The Bell Inn dominated the crossroads at the centre of Upminster for around 200 years until its demolition in the summer of 1963, to be replaced by a featureless parade of shops with an ugly car park above. These days it may well have been saved and given an imaginative renovation that breathed new life into the premises but in the early 1960s the conservation movement had not taken hold and we can only look back with nostalgia at what might have been. Continue reading
St Mary’s Lane, North side: Part 2 – from Garbutt Road to the Cosy Corner Crossroads
The article follows on from the last one which covered the eastern part of the north side, from the Cranham boundary to Garbutt Road. We therefore pick up the story at the west side of Garbutt Road, and continue westwards, towards the Bell/Cosy Corner Crossroads, a road frontage stretching some 400 yards which by the mid-1930s had been developed into houses and shops. How do a former “Public Enemy No.1” and a famous magician have links to here? Read on! Continue reading
St Mary’s Lane, North side: Part 1 – from the Cranham boundary to Garbutt Road
The earlier article about the south side of St Mary’s Lane ended at the Cranham boundary so that’s where this exploration of the opposite, north side starts. The south side had historically formed the New Place Estate, only developed for shops and housing in the 1920s and 1930s, but in contrast the north side was made of up a variety of plots of land in various ownership, developed in a piecemeal way over more than two centuries. This article covers the eastern part of the north side, from the Cranham boundary to Garbutt Road, approximately a 320 yard road frontage. Continue reading
Tales from the grave: the Rowe family of Upminster
I never planned to write this article! I fully intended to keep my promise to publish the history of the north side of St Mary’s Lane. But in local history research the path is rarely straight and narrow – it can lead you down dead ends or spring off in unexpected directions. So what started as research into a family who lived in St Mary’s Lane led me to detailed exploration of something quite different and revealed fascinating insights into Georgian Upminster. Continue reading
The Road to Cranham – Part 1 South Side
It’s almost half a mile from the main Upminster crossroads eastwards along St Mary’s Lane to the parish boundary with Cranham and although this now forms a continuous stretch of shops and houses, a century ago the stretch of road looked very different and remained a tree-lined country lane with few buildings, much as it had in throughout the Victorian era. The post is one of two that covers the development road once known as Cranham Lane – now St Mary’s Lane – and looks at the south side. Continue reading
The hidden history of Harold Court
Where in Upminster parish was a building erected as a gentleman’s house, that became a children’s home, a “lunatic asylum”, TB sanatorium, local hospital, education college and now flats? Give up? It’s Harold Court, close to the northern extremity of the parish by the main Greater Anglia railway line. Continue reading
Historic Upminster Hill
The stretch of St Mary’s Lane running westwards from the main crossroads towards Hornchurch, running down Upminster Hill to the River Ingrebourne at Upminster Bridge, is an area steeped in history, with the greatest concentration of old and listed buildings in the parish. What follows provides a summary of the history of those buildings that stand or stood on either side of this route. Continue reading
Posted in Upminster Buildings & Places
Tagged Abraham family Upminster, Bridge House Farm Upminster, Congregational Church, Hill House School Upminster, Ingrebourne Cottages Upminster, Ivy House Upminster, Mavisbank Upminster, The Hollies Upminster, The Manse Upminster, Upminster, Upminster Bridge, Upminster Hill, Upminster Windmill, Upminster Workhouse
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Upminster’s Victorian Scandal: Rev P M Holden’s life and times
On this day, 19th January, in 1873, now 143 years ago, the congregation assembled as usual to worship at Upminster’s St Laurence Church and to hear the sermon of their Rector, the Reverend Philip Melancthon Holden, whose “fire & brimstone” orations were rarely dull. His sonorous voice and eloquent speech were a marked contrast to his predecessor, his aged uncle John Rose Holden, who had died 11 years before. But when Mr Holden entered the pulpit about 50 of the more influential members of the congregation abruptly arose and left the church. What on earth had prompted this public protest against their clergyman? Continue reading
Posted in Upminster People & Events
Tagged Bell Inn, Holden family, Rev P M Holden, St Laurence Church, Upminster, Wedlake
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A walk down Corbets Tey Road
Earlier articles have looked at the history of the area of Upminster south of St Mary’s Lane, including New Place, High House, Hoppy Hall and Gaynes Park. This piece takes a look at the history of the other properties which stood, or in two cases still stand, along the east side of Corbets Tey Road from south of Byron Parade down to the stream which runs into Gaynes Parkway. Continue reading
Posted in Upminster Buildings & Places
Tagged Bow Villa, Corbets Tey Road, Foxhall, Gaynes Cross, Hunts Farm, Sir James Esdaile, Tadlows, Upminster, West Lodge
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A village at war: Upminster 1914-18
St Laurence Church Hall
When the newly completed St Laurence church hall had opened on 17 April 1914, “the result of a year’s labour”, few would have guessed that within four months it would be pressed into emergency service as a hospital as part of the war effort. Within a few days of the outbreak of war on 4 August 1914 a proposal to convert the new premises “into a convalescent home for the care of men discharged from hospital”, initially with twelve beds but with the capacity to expand to 20 beds if so required was put forward. Continue reading
Posted in Upminster People & Events
Tagged Upminster, War Memorial, William Leefe Robinson, World War 1
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Old Upminster 