Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Mystery Door on Beresford Road
Calling all architecture sleuths...
There is a house near the bottom of Beresford Road that I walk past every day, which has an extra door. Not a side door or anything, but an extra door RIGHT NEXT to the front door. I've taken a picture from Google Maps to show what I mean. And it's the only house on the street with a mysterious bonus door.
So where does it lead? Does it lead to a strange, thin house sandwiched between the other two? Does it lead to an abandoned passageway? Or does it lead to the bottomless pit from which none may return?
Do you live in the house next door to the door? Do you live IN the strange thin house to which it leads?
Crazed speculation is of course just as welcome as hard facts. Does anyone else think we should get it sealed off with holy water and a pentagram - just to make sure?
Tags for Forum Posts: denchfield, harringay mysteries, history of harringay
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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I think the original frontage is likely to be for one of the reasons I guessed at. Just looking at an old map for something on Hangar Lane, I happened to notice that one of the present day accesses from Effingham to the land behind wasn't there when the houses were first built. Also you can see that the land behind the houses not used for gardens exactly matches the terrace of which this house is a part. This suggests to to me that the land may well have belonged to the builder of the terrace at the bottom of Beresford, rather than to the Effingham builder. (The terrace is shown in the 1891 map below. Remember the Ladder was built up piecemeal in this way - Builder bought what land they could afford and built anything from two to thirty of forty houses.) This makes a really strong case to me for the doorway being access to the land. There had to be some way of reaching it.
Though this Google street view on Effingham doesn't necessarily support this sole access theory. Doesn't mean it could have been access, but......hmm!
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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This one looks typical for a local coal merchant or such like.. who'd live above/ next to the business.. Keeping his horse/s here..
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Yes I guess that's right. It would have been a stable, carriage house probably and not a thoroughfare. My theory lives then!
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Permalink Reply by Harringay SNT on
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Theres an even more curious one in Glenwood Rd opposite the junction with Conway Rd.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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Strange, none of you commented on my 'dummy house' theory. Here it is again if you missed it
http://www.urban75.org/london/leinster.html
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I'm suggesting the facade may have been incorporated without any practical function except that it looks nicer than an empty blank space. (as in leinster road)
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Never one to refuse a challenge....
It's a passageway to a yard at the back
And the plaque is a standard imitation classical scene of revelry....
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Thanks JohnD. This proves i was right in my original post. Ordinarily, the passageway would be open with a 6ft wooden gate. The builder was more concerned with the aesthetics than profit (as in leinster road). I guess that's a little hard to understand for some folk.
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Permalink Reply by Laura on
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I had never noticed there are two 103 Beresford Roads. There is something funny going on..... as at the top of the road there are two number 1 Beresford Roads; next to each other. The Post Office has rectified this by making the first one 1a Beresford Road and the next one just 1. I can't imagine how this happened???
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