In about 1773, wheelwright John Shaw and builder William Levens built six brick houses at the eastern end (starting with a wheelwright’s shop), for Robert Boxall, lessee of ’The Greyhound’ Inn. The road was gradually extended westward, to link up with Turney Road in the late 1870s.
Dulwich Village was expanding rapidly by the late 1870s and this brought work for gardeners, cooks and other occupations that tended to the needs of the wealthy. There was an increasing shortage of accommodation for the low-paid.
One of the Governors of Dulwich College therefore set up the Dulwich Cottage Company Ltd (DCCL) to provide low rental housing for those who attended to the richer homes of Dulwich. It acquired land from Dulwich College Estate that faced onto Boxall Row.
Cottages in Boxall Road were designed by Charles Barry Jnr, architect to the Dulwich Estate, in the ’Dutch/German’ style designed to blend in with the character of the locality, despite being smaller.
