Henshaw Street, SE17

Henshaw Street is a road in the SE17 postcode area

Much of Dickens’ Great Expections was set in Walworth.
Credit: Wiki Commons

Click here to explore another London street
We now have 666 completed street histories and 46834 partial histories
Find streets or residential blocks within the M25 by clicking STREETS

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

None so far :(

LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Tony Whipple Frank Whipple Place, E14 Added: 16 Apr 2024 21:35 GMT	Frank Whipple Place, E14 Frank was my great-uncle, I’d often be ’babysat’ by Peggy while Nan and Dad went to the pub. Peggy was a marvel, so full of life. My Dad and Frank didn’t agree on most politics but everyone in the family is proud of him. A genuinely nice, knowledgable bloke. One of a kind. Reply
Theresa Penney Whites Row, E1 Added: 16 Apr 2024 18:08 GMT	1 Whites Row My 2 x great grandparents and his family lived here according to the 1841 census. They were Dutch Ashkenazi Jews born in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century but all their children were born in Spitalfields. Reply
Wendy The Polygon Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT	Polygon Buildings Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings. Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT	Road construction and houses completed New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only. Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT	Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS) One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc. I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Charles Hornsey Rise, N19 Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT	My House I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s. Reply
NH Woodgrange Road, E7 Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT	Telephone House Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000 Reply
Paul Cox Aldine Street, W12 Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT	War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there. Reply

LOCAL PHOTOS

Click here to see map view of nearby Creative Commons images
Click here to see Creative Commons images near to this postcode
Click here to see Creative Commons images tagged with this road (if applicable)

Postal area SE1 TUM image id: 1483541461 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Burgess Park being created (1973) Credit: Greater London Council TUM image id: 1651159167 Licence:	Wagstaff Buildings, Sumner Road, Bankside, c. 1920. TUM image id: 1557142019 Licence:	Hopton Street, Borough, 1977. TUM image id: 1557142131 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Trocadero, Elephant and Castle. Opened in 1930 and demolished in 1963. TUM image id: 1702054270 Licence:
Demolition of the Heygate Estate and the construction of Elephant Central, May 2014. The Heygate Estate had been completed in 1974. The estate was used extensively as a filming location, due in part to its brutalist architecture. Credit: Wiki Commons/Zefrog TUM image id: 1637796469 Licence: CC BY 2.0	The Swan, 82-86 Old Kent Road. Demolished in 2004. Old London postcard TUM image id: 1620671536 Licence:	East Street market, Walworth in 1908 The market, in operation since the 1880s, featured in the title sequence for Only Fools and Horses Old London postcard TUM image id: 1669906466 Licence:	Amelia Street, SE11 This originally consisted of late 19th century tenement blocks built by James Pullen between 1886 and 1901. During the 1980s the buildings between Manor Place and the south side of Amelia Street were demolished. The demolition of the rest of the Pullens Estate was prevented when squatters, intent on preserving the remainder of an individual late Victorian estate, occupied some of the blocks. The south side of Amelia Street is now an open space - Pullens Gardens - created following the demolition of a tenement block. Credit: Ideal Homes TUM image id: 1536959890 Licence:	Bermondsey Street (1881) "One cannot help speculating as to the origins of this singular group of houses, with their eight gables. Mr Rendle, who was good enough to take great pains - unfortunately fruitless- to glean something for me about the history of these houses, tells me that in the early part of this century, houses of this type were exceedingly common in the main thoroughfares and bye places of Southwark. They are good specimens of the houses of the time of Elizabeth and somewhat later; the frame of massive timber, else mere shells of lath and plaster; but though often out of shape and leaning in all directions, wonderfully durable." This description was written by Alfred Marks. Credit: Society for Photographing Relics of Old London/Henry Dixon TUM image id: 1644252449 Licence:
East Street, Walworth is likely to have been the birthplace of Charlie Chaplin, although no birth certificate exists. It could therefore also have been the inspiration for his similarly named 1917 seminal short film Easy Street, a suggestion made as early as 1928 in the film ’The Life Story of Charlie Chaplin’ by Harry B. Parkinson. The famous trousers and boots of Chaplin’s trademark tramp costume may have been inspired by the every-day clothes Chaplin saw worn in what he called East Lane market. East Street Market also features in the title sequence to the television programme Only Fools and Horses. Credit: Wiki Commons TUM image id: 1638107581 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Elephant Road TUM image id: 1702056801 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Lant Street, Southwark In 1824, when Charles Dickens was 12 years old, his father, John Dickens, was arrested and sent to Marshalsea Prison for failure to pay a debt. During this time, Charles (the only member of the family not imprisoned) took up residence in the back-attic of a house on Lant Street, a short walk away from the prison. Lant Street was in an area known as "The Mint" which was notorious for its overcrowded conditions. TUM image id: 1606344466 Licence:	Blackman Street, Borough, London (1885) Credit: John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836–1893) TUM image id: 1688925177 Licence:	Substandard housing in Snowsfields, Bermondsey (1890) TUM image id: 1669414522 Licence: CC BY 2.0

In the neighbourhood...

Click an image below for a better view...

The Swan, 82-86 Old Kent Road. Demolished in 2004.
Old London postcard
Licence:

East Street market, Walworth in 1908 The market, in operation since the 1880s, featured in the title sequence for Only Fools and Horses
Old London postcard
Licence:

East Street, Walworth is likely to have been the birthplace of Charlie Chaplin, although no birth certificate exists. It could therefore also have been the inspiration for his similarly named 1917 seminal short film Easy Street, a suggestion made as early as 1928 in the film ’The Life Story of Charlie Chaplin’ by Harry B. Parkinson. The famous trousers and boots of Chaplin’s trademark tramp costume may have been inspired by the every-day clothes Chaplin saw worn in what he called East Lane market. East Street Market also features in the title sequence to the television programme Only Fools and Horses.
Credit: Wiki Commons
Licence: CC BY 2.0

View across roof tops to Pink’s Factory, Tabard Street, Southwark (1916) This picture was taken prior to slum clearance to make way for the Tabard Garden Estate.
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Walworth Road (1930) This view looks north along the Walworth Road towards the ornate Elephant and Castle public house. Most of the buildings here were demolished as part of the London County Council redevelopment between 1958 and 1965.
Licence:

Wild’s Rents, SE1 (1930s)
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Harrison House on the Browning Estate, Walworth (1974)
Credit: London Borough of Southwark
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Slum housing, 24-37 Chapel Place, Southwark Chapel Place was a side turning off of Long Lane. The modern Hankey Place largely replaced it.
Credit: London Metropolitan Archives
Licence:

The corner of Long Lane with Staple Street, Bermondsey possibly at the end of the Boer War In the 1950s these shops were Fordham’s and Leatherdales bakery. Later still there was a fish and chip shop here opposite the Valentine pub.
Licence:

Villa Street Walworth c.1907.
Licence: CC BY 2.0

MAP YEAR:	1750	1800	1810	1820	1830	1860	1900	1950	2024	Show map without markers
	Use the control in the top right of the map above to view this area on another historic map