CHAPTER XIII - Stamford Bridge and the Billings Area
The small area (fig. 71) between the south side of
Brompton Cemetery and Fulham Road consisted in the
eighteenth century of a freehold estate in the possession of
the Pettiward family and, at the south-western extremity,
of half a dozen plots either in copyhold tenure or part of
the waste ground of the manor of Earl's Court.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century the section of
the Fulham Road west of what is now the southern
entrance to the cemetery was sometimes, from its propinquity to Stamford Bridge, known as Bridge Street. (ref. 1) Stamford Bridge formerly traversed the common sewer known
as Counter's Creek, a tidal tributary of the Thames which
was one of the principal watercourses for the drainage of
west London and which formed the boundary between the
parishes of Kensington and Fulham. In 1824–8 the lower
part of Counter's Creek was canalised and became known
as the Kensington Canal; but after the canal had proved a
commercial failure a railway line known as the West
London Extension Railway was built along its course in
1859–63, the waters of the ancient sewer being diverted
underground. The present brick Stamford Bridge was
built in 1860–2 but has since been partly reconstructed.
In mediaeval times Counter's Creek had been known
(with numerous variants) as Billingwell Dyche, which has
been reliably thought to mean 'Billing's spring or
stream'. (ref. 2) A map of 1694–5 in Kensington Central Library
marks three fields beside the creek (all now part of
Brompton Cemetery) as 'The Three Billins Wells', which
may perhaps be identified with the 'medicinal spring at
Earl's Court' mentioned by Thomas Faulkner in 1820 in
his History of Kensington. Faulkner states that this medicinal spring 'still retains the name of Billings-well, from a
former proprietor; this has been much frequented for its
virtues, though now scarcely known in the parish'. (ref. 3) By the
eighteenth century, however, the creek was known as
Counter's Creek, this name evidently being taken from
Counter's Bridge, which traversed the creek at the west
end of Kensington High Street. The name, first recorded
in the mid fourteenth century as Countessesbrugge, may
have reference to Matilda, Countess of Oxford, who held
the manor of Kensington at about that time, and who may
have built or repaired the bridge. (ref. 4) 'Stamford Bridge' is
evidently a corruption of 'Samfordesbrigge', several
fifteenth-century examples of which are recorded, meaning 'the bridge at the sandy ford'. (ref. 5) The name is now widely
used to denote the nearby Stamford Bridge Stadium,
which stands on the west or Fulham side of the railway line
and is the home of Chelsea Football Club.
The first building development within the area described in this chapter took place on the copyhold land at
the south-western corner. In 1703 Matthew Child, who
owned land at Earl's Court, was paying rates for a
brewhouse (ref. 6) and in 1707 he was said to have a brewhouse
at Little Chelsea. (ref. 7) This may refer to the brewhouse which
stood somewhere on this copyhold land near Stamford
Bridge and which was occupied from 1711 to 1719 by Mr.
Nurse (or Nourse), from 1719 to 1724 by Mr. Turner,
and thereafter for many years by Richard Osgood, brewer. (ref. 8) Between 1777 and 1784 the ratebooks show that
another brewhouse known as Belchier's or Belcher's stood
nearby, but neither of them is specifically mentioned after
1784, and by 1805 four houses had been built upon part of
the site of Osgood's by John Jessopp of Waltham Holy
Cross, gentleman. (ref. 9) These four houses may be those
shown on Joseph Salway's drawing of 1811 (ref. 10) (Plate
102a), the site of which is now occupied by the glum
five-storey red-brick blocks of flats built in the mid 1890's
and known as Mentone Mansions (architect, Alfred Burr)
and Hereford House. (ref. 11)
In 1789 the house at the west corner of what is now
Billing Road was for the first time licensed as a public
house, known as the Black Bull (or sometimes as the Bull
or Bull's Head). (ref. 12) In 1830 it was bought by the owners of
the Stag brewery, Pimlico, (ref. 13) whose successors, Watney's,
still own it. The present three-storey brick building (Plate
102c) dates from 1874, (ref. 14) and contains vestiges of the
original Victorian bar furniture.
The Billings Area
In 1658 Sarah Pettiward, wife of John Pettiward, esquire,
citizen of London, inherited four and a half acres of
freehold land in Kensington from her father, Henry White
of Putney, baker. (ref. 15) This small estate, situated near the
south-west corner of the parish, and abutting on the
copyhold and waste ground described above, remained in
the possession of John and Sarah Pettiward's descendants
until 1812, when it was sold for £500 to Charles Foster of
Angel Court, Throgmorton Street, auctioneer, (ref. 16) who had
recently purchased two small pieces of adjacent waste
ground from Lord Kensington, lord of the manor of Earl's
Court. (ref. 17)
In 1828 the opening of the Kensington Canal along the
lower course of Counter's Creek temporarily enhanced the
value of the adjacent land, and on 29 May 1830 Foster's
widow granted a ninety-nine-year lease of her estate (then
in the occupation of Samuel Poupart, gardener) to the
chairman and deputy chairman of the Equitable Gas Light
Company. The lessees paid £500 for the lease and
undertook within five years to spend at least £2,000 on
building; the rent was to be £80 per annum. (ref. 18)
Figure 71:
Stamford Bridge and the Billing area. Based on the Ordnance Survey of 1862–72
The Equitable Gas Light Company was a very recently
formed association (not yet incorporated by Act of Parliament) established for the purpose of supplying Westminster and the western suburbs of London with gas. (ref. 19) In the
previous November its leaders had signed an agreement
with Mrs. Foster for the lease of her land, (ref. 20) but very soon
afterwards they decided instead to build their works in
Westminster, a little to the west of Vauxhall Bridge; (ref. 21) and
by January 1831 the company secretary was advertising the
land at Stamford Bridge as to be let or sold. (ref. 22)
The disposal of this prematurely acquired property was,
however, to take over twelve years. In 1835 Mrs. Foster's
heir threatened to take legal action against the company for
failure to fulfill the covenant to spend £2,000 on building
within five years of the date of the lease, (ref. 23) and in 1836 the
company therefore bought the freehold for £2,000. (ref. 24) In
1838 the whole estate was unsuccessfully offered to the
West London and Westminster Cemetery Company for
the very high price of £5,000, (ref. 25) later reduced first to
£4,500 and in 1842 to £4,000; but the cemetery company
refused to pay what it regarded as an extortionate price,
and even rejected the gas company's offer to sell a small
part of the land for the formation of a central entrance to
the cemetery from Fulham Road. (ref. 26) The best offer from
other prospective purchasers was only £3,000, and in
December 1842 the (now incorporated) gas company
decided to put the whole property up for sale by auction in
lots. (ref. 27)
The estate was divided into fifteen parcels, so arranged
that only three, in the centre (now the sites of Nos.
330–342 even Fulham Road and the part of St. Mark's
Grove behind them), had frontages to both the cemetery
and to Fulham Road; and a very high reserve price of
£1,300 was placed upon these three lots because it was
thought that the cemetery company would have to buy
them in order to obtain its much-needed access to Fulham
Road. (ref. 28) In the event, however, the cemetery company
outwitted the rapacious gas company, for at the auction in
February 1843 one of its directors, John Gunter, had to
bid only £475 to acquire the lot at the eastern extremity
adjacent to Honey Lane, with a frontage of fifty-three feet
to Fulham Road, and a piece of contiguous back land with
a frontage to the cemetery. (ref. 29) Soon afterwards Gunter
conveyed both parcels for the same price to the cemetery
company, which thereby at last obtained an adequate, if
off-centre, rear entrance from Fulham Road. (ref. 30)
Five other lots were sold at the auction. William Allen of
Avery Row, St. George's, Hanover Square, plumber and
glazier, paid £620 for four of them, now the site of Nos.
308–328 (even) Fulham Road. (ref. 31) The other lot, now the
site of Nos. 350–356 (even) Fulham Road and Nos. 1–5 or
5a (consec.) Billing Road, was bought by Edward Gingell
of Barrett's Court, St. Marylebone, appraiser, for £215. (ref. 32)
In May 1844 the unsold land was again put up for
auction. Allen bought all the remaining ground east of
Billing Road for £930 (now the sites of Nos. 330–348 even
Fulham Road, all of St. Mark's Grove and the east side of
Billing Road to the north of No. 5 or No. 5a). (ref. 33) To the west
of Billing Road, where the parcel bordering on the canal
had been advertised as 'peculiarly desirable for the construction of a Wharf, Joseph Ball of the Queen's Arms,
Newgate Street, tavern keeper, bid £700 (below the reserve
price, yet nevertheless accepted); but when he found that
owing to the towing path being on this side of the canal, the
Kensington Canal Company would not permit a wharf
there, the gas company had eventually to accept a price of
only £600. (ref. 34) Thus the total yield from the sale of the whole
estate amounted to only £2,840 — hardly more than half
the original asking price of £5,000.
Figure 72:
Nos. 308–328 (even) Fulham Road (Devonshire Terrace), elevations, 1844
Allen lost little time in developing his land. On the
eastern part of the site a long, symmetrical terrace of
old-fashioned-looking houses (originally called Devonshire Terrace and now Nos. 308–328 even Fulham Road,
fig. 72) was built under eighty-year leases granted by
Allen in the latter part of 1844. The lessees were Robert
Gunter of Old Brompton, esquire (Nos. 312, 326,
328), (ref. 35) Thomas Johnson of Little Chelsea, corn dealer
(Nos. 308, 310), (ref. 36) Thomas Pocock of Bartholomew Close,
City, gentleman (Nos. 322, 324), (ref. 37) William Toby of
King's Road, Chelsea, bookseller (No. 314), (ref. 38) and John
Tout of Medway Street, Horseferry Road, builder (Nos.
316–320 even). (ref. 39)
Devonshire Terrace was soon followed by another
range, consisting of ten houses (originally known as St.
Mark's Terrace and now as Nos. 330–348 even Fulham
Road), divided in the centre by a road (St. Mark's Grove)
which provided access to the land at the rear. Nos.
330–344 are in the same general manner as Devonshire
Terrace but have more stucco ornamentation and only one
instead of two windows in the upper storeys. At Nos.
340–344 single-storey shops have been built over the front
gardens. The leases, all granted in 1844–6, were to George
Baker of St. Mark's Terrace, gentleman (No. 332), (ref. 40)
Thomas Johnson (No. 330), (ref. 41) Frederick Nicoll of
Battersea, esquire (No. 340), (ref. 42) and John Tout (No.
338). (ref. 43) (fn. a) At Nos. 342 and 344 Edward Gingell, the
appraiser who had bought the lot adjoining Allen's land to
the west, was the lessee. (ref. 45) In the latter part of 1844 he had
started to build a range of four three-storey shops on his
own land (now Nos. 350–356 even Fulham Road). (ref. 46)
These had no front gardens and were built flush with the
pavement, as also were Nos. 346 and 348 (the westernmost
two houses on Allen's land), where Gingell was Allen's
lessee (ref. 47) (Plate 102b).
St. Mark's Grove, the land behind Nos. 330–348
Fulham Road, was divided by Allen into six large plots
upon which three pairs of semi-detached houses (all now
demolished) were built. Allen's lessees were William
Simon of Brewer Green, Westminster, builder (two
houses, lease granted in 1846), (ref. 48) Frederick Cooper of
Paulton Square, Chelsea, gentleman (one, leased 1845), (ref. 49)
William Toby (one, leased 1844), (ref. 50) and Edward Gingell
(two, 1852). (ref. 51) Another house, Grove Cottage (also now
demolished), was later erected by Gingell behind Nos. 340
and 342 Fulham Road. (ref. 52)
In 1938 Kensington Borough Council bought the whole
of St. Mark's Grove for the building of working-class flats,
and all the houses were demolished in the following year.
The Council also contemplated purchasing the adjoining
area, now generally known as 'the Billings', but after the
outbreak of war both schemes were suspended, and in
1945–6 eleven temporary bungalows were erected in St.
Mark's Grove. In 1959–60 three four-storey blocks of flats
for the aged were built here by the Council, to designs by
the Borough Engineer, H. Burleigh. (ref. 53) In 1973–4 four
small private houses having their access from St. Mark's
Grove and known as Nos. 51–54 were built in the back
gardens of Nos. 326–338 Fulham Road. The architects
were Harry Spencer and Associates. (ref. 54)
Edward Gingell also became the owner of the whole of
the range of small two-storey brick-fronted houses without
basements on the east side of Billing Road (formerly St.
Mark's Place or Road), having built Nos. 1–5 or 5a on his
own freehold land (ref. 55) and acquired the remainder under
leases of 1846 and 1852 from Allen. (ref. 56) All of them were
occupied by 1848. (ref. 57) The public house at No. 1 was
originally known as the Prince of Wales, (ref. 58) but by 1861 it
was called the Bedford Arms. In c. 1966 its name was again
changed to the Fox and Pheasant. (ref. 59) The angle in its
frontage is probably the result of a dispute between Gingell and Allen about the line on which Billing Road was to
be laid out. (ref. 60) (During this dispute Allen was described by
the gas company's surveyor as 'the most unreasonable and
litigious man I have had to deal with for some time.' (ref. 61) ) At
No. 5a there was originally a cowshed, used by the dairyman who occupied No. 5. (ref. 62)
Billing Road provided the only access to the little selfcontained estate bought by Joseph Ball. This was soon to
be covered with rows of small two-storey terrace houses
with basements and, facing the canal, a group of eight
cottages. Within a few months of his purchase of the
ground in 1844 Ball was having sewers built, but by
February 1845 he had evidently disposed of all of his land
under an agreement with Christopher Crew, a Chelsea
bricklayer to whom or to whose nominees all Ball's building leases were subsequently granted. (ref. 63) The whole of
this development, comprising some fifty-two houses, was
completed by about 1856. (ref. 57)
The first range to be occupied (by 1848) was Nos. 1–8
(consec.) Stamford Cottages, whose tiny gardens fronted on
the towing path of the canal. At Nos. 1 and 2 (which in
1982 are in course of having an additional storey built to
designs by Anthony R. Harding), the lessee, nominated by
Crew, was William Biscoe of Chelsea, gentleman: (ref. 64) at Nos.
3–5, the first of two groups of three cottages, the lessees
(also nominated by Crew) were respectively Robert Cripps
of Chelsea, gentleman, William Hooper, and John Ravenhill of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, gentleman; (ref. 65) and at
Nos. 6–8 (all built by Crew), Henry Martin of Battersea
Bridge Road, tailor, who was evidently financed by the West
London and General Benefit Building and Investment
Society. (ref. 66) At Nos. 9 and 10 Stamford Cottages it was
originally intended to build a public house, (ref. 67) and in 1846
the site was let to James Collis of Pitfield Cottage, Eltham,
Kent, an architect who specialised in public houses and
shops. (ref. 68) But this idea was soon abandoned and in 1852
(Collis's lease having presumably been cancelled) Christopher Crew took the ground and built Nos. 9 and 10
here. (ref. 69)
In Billing Place (until 1938 known as North Street)
James Wormsley of Chelsea, builder, was the lessee for
Nos. 1–8, all occupied by 1850 (ref. 70) (Plate 103b) and William
Tayler of Young Street, Kensington, builder, for Nos.
9–15, not all occupied until a little later (ref. 71) (fig. 73). Tayler
also built the adjoining Nos. 15–17 Billing Road, while at
Nos. 18–20 the lessees were respectively Thomas Gingell
of Fulham Road, upholsterer, John Townsend of St.
Mark's Terrace, and Joseph Stone, also of St. Mark's
Terrace, grocer. All of these were occupied by 1852. (ref. 72)
Further south, Christopher Crew took the sites of Nos.
21 (in 1849) and 22 (in 1855). (ref. 73)
In Billing Street (until 1938 known as South Street) all
nineteen houses were occupied by 1854 (ref. 57) (Plate 103a, fig.
73). On the south side the lessees were the St. Marylebone
and Paddington Joint Stock Building and Trading Company (Nos. 1–3 consec.), William Bundey of Stamford
Cottages, builder (Nos. 4–6), and Christopher Crew (No.
11 and at least one other). (ref. 74) On the north side they were
Crew (Nos. 12–15, 18 and 19) and Edward Foster of
Chelsea, builder (Nos. 16 and 17). (ref. 75)
The census of 1861 shows that the inhabitants of this
little enclave (including the east side of Billing Road) were
almost all working-class. The largest group of heads of
household comprised those engaged in the building trades
(bricklayer, carpenter, etc.), 21, followed by labourers and
transport workers (bus drivers and conductors, cab or
engine drivers, etc.), 14 each, laundresses, 9, and gardeners, 8. Many of the houses were evidently let out in
lodgings, with the absentee owner paying the rates: cases
in point are the builders Wormsley and Tayler in Billing
Place, and Gingell on the east side of Billing Road. The
total number of inhabitants in the 66 houses involved was
550, giving an average per house of 8.3. The highest
number in any single dwelling was 18, at No. 1 Billing
Street. (ref. 76)
Figure 73:
Billing Road and Billing Place, typical elevations
By 1881 the situation had not greatly changed. Heads of
household included 26 labourers, 23 engaged in the
building trades, 14 in transport and 12 laundresses; and
there were also four policemen and three grave-diggers,
the last no doubt employed at Brompton Cemetery nearby.
The total number of inhabitants had fallen slightly to 529
(average per house, 8.01). The highest number in any
single dwelling was 17, at No. 9 Stamford Cottages. (ref. 77)
In his survey of living conditions in London, Charles
Booth in 1902 placed the inhabitants of this little area in
the category of 'Poverty and Comfort (mixed)'. (ref. 78) In
1929–30 his successor categorised them as 'skilled workers and others of similar grades of income'. (ref. 79) In more
recent years this social ascent has continued with increasing rapidity, and in the late 1950's 'the Billings . . . started
to become fashionable.' In 1962 a number of houses were
being modernised and three quarters of them had 'elected
to lose their humble past . . . Douglas Fairbanks' daughter
has lived there; a peer has been seen looking over one of
the properties. The Billings can be said to have arrived.' (ref. 80)