Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser – Saturday 21 August 1852

By (Mks of the Trustees of the late T. Tredwell, Esq. (important Freeholding Building or Residential Estate), known as St John’s Lodge, Knight’s Hill, close to West Norwood Station, comprising a capital family house (as occupied continuously for 34 years b y the testator and members of his family), 14 bed chambers, dressing room, bathroom dining room 36 feet by 27 feet 8 inches, drawing room 30 feet by 16 feet, second drawing room, morning room, library, conservatory, 39 feet by 20 feet 6 inches, servants’ hall, offices, extensive cellarage, stabling for six horses, coachhouses, cottages for coachman and gardener, farm yard buildings, lodge, carriage drive, lawns and ornamental grounds, cedars, fish reservoir, fountains, conservatories, vinery, rosary, summer houses, kitchen gardens, vine and peach houses, ornamental water, island and well-wooded meadow land, in all 21 acres and forming on of the most complete residential properties of the kind pithing the like distance of London.  The land has a frontage of about 1,168 feet to Knight’s Hill and on the north-west side abuts upon the St. Julians’s Park Estate.  It is well adapted for immediate development for building purposes.

Norwood News April 3^rd, 1886

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1841 Knights Hill residents from census:

 James Smith a solicitor.  Joseph Petty a Plumber.  His son a painter.  Daughters dressmakers.  William Park a bricklayer.  George Currick a carpenter and his son Thomas a butcher.  Sarah and Hester Bates living on their own means.

1851 Knights Hill residents from census:

 Edward Austin a dairyman.  Thomas Austin his son a dairyman.  Ann Brooks owner of a schools with 16 pupils and 3 servants.  Marian Amall an annuitant with 2 daughters and 2 servants.  Henry Webb a gardener.  William Hagland a cordwainter (shoemaker).  William Land a landholder.  John F. Hyde owner of Whitgift property.  George Gould a farm labourer.  George Davis a gardener. William West an agricultural labourer.  Alexander Heather a coachman.  Thomas Bates an agricultural labourer.  Ellen Hedger a laundress.  Chris Morrison a gardener.  Richard Hammond a gardener with lodgers working as a boot and shoe maker and white smith.  Job Laming a worker in the India Rubber Company.  John Bacon a carman.  Daniel Sweeter a gardener.  William Camden a shepherd.  Richard Barnes an engineer.  Thomas Cubbed a pharmacist.  James Arnott a gardener.  Richard Redford a coachman.  William Street an apothecary.  Mary Wilson a landed proprietor.  E. F Marton and Elizabeth Davis living on their own means.  William Dutton builder.  John Townsend a gardener.  Ben Wilcox a carpenter.  Charles Ode a Gardener Foreman.  Harriett Nicholson a schoolmistress.  Joseph Mosely a builder.  Hirmam Munt a coach maker.  John Hills a gardener.  John Lee – Linen Draper House.

1861 Knights Hill residents from census:

Moses Staples – landed proprietor and 3 servants.  Thomas Maudsley – engineer and 6 servants.  Robert Armistead – master florist and daughters who were milliners.  James Manfield – retired silk merchant and 3 servants.  James Stratford – shorthand writer and 2 servants.  Joseph Miles – gentleman gardener.  John Valentine – distiller and 2 servants.  Charles Eley – manufacturer and 4 servants.  James Swaysian – under gardener.  James Holland – fundholder and 3 boarders working as clerk to general merchant, bank clerk and clerk and 2 servants.  Alexander Sharpe – physician and 3 servants.  Herbert Cannan – official assigned of HM Bank and 4 servants.  Sarah Boyd widow and son a carpenter.  James Furst – labourer and gardener and carman as sons and a lodger as labourer.  William King – labourer.  Benjamin Peed – head gardener with daughter as pupil teacher and 2 lodgers as under gardeners.  St John’s Lodge. Thomas Tredwell –  as building contractor and 5 servants.

Foreigners’ Almshouses.   Charlotte Burmester –  a widow with daughters as dressmaker and governess previously.  Theresa Enterman – master tailor’s wife.  Anna Bruce – plain needle woman and daughter the same.  Marguerite Dufour – formerly French governess.  Dessie Ritterskamp – formerly lodging house keeper.  Judith Aanensen – widow of captain.  Sophia Welham – needlewoman.  Joseph Anneli – teacher of music.John Becker – warden of arms houses.  Sophia Holm – formerly housekeeper.  Charles Goodchild – formerly sailor.  Arnold Beckman – furrier.  Emmanuel Prissier – formerly stationer and daughter a needlewoman.  Jaco Grimm – formerly baker.  Maria Maud – formerly laundress.  Matthew Ottergold – formerly shoemaker.  John Kenman – tailor.  James Home – formerly clerk in London.

Distressed Foreigners.—A piece ground has been taken at Knight s Hiil, Norwood, for the purpose of erecting almshouses for distressed foreigners. The building expenses are estimated at £3,000. 

Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser – Saturday 21 August 1852

Knights Hill. George Sparks – beer seller and 1 servant. George Dyman – coachman and wife charwoman.  Eliza Gritton – husband a railway inspector but away.  Henry Eyre – retired army captain and 1 servant.  George Sutton – police constable.  Thomas Buck – greengrocer.  Samuel Larkin – gardener and wife laundress.  William Moon – agricultural labourer.  Richard Redford – harness maker and fly painter.  Elizabeth Laurence – retired and son a shoemaker.  Samuel Hart – bricklayer.  John Thorn – grocer and cheesemonger.  William Knott – Waiter and wife dressmaker.  Septimus Own – tailor.  Emelia Mathews – draper.  Jane Kingston – royal nanny.  David Haycock – architect and land surveyor.  Rowland Buck – builder employing 6 men.  John Sheldrick – grocer and son assistant at the Crystal Palace.  Charles Taylor – schoolmaster.  George Fowle – master builder and 2 servants.  William Smerdon – journeyman carpenter.  Jonathon Bunker – bricklayer, son journeyman bricklayer and lodger journeyman bricklayer.

1871 Knights Hill Residents (from Census):

Knight’s Hill. Ann Brown and sister – lodging house keeper.  Walter Cooke – shop baker.  Hannah Killsey – china dealer and son a turncock.  Henry Dunston – chamber music master employing 1 man.  Henry Phillips – news vendor and 1 servant.  William Phillips – pharmaceutical chemist.  Thomas Rowley – gardener and wife – draper and 1 servant.  Edwin Smith – decorator and brother in law a stationer.  Henry Roofe- painter and glazier and wife painter.  William G Trotman – retired grocer and 1 servant.  Charles Chipping – watch and clock maker and jeweller.  Henry Weaver – gardener and 2 servants.  2 Knights Hill Terrace.  Mary Elmwood and 3 sisters – living on invested money and 1 servant.  2 Knights Hill Terrace.  Edward Everett – woollen draper and 1 servant.  2 Madeira Villas.  Joseph Liddell – sugar dealer and 3 servants.  1 Madeira Villas.  Elizabeth Tyts – annuitant with daughter and sister – annuitants.  1 Madeira Villas.  George Kent – merchant and 2 sisters – annuitants.  Eastmount.  James Wright – civil service engineer admiralty and 2 servants.  Beaumont House.  James Mansfield – retired silk manufacturer and 1 servant.  Beaumont House.  Robert Armistead – florist and seedman.  Mandelays Buildings.  James Livermore – carman.  Coach House Rooms Over.  Samuel Byford – coachman.  Thomas Maudslay – master engineer and landholder with 5 servants.  Anne Staples – landholder with 2 servants.  1 Eden Villas.  Thomas Bull – financial agent and his wife Charlotte Bull – conductor of lay’s school and 1 servant.  2 Eden Villas.  William Wye – wine merchant.  4 Eden Villas.  Hannah Godby – annuitant and 1 servant.  5 Eden Villas.  Henry Edmunds – sugar buyer for wholesale grocer and 3 servants.  7 Eden Villas.  John Harris – medical practitioner and 1 servant.  8 Eden Villas.  George Hughes – commission merchant and wife – dealer in lace and 2 servants.  9 Eden Villas.  G P Merrett – civil engineer and 1 servant.  10 Eden Villas.  Thomas Thompson – potato merchant and 1 servant.  11 Eden Villas.  John Chambers – commercial clerk and patenter.  12 Eden Villas.  Frances Jacob – governess and partner – governess with 6 boarders as scholars and 1 daughter as scholar and 1 servant.  13 Eden Villas.  Mary Elston – annuitant and 1 servant.  4 Brunswick Cottages.  Jane Page Wills – governess.  James Gower – laundress.  3 Brunswick Cottages. George Hepburn – civil engineer.  2 Brunswick Cottages.  Louisa Pack – dressmaker.  I Brunswick Cottages.  James Evans – gardener and wife laundress.  Emma Leadbeater – dressmaker.  2 Brunswick Place. Robert Shuckford – annuitant and 1 servant.  1 Brunswick Place.  Amos Ardie – household property with son – engineer and son and daughter – theatrical and 1 servant.  2 Stone Villas.  Frederick Bardo – stationer and 2 servants.  Foreigners Alms Houses.  1 – Cusslatt Burmester – annuitant. 2 – Geneore Aanensen – annuitant and 1 servant.  3- William de Comolera – artist.  4 – Gracinie Bougie – annuitant.  5 – empty.  6 – Henry Blepebure – annuitant.  7 – Emily Bruce- dressmaker.  8 – empty.  9 – Derengere Lavell- annuitant.  10 – absent.  11 – empty.  12 – empty. 13 – Christian Londner – tailor.  14 – Margarett Phelps – annuitant.  15 – empty.  16 – empty.  17 – empty.  18 – Sarah Holm – auctioneer. 19 – empty.  20 – empty.  21 – Anne Jonery – merchant’s widow.  24 – Sophia Holm – annuitant.  Marguerite Tudor – annuitant and formerly governess.  25 – Sophia Welham – annuitant.  John Mourmermy – messenger to society.  St John’s Lodge.  Charles Heath – lodge keeper.  Benjamin Reed – gardener.  St John’s Lodge Bailiff’s Cottage. William Lamslin – farm bailiff.  St John’s Lodge The House.  Anne Treadwell – landholder and 5 servants.  Knight’s Hill Cottage – William Sharp – coachman and wife dressmaker and 2 servants.  Laurrell Cottage.  Sarah Boyd – annuitant and son – carpenter.  Knights Hill House.  Herbert Cannan – public accountant and 5 servants.  Alex Harp – G. P. with governess and 3 servants.  Knights Hill.  John Ballentin – distiller and 3 servants.  Quilter’s Lodge at the gate.  George Bown – gardener.  William Quilter- accountant.  Coach House Rooms Over.  John Everett – coachman.  Knights Hill. Thomas Garngr – leather buyer and 1 servant.  Thomas Johnson – advertising agent and son coffee broker’s clerk and 2 servants.  Norbury Cottage.  Godwin Timms – physician, governess and 1 servant.  Belle View.  Charles Wilson – official officer from Lloyd’s Sewage Association from Indian Navy and 3 servants.  Clearmont House.  Lord Huntley – GP and 1 servant.  Norwood Cottage.  Elizabeth Meade – house and property and investment, sister annuitant and 2 servants.  Toy shop.  Elizabeth Wilcox – carpenter employing 1 man and daughter – shop assistant.  Baker’s shop.  Charles Harriss – master baker employing 1 man.  Butcher’s shop.  John Roberts – butcher employing 2 boys and 2 servants.  Shop.  Arthur Deacon – carpenter.  Grocer’s shop.  Bartley Wilson – master grocer employing 2 men. 1  Deaconj’s Cottages. Elizabeth Cupps.  John Skinner – gardener.  2 Deacon’s Cottages.  William Hart – gardener.  3 Deacon’s Cottages.  James Lovell – gardener.  Charlotte Morris – dressmaker.  4 Deacon’s Cottages. Thomas Freeman  and lodger – plug makers.  5 Deacon’s Cottages.  Thomas Tyrell – bread and biscuit maker.  6 Deacon’s Cottages.  Henry Feirs – gardener.

1881 Knights Hill Census

I High Street to Chapel Road East Side

1. Norwood Hotel Henry Osborne – Licensed Victualler, wife, 2 sons – barman and scholar and servant
2. Knights Hill Dairy Daniel Jones – Cow Keeper, wife, 3 sons and 2 servants
3. Ivy Lodge James Wilson – carpenter, 2 daughters and 1 son
4. Sophia Gaston – fancy depository, sister
5. George Carpenter – poulterer, wife, daughter, brother in law, 2 boarders

Anton Rudeshause – master baker, wife,

6. John Sheldrick – grocer and widower

Knights Hill Police Station  – James Glover – Inspector of Metropolitan Police,   wife, 3 daughters and 2 sons

9. Frank Wilmot – labourer, 2 sons- scholars, 2 daughters and 5 lodgers – labourers
10. William Doe – carpenter, wife, 2 lodgers
11. Frederick Mott – Police Constable, wife, daughter
12. George Whittaker – gardener, wife
13. George Bunker – coachman, wife – laundress, 5 daughters – laundress and scholars, 1 son
14. Thomas Rippon – Bootmaker, 1 son

      John Bacon – small farmer, wife, 1 son and 5 daughters

15. Amelia Hibberd – widow.4 lodgers – manufacturing, policeman, mason
16. Edward Allen – stoneman employing 1 man, wife, 7 sons – grocer’s assistant, mason, scholars,
17. Isaac Norris – stone mason’s labourer, wife, daughter, lodger – marble mason
18. Josiah Collar – carpenter, wife, boarder – carpenter
19. Joseph Petty – master decorator employing 5 men, 3 daughters – governess in infants’ school, schoolteacher, scholar, 1 son – decorator
20. George Sparks – beer seller, wife, 4 sons – upholsterer, carpenter, bricklayer, scholar, 2 daughters – mantle maker, milliner

Almshouses – The Lodge – Frederick Graham – cemetary gate keeper, 2 sons, 1 daughter

3 Stone Villas Frederic Bardo – 2^nd Lieutenant M and A.V., wife, 5 daughters – scholars and 2 sons – scholars, 1 servant and 1 nurse

2 Stone Villas Alfred Temple – in the service of the Corporation of the City of London, wife, 2 servants

1 Stone Villas George McLeod – gentleman, 1 son – insurance clerk, 1 daughter, 1 nephew – insurance clerk, 1 servant

St John’s Lodge Annie Tredwell – Independent Means, 1 daughter – independent means, 5 servants – cook, 2 housemaids, parlourmaid, kitchenmaid

St John’s Lodge The Gate – Charles Heath – Lodge Keeper, wife, grandson – decorator

Cottage in Grounds  William Lanedin – Farm Servant, wife – farm servant

Benjamin Pearce – gardener, wife, 2 sons – gardeners

Knights Hill House William Anderson – Banker, 3 daughters – scholars, 4 servants

No Name Alex Sharpe – General Practitioner, wife, 3 daughters, 4 servants

Ivy Bank Edith More – Officer’s Widow, 2 daughters, 4 servants

Portobello Lodge Joseph Taller – Head Gardener, wife, son – leather collector, 1 companion, 5 servants – nurse, butler, head housemaid, under housemaid, cook

Portobello Stables – Elizabeth Gray – Butler’s Wife, 1 daughter, 2 sons – baker, porter, gardener, scholar

Arnam Villas Frances Adams – independent means, 1 daughter, 1 son – clerk, 1 servant

Thomas Johnson – General Collector, wife – teacher of music, daughter – artist, son – shipbuilder’s clerk, 1 servant

Rosalie Arthur Nichols – Collector for property, wife

Belle Vue Florence Gillett, 1 son, 1 mother, 1 cousin, 1 sister in law, 3 servants

Claremont Andrew Snow – oil merchant, wife, 2 sons, 4 servants – housemaid, nurse, under housemaid, cook

The Bays William Taunton – General Practitioner, 1 daughter in law, 1 brother in law – tea merchant, 1 brother – gentleman, 2 servants

Norwood Cottage Mary Harper – laundress and lodger, 1 daukghter

George Cottle – butcher, wife – laundress

Toy Shop Elizabeth Wilcox – toy shop keeper, 6 daughters – toy shop assistant, house keeper unemployed, 4 dressmakers, nurse, 1 son – carpenter

Baker’s Shop Charles Harris – Baker, 1 daughter – housekeeper, 1 servant

Butcher’s Shop John Roberts – butcher, wife, 1 son, 1 daughter, 3 servants  – 2 2 butcher’s assistants

Stationers Henry Phillips – Bookkeeper.  Wife. 3 sons – scholars.  3 daughters – milliner, scholars.  1 servant

Grocer’s Shop William Bartley – grocer.  Wife.  1 servant

1 Dibden Cottages.  Charles Dyer – coachman.  Wife.  3 daughters.  1 son.

1 Dibden Cottages George Prior – lodger, gardener and coachman.  Wife. 1 lodger

2 Dibden Cottages Joseph Chandler – gardener.  Wife. 2 lodgers – cow keeper, cow man

     3 Dibden Cottages Ann Freeman – widow.  1 daughter.  I lodger – charwoman

4 Dibden Cottages James Levill – gardener.  Wife. 1 son – gardener

5 Dibden Cottages Arthur Ambrose – plumber.  Wife.  1 lodger – carpenter

6 Dibden Cottages Thomas Cooper – Excavator.  Wife.  1 son – clerk

7 Dibden Cottages William Copland – greengrocer.  Wife.  5 sons and 1 daughter

Ivy House Anne Brown.  1 lodger.  1 sister – assistant

Molacourt James Upingham – gardener.  Wife.  1 daughter.  I lodger – grocer

Plumbers Thomas Lewis – plumber. Wife.

Oilman Samuel Newcomb.  Wife  1 daughter

Chemist William Phillips – chemist.  3 daughters – teacher’s assistant, milliner,  scholar.  1 son – assistant chemist.  1 housekeeper.  I assistant chemist.

Draper William Gunn – draper.  Wife.  1 daughter. 1 niece. 3 draper’s assistants.  1 servant. 1 lodger

Watchmaker Charles Chipping – watchmaker.  Wife.  5 daughters – 2 watchmaker’s assistants, 2 scholars.  2 sons – scholar. 1 boarder – formerly nurse.

Bootmaker Lewis Wayborne.   Wife.  3 sons

Crown Cottage Edward Bull – Gardener.  Wife.  1 daughter – lady’s maid.  3 sons – 1 grocer’s boy, 2 scholars

Lisborne House Emma Hopkins – private income.1 daughter – private income.  2 servants – cook, housemaid

Medina Villas Mary Elwood.  4 sisters.  1 servant

Medina Villas Edward Everett – Retired woollen draper.  2 daughters.  3 servants

Medina Villas Joseph Milstede – underwriter.  Wife.  1 daughter.  2 sons.  3 servants – cook, housemaid, nurse

Medina Villas William Gibbs – member of the stock exchange.  Wife.  6 daughters – scholars.  3 sons – scholars. 1 sister in law – investments.  2 servants – cook, nurse

East Mount Henry Coe – umbrella manufacturer.  1 daughter.  2 sisters  1 servant

Beaumont John Hoare – gardener.  Wife – gardener.

Nursery Samuel Martin – gardener.  Wife.  1 daughter. 1 brother – gardener.

Knights Hill Thomas Manderley – engineer.  Wife.  Daughter.  Companion.  4 servants – cook, parlourmaid, housemaid, laundry maid

Garden Cottage Charles Gunter – gardener.  Wife. 2 sons

Barton Louisa Truscott – interest on money invested.  Nurse.  Servant

Meadow Bank Arthur Fawcett – Solicitor’s Articled Clerk.  2 Servants – parlour maid, cook

Silverdale Robert Fogg – civil engineer.  Wife.  2 nieces.  2 servants – housemaid, cook.

1 Essex Villas  Thomas Sheppard – manager of public company,  Wife.  Mother.  Niece – scholar.  Son

2 Essex Villas Jane Allen – property.  2 daughters.

3 Essex Villas William Hubbard – clerk at Bank of England.  Wife. Son.  2 servants – housemaid, domestic servant.

4 Eden Villas Sarah Spires – money from house property.  3 daughters.

5 Eden Villas Clara Musgrave- of independent of means.  1 sister. 1 servant

6 Eden Villas Thomas Gammon – retired jeweller.  Wife.  2 daughters.  1 grand daughter.  1 servant.

8 Eden Villas Edward Cooper – manager of silk warehouse.  Wife.  2 daughters.  2 servants – housekeeper.

9 Eden Villas Charles Regan – agent to silk manager.  Wife, Daughter.  1 servant.

10 Eden Villas Thomas Thompson – potato merchant.  Wife.  2 sons – clerks

11 Eden Villas Henry Judge – clerk.  7 sons. – scholars.  1 daughter.  1 servant

The Story of Norwood J. B Wilson (Reflecting Knight’s Hill in circa 1949)

From the Top of Knight’s Hill

On the corner of Crown Dale was the original Norwood post office.  When the inhabitants of Norwood petitioned for a Post Office it was placed at this extremity of the district.  This may be because it was thought only the wealthy residents of Beulah Hill would be capable of writing letters.  The first postmaster was Mr John Gardiner.  Stamps were sold through a small window like a railway booking office window to people standing outside.

Next to the Post Office was a small piece of ground where a tiny shop was built by Mr Jack Blunden who sold winkles there.

The next shops were called Clifford Place.

On the other side of the road at the corner of Crown Lane stood a shop kept by Mr Rose, the builder.  He brought his bride there on horseback, sitting pillion in front of her husband.

The next shop was a grocer’s, Mr Pretty.

Then some small cottages called Dibdin’s Cottages named after a well-known family called Dibdin.  Miss Emily Dibdin died at 307 Beulah Hill in 1938 aged 83 and was great-grand daughter  of Charles Dibdin 18^th century actor, musician, poet and playwright.  Her father was Reverend William Dibdin and her brother Sir Robert was a President of the Law Society.  Charles was founder of the Civil Service Lifeboat Institute.  Sir Lewis Dibdin was Dean of Arches and Vice-General of Canterbury.  Edward R Dibdin was Curator of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

Norwood Cottage was the residence of Mr Wilcox, the builder, whose mother kept a toy shop next door.  After he died the house was converted into a petrol station.

Next door was The Bays and this was the home of doctors, beginning with Dr Sharp who shared the medical practice of Norwood with Dr Chapman of Norwood Road.  The last doctor living there was Dr. Smallwood.

Beside this house was a piece of waste ground where a small housing estate was built.

Then came 3 houses.  The first was incorporated into Carl Hentschel’s photo-engraving works which then moved to Wolfington Road.    Carl was the original “Harris’ in Jerome K. Jerome’s famous story ‘Three Men in a Boat.’  In the next house stained glass windows were made.  The next house was called Portobello0 with a semi-circular drive in front of it.  Mr Quilter who lived at Portobello had a bitter argument with his neighbour opposite, Mr Thomas Maudslay, a brother of Mr Joseph Maudslay of Crown Lane and a partner in the same engineering works.  Mr Quilter erected a building which was the exact replica of the entrance to Mr Maudslay’s engineering works facing Mr Maudslay’s private residence so that every morning Mr Maudslay saw his works staring him in the face.  Mr Maudslay planted a row of evergreen trees in front of his house to hide the ugly building from his view.  Mr Maudslay’s house was called ‘Knight’s Hill House’ and it stood where the Knight’s Hill playing field stood in 1949.  The two men made up their quarrel and Mr Quilter offered to pull the building down but Mr Maudsley said no.    Portobellow was pulled down in 1949 and an extensive housing estate was built.

Next to Portobello were two semi-detached houses – Ivy Villas and the house which was converted into Lambeth Maternity Home with 4 wards and 22 beds.

Fields of the St John’s Lodge estate extended from here to Wolfington Road.  St John’s Lodge estate was once occupied by an Indian family named Colvin.

Opposite Maudsley’s house stood a large house called Burton Dassett once occupied by Mr Jules Levy a famous cornet soloist.  Dassett Road is named after it.  At the corner of Darlington Road once called Durham Road stood a newish house called Silverdale.  A local story tells that this house was put up for auction and a local builder only offered £65 as a first bid.

On a piece of ground between Darlington and Chapel Roads known as “Staples Rough” was built a row of houses of mixed architecture and the Knight’s Hill Wesleyan Church.  The Reverend William Lavers conducted services as early as 1828 but it wasn’t until 1853 that the Knight’s Hill Church was opened by Reverend Dr Bunting for services.  Additions to the chapel were made.  In 1866, the Chapel gallery was erected.  In 1894 the large vestry adjoining the chapel and three classrooms were added.

On the corner of Chapel Road and Knight’s Hill stood the Norwood Technical Institute.  Originally called the Lower Norwood Working Men’s Institute it was presented by Mr Arthur Anderson.  He also gave the houses next to it on Knight’s Hill called Stone Villas.

Where Rothschild Street is where the Huguenot’s Almshouses were built in Tudor style.  There were three large blocks in the shape of the letter “U”.  The main block facing Knight’s Hill had a small turret and the two side blocks had quaint little staircases half outside the building and half inside.    Originally erected by the Society for Aiding Indigent Foreigners but failing to carry out its beneficent intention the property was sold to Mr Spartali a Greek merchant under whose ownership the tenements remained empty for 15 years.    The property was put up for letting and was then knocked down.

At the corner of Rothschild Street stood the Primitive Methodist Chapel.

In the dip of Knight’s Hill were several old cottages and shops, some of which remain.  The old “Rosemary Branch” was quite different from the present public house, being a two-storied building, at the back of which were tea and pleasure gardens.

Next to it where is now the bus garage stood a similar little shop belonging to Mr Petty.

The house of Mr Boorer, the decorator, at the corner of Ernest Street is another of these original old cottages.

Where Ernest Street now meets Knight’s Hill stood a grocer’s shop, a low-pitched double-fronted place once kept by Mr John Thorn who was clerk and sexton at St Luke’s Church.

The more modern premises of Mr Heard’s Dairy stand between Mr Boorer’s house and another of these old cottages which for many years was the West Norwood police station.  The two policemen in the days of Lower Norwood Mr Harding and Mr Marsh who did 12 hour shifts, one from noon to midnight and the other from midnight to noon the next day.  This police station was then closed.

There were three old fashioned shops below the police station towards Knight’s Hill Square.  This little turning once called Soapsuds Square contained a pretty little colony of very old one-storied cottages, some of brick and others whitewashed.    They were some of the oldest property in Norwood.  Most of the property in the square was destroyed by the flying bomb in 1944.

Opposite Wolfington Road behind the shops stood a Public Hall opened in 1886 by the Lord Mayor of London, the centre of entertainment in Norwood.  One entered the Public Hall from Knight’s Hill and walked down a long carpeted slope with palms on either side into the Hall itself.  There were concerts and amateur dramatic performances.   A long line of carriages would drawn up outside the Public Hall.    There was Upper Norwood Amateur Dramatic Society, the Old Lancastrians and the Ellesmere Dramatic Club.  There was the Norwood Choral and Orchestral Society.  The Public Hall was also the scene of lively meetings at election times.  The Public Hall closed after the First World War.

The West Norwood Railway Station was built in 1858 for the West End and Crystal Palace Railway.  When the station was first built there was a signal box high on a level above Knight’s Hill by the side of the station nearest to Cotswold Street.    This was later replaced by a signal box on the platform and later replaced in 1928 by a signal box at West Norwood junction.    The early trains were quaint old four-wheeled coaches with oil lamps on the roofs.  Pretty little Stroudley tank engines in light brown livery and tall copper-topped chimneys pulled the trains.    They were named after the stations on the line – Crystal Palace, Anerley, Norwood but these were discontinued as passengers mistook the names of the engines for the destination of the trains.

The Brotherhood Institute was once a house occupied by a Dr. Austin.  Then after the First World War it became the Lambeth Borough Maternity Home before it moved premises higher up the hill.  The West Norwood Brotherhood began at the Congregational Chapel in Chapel Road but needed more accommodation for its Sunday School so they purchased the premises on Knight’s Hill and built a splendid hall on the side of it.    This hall opened in 1928.  Every year the Brotherhood Pantomine was performed and had a fine orchestra.  There was also the West Norwood Sisterhood.  Both performed a great deal of charitable work.

The Royal Cinema opened in 1909 to 10 and was the first “Picture Palace” in Norwood.

Between Wolfington Road and the railway the only house in Wolfington House School kept by Mr and Mrs Compton.  They afterwards moved to school to Lancaster Road where it became Lancaster College.

By the side of the railways stood the Jew’s Hospital and Orphanage.  It was one of the oldest charitable institutions of Jews in England.  In 1861 Mr Barnet Meyers who owned property in Norwood presented the hospital with nine and a half acres of freehold land on Knight’s Hill.  The foundation stone was laid by Sir Anthony Rothschild on June 6^th, 1861.    The building was designed by Mr Tillot.  The buildings included a small synagogue and school workshops .  the Arnold and Jane Gabriel Homes were added to the main building.  During the Second World War the building was evacuated and used as a training college by the National Fire Service.

Where the railway line is now stood the Horns Tavern.  This was the oldest public house in Norwood and is marked on Rocque’s map of 1746 and on all succeeding maps.  The original building was pulled down when the railway came but a new building was erected at the side of the railway which was pulled down in 1937 to make way for larger public house.

Between the Horns and the bottom of Knight’s Hill stood an old house lying back with well wooded gardens called Elm Cottage.  It was originally the parsonage.  Mr Nettlefold of Streatham bought the site and presented sufficient of it to Lambeth for the erection of the Public Library which was opened in 1888 at a total cost of £4,500.  The name Nettlefold Place commemorates this gift of land.  The Library was enlarged in 1936.  Next to the Library if West Norwood Sorting Office.