Our streets as we know them date from the mid-19th century, give or take some post-war demolitions, but their history can be traced back much earlier.

open land

From about the sixteenth century St George’s Fields was the name given to the area south of Bankside and West of Borough High Street.  In medieval times it was an open field, belonging to Southwark Manor, divided into

strips in the usual medieval field system, the ownership pattern of which survives in the street layout to the north of Borough Road.  The only major track led from the Lambeth Horse Ferry to the present Elephant and Castle junction, but otherwise the area between Borough High Street and Lambeth was undeveloped.  The only river crossing was the medieval London Bridge, apart from which the principal means of crossing the river was by boat. 

new bridges and roads

All this changed in the middle of the Eighteenth century with the construction Westminster and Blackfriars Bridges which opened in 1750 and 1769 respectively.  There were many conflicting proposals for developing the area thus opened up, but by 1780 Blackfriars Road was built to St George's Circus, and most of the other local roads were laid out at the same time.  This prompted a building frenzy so that by the time Southwark Bridge was built (1819) it was no longer possible to drive the road through in a straight line

charitable institutions

Low site prices attracted many charities to the area though nearly all have now gone.  The Bethlehem Hospital swapped its site at Moorfields for the much larger area on Lambeth Road (1810-16).  The Hospital moved in 1930 and Viscount Rothermere bought the site; the building became the Imperial War Museum and the surrounding park was named after his mother. 

Newer charities bought land – for example, the School for Indigent Blind bought a triangle enclosed by St George's Road Lambeth Road , London Road and Ebeneezer Place (1812).  This was compulsorily purchased in 1901 for the terminus of the Bakerloo Line.  To the east of the School was what we now know as the Albert Triangle which was bought by The Philanthropic Society

“The Philanthropic” was founded in 1788 to provide for the children of criminals, to teach them a trade and make them useful citizens.  Initially nearby houses were rented, then from 1793 parts of the site were leased and in 1809 the whole triangle was purchased.  A wall was built round the west and east sides with a main gate to London Road approximately by the kerb in front of the Albert Arms.  The St George's Road frontage was mostly taken up with a chapel and a building for the girls.  The west side contained workshops and boys dormitories and there was a large pond at the present junction of Gladstone and Colnbrook streets. 

The Society flourished for half a century but by the 1840s income had diminished as the area became industrialised and there were other facilities for “the clientèle”.  The Treasurer, William Gladstone, cousin of W E Gladstone, suggested that the Society move to the country and in 1849 the Society moved to Redhill and most of the site was sold in small lots for housing.  The chapel was sold to the Anglican Church in a separate transaction and used as St Jude’s Church, though redeveloped in the 1890s and disused after 1976.  The triangle of land fronting St George's Road, extending westwards from Gladstone Street was leased separately to the sisters of Notre Dame.  They finally bought their site in 1908, having already started buying houses in Gladstone Street. 

private homes

The new houses were known as:

 Albert Terrace (2-66 evens in Gladstone Street)

 Richmond Terrace (3-11 Gladstone Street)

 Albert Street (13–29 Gladstone Street)

 Gladstone Street (31-43 Gladstone Street)

 Richmond Street (Colnbrook Street)

Gladstone Street was named after the Treasurer (William Gladstone), Richmond Terrace and Richmond Street after the President of the Society (Duke of Richmond) and Albert Terrace after the Prince Consort who was a patron of the Society.  Gladstone Street was renamed and renumbered to the present system in 1875 by the Metropolitan Board of Works, and Richmond Street as Colnbrook Street in 1890 without renumbering. 

Some of the houses were later demolished:

 50-66 Gladstone Street for two extensions to the Notre Dame School

37-43 Gladstone Street suffered bomb damage and were sold in 1970 to add to the school yard

The houses on the west side of Colnbrook Street went for development of St Jude's School starting with number 26 in 1936 and then 23-25 for the 1960s school block and finally 19-22 in 1970 for an extension which was never built but became the communal garden. 

Contributed by Ray Hall

conservation

Our streets are within Southwark Council's West Square Conservation Area and  Conservation Area Consent is needed for external alterations.  In addition they are Grade II listed, and Listed Building Consent may be needed for either internal or external works.  English Heritage tells us:

"You will need to get listed building consent from your local council if you want to demolish a listed building or any part of it, or alter it in any way which would affect its character, inside or out. Repairs which match exactly may not need consent, but your local council will advise you on this as the effect of any repairs is not always straightforward.

"Examples of work which may need consent include changing windows and doors, painting over brickwork or removing external surfaces, putting in dormer windows or rooflights, putting up aerials, satellite dishes and burglar alarms, changing roofing materials, moving or removing internal walls, making new doorways, and removing or altering fireplaces, panelling or staircases."

See more info on listed buildings at www.english-heritage.org.uk.

A leaflet was developed by Southwark Council for our street to cover the design of mansard extensions, a copy is available here.

© The Albert Association 2007, all rights reserved