Exploring the Fullbrooks Estate
by David Rymill
Local estate agents often advertise houses as having been built by Lavender and Farrell, who developed the area around The Manor Drive and much of Cheam Common around Farm Way and Colborne Way. We hear less about the developers responsible, from 1929 onwards, for the ‘Fullbrooks Estate’ in Old Malden, comprising much of Avondale Avenue, Fullbrooks Avenue and Perry How, and parts of The Glebe and Forest Side, so I thought it was time to feature their story. The estate occupies part of the land amassed in the 19th century by the Weeding family, whose mansion known as Fullbrooks stood in the area between Avondale Avenue, Perry How and Manor Way.
Mike Jackson describes the leading role of his father and uncle, George Ellis Jackson and Henry Tennick Jackson, in the development of the estate: George “finished as an engineering apprentice in, I think, 1921; engineering was on a downside, so my grandfather set him up in business as an estate agent in Barnes, and they built a large block of flats called Seaforth Lodge in that area. Dad was the developer, the administrator or the surveyor, and my uncle was the builder. They formed a company, H & G Jackson Ltd, to purchase land and develop properties, and in about 1928 they purchased part of the grounds of Fullbrooks. They had a small caravan parked opposite Plough Green, and used that as a base.”
Whilst the majority of plots were sold to other builders, many of whom appear to have been friends of the Jacksons from Barnes, some houses were built directly by the Jacksons, either on speculation or specifically tailored to the buyers’ wishes: “Father used to sit down with the clients who would choose their plot, and then they’d go through these photographs, and say ‘We’ve built this house, do you want something like that, or how do you want it? Tell us how you would like it done and we can do it’.” The photographs, including the interior views reproduced here, show the features available inside and out, such as Tudor-style chimneys and beamed reception rooms (I don’t know exactly which houses these two photographs show).
The Jackson family came from Wakefield, and they turned to a Wakefield firm of architects, Kay and Lunan, to draw up plans for the layout of the estate in 1929, and for some of the houses in Avondale Avenue, Perry How and Fullbrooks Avenue. Some other family members appear to have been involved, either actively or nominally: the purchase of the estate from the Weeding family in 1928 was recorded in the names of George and Henry’s uncle, George Eli Jackson, and two other gentlemen, and many of the building plans were submitted in the name of George Eli’s son Mark Trevor Jackson.
The family had come a long way from their Wakefield origins: in 1891 George and Henry’s father, Samuel Ellis Jackson, was a 14-year-old mill hand, his father was a dyer’s labourer and an elder brother was a railway engine cleaner. Samuel went on to be Mayor of Barnes, but their West Riding links must have been important to them: George Ellis named his house Alverthorpe after the village outside Wakefield where his father and uncle had lived as children (and George Eli gave his address as Alverthorpe Hall in 1929); I wonder if Avondale Avenue was named after Avondale Street in Wakefield, although so far I have not found a direct connection.
In Avondale Avenue, Fullbrooks Avenue and Perry How, there were two phases of development, with several builders active in each road. The first plans were submitted in 1929, and houses completed between 1930 and 1934, by M T Jackson, E A Broughton of Barnes, and E H Wale Ltd, also of Barnes; G Moorhouse and Co. of Stanhope House, Park Lane, who were also involved, may also have had links to the Jacksons, as George Eli was using that address in 1936. A third Barnes firm, Ives Bros, built about half the houses in Fullbrooks Avenue, mainly in the portion nearer Malden Road, in 1930-35, and completed the pre-war houses in The Glebe in 1934. There was a lull in development for nearly three years; the second phase, between 1937 and 1939, saw R G Streeton, W F Blake and H M Betts building in Avondale Avenue and/or Fullbrooks Avenue.
In Forest Side, the western end was built by Jackson, Moorhouse and Wale between 1930 and 1933. Most of the road, however, (1-39 odds and 2-26 evens) was the work of LFA Ltd, apparently a partnership between Lavender and Farrell, and R Alderson, a builder from Cheam Common.
The Fullbrooks Estate houses differ from the Lavender and Farrell style. For instance, 41-47 and 28-40 Forest Side have recessed entrance halls, quarter-pyramid porches, and a variety of prominent landing windows, while 30-34 Avondale Avenue display decorative courses of toothed brickwork continuing around the bay windows. Low brick front walls inset with render panels are a feature of this estate, also found in part of Fullbrooks Avenue where large porches supported on brick pillars include side windows to the front rooms, at nos. 20-26. At 1-21 Fullbrooks Avenue, the front-facing staircase bay windows reveal a variation on the usual semis layout, and the garden walls echo the herringbone brick panels flanking the front doors. Why not have a look next time you are walking past? You don’t need to live in a place like Bath to be able to enjoy architectural details around you.
I’d be interested to hear from any readers who may have memories of life in the Fullbrooks Estate in its early years, or who have title deeds which could provide clues to the rather complex story of the division of the estate between the variousbuilders. If emailing, please look out for the combination of a double letter l followed by a figure 1 in my email address.
David Rymill
David.Rymill1993@alumni.aber.ac.uk
(020) 8330 6563
by David Rymill
Local estate agents often advertise houses as having been built by Lavender and Farrell, who developed the area around The Manor Drive and much of Cheam Common around Farm Way and Colborne Way. We hear less about the developers responsible, from 1929 onwards, for the ‘Fullbrooks Estate’ in Old Malden, comprising much of Avondale Avenue, Fullbrooks Avenue and Perry How, and parts of The Glebe and Forest Side, so I thought it was time to feature their story. The estate occupies part of the land amassed in the 19th century by the Weeding family, whose mansion known as Fullbrooks stood in the area between Avondale Avenue, Perry How and Manor Way.
Mike Jackson describes the leading role of his father and uncle, George Ellis Jackson and Henry Tennick Jackson, in the development of the estate: George “finished as an engineering apprentice in, I think, 1921; engineering was on a downside, so my grandfather set him up in business as an estate agent in Barnes, and they built a large block of flats called Seaforth Lodge in that area. Dad was the developer, the administrator or the surveyor, and my uncle was the builder. They formed a company, H & G Jackson Ltd, to purchase land and develop properties, and in about 1928 they purchased part of the grounds of Fullbrooks. They had a small caravan parked opposite Plough Green, and used that as a base.”
Whilst the majority of plots were sold to other builders, many of whom appear to have been friends of the Jacksons from Barnes, some houses were built directly by the Jacksons, either on speculation or specifically tailored to the buyers’ wishes: “Father used to sit down with the clients who would choose their plot, and then they’d go through these photographs, and say ‘We’ve built this house, do you want something like that, or how do you want it? Tell us how you would like it done and we can do it’.” The photographs, including the interior views reproduced here, show the features available inside and out, such as Tudor-style chimneys and beamed reception rooms (I don’t know exactly which houses these two photographs show).
The Jackson family came from Wakefield, and they turned to a Wakefield firm of architects, Kay and Lunan, to draw up plans for the layout of the estate in 1929, and for some of the houses in Avondale Avenue, Perry How and Fullbrooks Avenue. Some other family members appear to have been involved, either actively or nominally: the purchase of the estate from the Weeding family in 1928 was recorded in the names of George and Henry’s uncle, George Eli Jackson, and two other gentlemen, and many of the building plans were submitted in the name of George Eli’s son Mark Trevor Jackson.
The family had come a long way from their Wakefield origins: in 1891 George and Henry’s father, Samuel Ellis Jackson, was a 14-year-old mill hand, his father was a dyer’s labourer and an elder brother was a railway engine cleaner. Samuel went on to be Mayor of Barnes, but their West Riding links must have been important to them: George Ellis named his house Alverthorpe after the village outside Wakefield where his father and uncle had lived as children (and George Eli gave his address as Alverthorpe Hall in 1929); I wonder if Avondale Avenue was named after Avondale Street in Wakefield, although so far I have not found a direct connection.
In Avondale Avenue, Fullbrooks Avenue and Perry How, there were two phases of development, with several builders active in each road. The first plans were submitted in 1929, and houses completed between 1930 and 1934, by M T Jackson, E A Broughton of Barnes, and E H Wale Ltd, also of Barnes; G Moorhouse and Co. of Stanhope House, Park Lane, who were also involved, may also have had links to the Jacksons, as George Eli was using that address in 1936. A third Barnes firm, Ives Bros, built about half the houses in Fullbrooks Avenue, mainly in the portion nearer Malden Road, in 1930-35, and completed the pre-war houses in The Glebe in 1934. There was a lull in development for nearly three years; the second phase, between 1937 and 1939, saw R G Streeton, W F Blake and H M Betts building in Avondale Avenue and/or Fullbrooks Avenue.
In Forest Side, the western end was built by Jackson, Moorhouse and Wale between 1930 and 1933. Most of the road, however, (1-39 odds and 2-26 evens) was the work of LFA Ltd, apparently a partnership between Lavender and Farrell, and R Alderson, a builder from Cheam Common.
The Fullbrooks Estate houses differ from the Lavender and Farrell style. For instance, 41-47 and 28-40 Forest Side have recessed entrance halls, quarter-pyramid porches, and a variety of prominent landing windows, while 30-34 Avondale Avenue display decorative courses of toothed brickwork continuing around the bay windows. Low brick front walls inset with render panels are a feature of this estate, also found in part of Fullbrooks Avenue where large porches supported on brick pillars include side windows to the front rooms, at nos. 20-26. At 1-21 Fullbrooks Avenue, the front-facing staircase bay windows reveal a variation on the usual semis layout, and the garden walls echo the herringbone brick panels flanking the front doors. Why not have a look next time you are walking past? You don’t need to live in a place like Bath to be able to enjoy architectural details around you.
I’d be interested to hear from any readers who may have memories of life in the Fullbrooks Estate in its early years, or who have title deeds which could provide clues to the rather complex story of the division of the estate between the variousbuilders. If emailing, please look out for the combination of a double letter l followed by a figure 1 in my email address.
David Rymill
David.Rymill1993@alumni.aber.ac.uk
(020) 8330 6563
