Woodberry Down in Another Age

Comment by Gordon T on October 28, 2017 at 7:11

A  gently curving Woodberry Down? Was what we now have realigned dead straight?  Looking on the 1860s maps only shows the current straight road as far as Woodberry Grove, so, no.

However, on the 1893 map a new curved section east of Woodberry Grove is shown. Obliterated by the estate development, the only small remaining section with that same curved alignment is Newton Close by Bethune Road and the New River.

Comment by Hugh on October 28, 2017 at 10:05

Yes, there were two parts to the road named Woodberry Down in the late Victorian era.

The first part was developed in the first half of the nineteenth century as a straight line between Lordship Road and Green Lanes. As late as 1870 it contained only a dozen very large villas, most of which had huge gardens stretching down to the New River. In the latter part of the century the road was extended to the east of Lordship Road as far as Bethune Road.

After the area was redeveloped for municipal housing in the mid-twentieth century only a small handful of the more modest houses survived. 

Whilst it stood, the area was an idyll for the wealthy who lived there. You can read more about a Victorian middle class life in Woodberry Down here and there's more about the growth of the area in this post.

With regards to the last surviving section of the eastern stretch of the road called Woodberry Down, see this image. For more images of Woodberry Down in times gone by, see here.

Comment by Konrad B on October 28, 2017 at 11:09

Attached, in two posts, are two scans of relevant maps.  The first is from "Stanfords Library Map of London and Its Suburbs" published 1862, the second is from George W Bacon's "New Large-Scale Ordnance Atlas of London & Suburbs with Supplementary Maps, Copious Letterpress Descriptions, and Alphabetical Indexes" published in 1888. 

They illustrate the points that Gordon and Hugh made.

Comment by Konrad B on October 28, 2017 at 11:10

Second map - 1888

Comment by Hugh on April 9, 2019 at 13:52

Apologies, Konrad. Only just noticed your post. Below is a rather more accuarte OS map form 1893. You can see the curves rather better.

You can also the most easterly curve on this picture.

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