-

 Finding the Villas....Part 2

It is surprisingly difficult to find out exact dates for when the villas were demolished. However, an Ordnance Survey map of 1959 shows all eight villas whereas one revised and published in 1968 show that The Hoo, Fairwood and Fernbank had, by that time, been demolished. 
 
Lapsewood



Demolished sometime in the early 1970s, very little remains of this substantial house. Adjacent to Sydenham Hill, the levelled ground is some 2-3 metres lower and this marks the site of the house. There is a high brick retaining wall that divided the grounds of Lapsewood from those of Beechgrove next door. Although not shown on the 1870 map, that of 1916 shows the gap between Lapsewood House and this wall had been filled in by a glass structure, perhaps a conservatory. Further along Cox's Walk, the remains of the greenhouses can be found emerging from the ivy. Mainly brick footings and retaining walls, also there are some tiling panels still to be found. The mulberry tree is a remnant of the garden of Lapsewood Lodge.
 
The wall dividing Lapsewood from Beechgrove (to the right).

Footings of part of the range of greenhouses in the grounds of Lapsewood.

Tiling panel in the ruins of the greenhouses.

Beechgrove

As Beechgrove was the last villa to be demolished (1983), it is of no surprise that there are more remains to be seen of this than any of the other villas.

Map extract from 1916 survey
 

On Sydenham Hill, there is a drop curb showing where the entrance drive crossed the pavement and this section of road retains the boundary wall along most of the frontage of the property.

Entrance drive from Sydenham Hill into Beechgrove.

The greenhouses were built at the boundary with Lapsewood.

The path follows the alignment of the drive in from Sydenham Hill.

The steps down from the road to the service area. The house would have been to the left of the photo.

The cellars, which adjoined those of Fairwood.

What looks to be an old heating boiler, probably from the days when Beechgrove was a care home.

The wall between the grounds of Beechgrove and Fairwood.

Photo taken sometime between the wars and map survey of 1952

The photo and map suggest that the garden was modified sometime after the First World War as the steps and sundial shown on the 1952 map are not shown on the 1916 survey. A sundial can be seen in the bottom right of the photo and marked as SD on the map, both are circled above.

The base of the sundial.
 

The sundial base lies by an open glade, which is shown on the 1952 map as a rectangle. Perhaps this was a tennis court as an open area of lawn would not have been shown on an OS map. If it was a tennis court, it might explain why the area has not yet been grown over by trees. 

The following post will look at what remains of the other villas.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
  Protecting our Wood The trees making up our woodland are a mixture of native species and garden survivors from Victorian development. Before the expansion of London, the Wood was used extensively to provide raw materials for ship-building on the Thames and timber for general building in domestic and agricultural use. As such, many species were coppiced to maintain a steady and reliable supply of wood. Species suitable for this type of woodland management include ash, hornbeam and hazel. When a tree is coppiced, its main trunk is cut down to the ground and soon new side shoots will emerge to grow upwards. Depending on the size and age of this growth, the shoots can be harvested for various uses such as canes, posts and palings. Coppicing can extend the life of the tree enormously and the resulting patchwork of light and dark increases biodiversity. Without coppicing, the woodland will grow old and degenerate, species diversity declines and ecological health suffers. Unfortunately,...
Read more
-
Image
Drains and More Steps   The drainage system on Crescent Wood Road has been causing big problems for the Wood. When there is heavy rain and especially during a thunder storm, polluted water overflows from the drain covers in the road and cascades into the Wood. This has caused damage to the newly improved section of path and steps near the tunnel mouth. It seems Thames Water thinks it has done everything it needs to do, however, the problem remains.  Consequently, the Wood's volunteers have started to put in place mitigation to help tackle this.  Slowly but surely, new steps are being added to the main path down from the Crescent Wood Road entrance. These should help where heavy footfall and water damage have eroded the path to make it uneven. The new steps use materials from the Wood such as branches as well as recycled material such as scaffolding and decking boards. The steps are backfilled with crushed concrete and then topped with li...
Read more
-
Image
Finding the Villas....Part 3 Fairwood Of all the villas along Sydenham Hill, Fairwood has left the best-known relic, the folly and its accompanying cascade. However , the re are other clues as to its existance. Just inside the fence along Sydenham Hill, there is a gate-post complete with ironwork, there are footings for greenhouses and, against the wall separating it from Beechgrove, there is lead flashing suggesting a hot house of some sort. There are also the remains of the main terrace and its cellars.     Remains of Fairwood.   Gate post for Fairwood's drive. Fairwood's cellar wall, in the background, a chute, perhaps for coal deliveries? Steps leading down from the terrace to the garden. The wall between Fairwood and Beechgrove. What was once a lean-to greenhouse, note remnants of a plaster coating and eyes in the brickwork for training vines.  O.S. maps show terraces in Fairwood's garden. The sudden change in level suggests this is one of them. Half way down f...
Read more