Chatfield Road was formerly known as Sewell Street.
Land to the east of Mendip Road was bought in 1856 by Daniel Watney of the famous brewing family which owned a brewery in Wandsworth. The Watneys built shops, houses and a pub called The Unity in the 1860s. These buildings on York Road framed the entrance to an intended new street.
This street was, in the end, not begun until 1883 when a Brixton builder called James Churchyard built sixty seven houses in the street - Sewell Street.
In 1937, Sewell Street was renamed as Chatfield Road.
