWOOD
This portion of Lambeth Manor comprised some
86 acres on either side of Coldharbour Lane; one
piece lay between the Lane and the east side of
Loughborough Junction, and the other piece was
bounded approximately by Poplar Walk, Lowden
Road and Milkwood Road. Until the middle of
the 17th century the whole area was woodland
reserved to the Archbishop of Canterbury, but
the trees were uprooted during the Common
wealth (ref. 227) and after the Restoration the land was
leased for successive terms of 21 years. (ref. 228) In
1711 a lease was granted to William East of the
Middle Temple, (ref. 229) whose descendants continued
as tenants until 1837, (ref. 230) when the lease was surrendered
to Rice Richard Clayton. When it
expired in 1865 the whole neighbourhood was
being transformed by the construction of railways.
The development which took place shortly
afterwards was architecturally undistinguished,
but is of interest through its connection with the
Suburban Village and General Dwellings Company.
The purpose of this Company was “to provide
at the most rapid rate possible, healthy,
pleasant, and comfortable abodes, for the over-crowded
population of the metropolis. The company
will purchase estates in all the suburbs near
to and having direct railway connexion with
London, and erect thereon complete villages.
The houses erected will contain from four to
eight rooms with every domestic convenience,
each house to have a piece of garden ground.
Educational establishments, etc., will be provided,
as also a limited number of shops. …” (ref. 231) Money
was subscribed by 250 working men in hopes of
obtaining houses, and Edward Vigers, Chairman
of the directors of the Company, applied to the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners for a lease of part of
Milkwood and Wickwood. Meanwhile the
Secretary of the Company had spent nearly all
the available funds and the shareholders refused
to pay the calls for extra money needed to implement
the scheme. The directors were all deposed
and an attempt was made to wind up the Company. (ref. 232)
At this unpromising moment W. G. Habershon,
partner in the well-known firm of architects,
Habershon and Pite, of Bloomsbury Square,
offered to take over the estate for its original
purpose. In 1868 he and his partner, A. R. Pite,
reached an agreement with the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners. They were to receive a 99 year
lease of 24 acres, and covenanted to build roads
and sewers and between 480 and 650 houses; as
soon as any houses were completed, separate
leases were to be granted to them or their
nominees. (ref. 233) The first stone of the new village
was laid on March 30, 1869, by Lord Shaftesbury. (ref. 234)
bury. (ref. 234) The two main streets were Milkwood
Road and Lowden Road, and the houses were to
be “very pretty specimens of cottage dwellings in
ornamental brick, and built in six, eight or ten
rooms, exactly as the shareholder and intending
occupier may wish”. (ref. 234) (Plate 73d, fig. 44).
Houses could be purchased by a lump sum payment,
or by instalments spread over 21 years.
By 1872 the project was well under way. The
cheapest houses cost £200, but many were more
expensive. Five houses built in Lowden Road
in 1872 cost £1,739, while four shops elsewhere
on the estate cost £2,559. (ref. 235) Builders were
attracted by the proximity of the estate to the new
railway lines, and by promises of advances of up
to 60 per cent on the cost of every house covered
in, (ref. 236) while purchasers were attracted by the
cheap workmen's fares which the London, Chatham
and Dover Railway Company was compelled
to provide. Within four years of the signature of
the agreement with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners,
The Builder reported that the estate
provided “a striking instance of the new suburban
neighbourhoods rising up in succession in different
places around the metropolis. About the present
time last year the greatest portion of the land
forming the estate was occupied as market gardens,
but the entire area has now been laid out in wide
and spacious streets, all drained and paved, and
provided with ample footpaths, and upwards of
two hundred privated houses and shops have already
been erected and occupied, whilst a large number
of new dwellings are at present in course of
erection.” (ref. 237)
Figure 44.:
Houses in Milkwood Road, plans
The houses on the estate are built in terraces
of stock brick with red brick dressings and slated
roofs. Most of them are two-storeyed, a few
three, and some of each type are raised on semi
basements. The majority are two windows wide,
with an arched doorway and bay window on the
ground floor, and generally stone is used for lintels,
arches and mullions, often with incised designs.
Some mullions have cast-iron columns with
enriched caps and a few houses have gables. Later
development up the hill is distinguished by more
gables, more red brick, square two-storey bay
windows and ornamental terracotta.