At the turn of the twentieth century, the built-up area of London extended about eight miles in any direction as measured from Charing Cross – even within that boundary, there was still countryside.
The road vehicle had not come of age and the limit of the expansion was largely governed by the railways – those who could afford the time and cost of a daily commute could, before contiguous development, work in town and live in rural surroundings.
In a lot of late Victorian development of the ‘outer suburbs’, nearest to the new station would be working class housing. Most houses would be within easy walking distance of the station, living in tree-lined roads with gardens. Those who owned a carriage could live in larger villas slightly further away. First Class season-ticket holders were in exclusive roads and large houses.
There was another different type of railway suburb – most of the houses were in uniform long terraces. These were built to conform to the 1875 Public Health Act, allowing a density of forty houses an acre.
Whether a suburb developed into an ‘Ealing’-type suburb (the first example) or a ‘Tottenham’-type suburb (the latter) was at the whim of the local railway company – whether to provide ‘workman’s fares’ or fully-exploit the class system.
After a slower period of growth until the first world war, London saw an unprecedented boom in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The development of other public transport options – the tube lines, trams and later the private car allowed the spread of the suburbs on a huge scale.
At the first world war ended, growth finished at Cricklewood, Kensal Rise, East Ham and Dulwich. In the 21 years between that event and the start of the second war, London had reached Edgware, Upminster, Bromley and Chessington.