Timeless Stories

*Historical* This small and cramped underground bunker was built to house Royal Observer Corps (ROC) volunteers. Unused for over 30 years, several ‘Urbex’ investigators have visited the site to document it. It’s situated on the Little Woodcote estate at the bend on the Oaks Track (map below). During the Cold War with Russia between 1947 […]

It’s a rare survivor of an original suburban mansion house. Many were pulled down in the 1960s. Brandries Hill House was built in the early 1700s and purchased by Francis Baring circa 1790. He founded Barings Bank, which went on to be the world’s oldest merchant bank, until its infamous collapse in 1995. Read more […]

In the 17th Century, Carshalton had a location with the grand name of Pall Mall – still the name of an upmarket area in Central London. You may perhaps think it was the name for a grand drive, but no – it’s much more down to earth than that. The site of Mill Lane was […]

*Historical* This distinctive purpose-built gas showroom (now the British Heart Foundation) is on a busy junction in Wallington on the corner of Woodcote Road and Stanley Park Road. Gas was big business when this showroom opened sometime between the late 1920s and early 1930s. It’s a building reminiscent of warmer climes (architectural style is most […]

*Historical* This is all that’s left of a small railway connected to a patchwork of waterways belonging to a long lost, but once major local industry. It was here in Hackbridge, on the edge of the borough that edible wild watercress was grown on a commercial scale – and this is the only place left […]

*Historical* This is just one of the theories surrounding an unusual headstone in the ancient graveyard at All Saints, Carshalton. We’ll never know for sure how he died, but the inscription gives a fascinating insight… According to the report in an old book, Tom was a barber, most likely in Carshalton village. By all accounts, […]

*Historical* One of the uses for the Hog Pit in Carshalton Park was to provide water for the long-lost mill situated in Carshalton High Street. A recent view showing two of our wonderful Carshalton pubs, which almost stand next to each other. Between them is where the ‘High Street Mill’ once stood. Over many years […]

The ticket above is dated 1915, when Carshalton was part of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. The following tickets span more than 100 years, and include a Wallington season ticket dated 1944 from during the Second World War.  Nowadays we’re more likely to tap in with our mobile phone, but the colour, wording […]

This ghost sign is promoting something to do with one of Carshalton’s favourite pastimes – drinking beer of course. It once clearly read “Free Off Licence Hammerton Oatmeal Stout” It’s dated circa 1935 and is probably original to when the parade of shops on Stanley Park Road was built. A very brief bit of history, […]