What's in a name? Pound Place by Eltham High Street in the summer of 1909

Looking south into Pound Place, 1905

“Pound Place is the name of the street on the side of the High Street opposite the Public Library.  

It derives its name from the fact that the old Pound occupied the spot where Mr Cook’s shop now stands at the corner near the High-street.  

The latest Pound was at Eltham Green.”*

Most villages had a pound or pinfold.  Any animal left to wander could do a lot of damage and so strays were confined in the pound and the fine to release it matched the seriousness of the offence.

This amounted to 1s [5p] which was paid to the parish constable.   The owner would also be expected to pay for any damage the animal had incurred.

If the animal was not collected in three days it was sold to defray expenses.   Anyone attempting to release the animal without paying was liable to either a fine or imprisonment.

Some of the cottages

All of which is a reminder that names do not come from the minds of city planners or rich landowners intent on lasting posterity but from the experiences of ordinary people.

In the village I now live in the junction of the four main roads was once known as Kemp’s Corner because Harry Kemp set up a chemist shop on one side.

It remained the unofficial name for over half a century and was a recognised meeting place.

And today long after Mr Kemp has all but been forgotten it is now referred to as the Four Banks or Four Banks Corner which is a practical name for a place which does indeed have a bank on each corner and pretty much pushed the official Corporation name of Chorlton Cross into the long grass.

I like this picture which shows Pound Place looking south from the Library.  It is one of two in the collection and dates from before 1909. Judging from the leaves on the trees and the shadows this was taken on a summers afternoon and already a small crowd has gathered to witness the photographer capture the moment.

And as ever amongst the adults there are the curious children drawn by the camera.

Sadly we can not make out the detail on the newspaper posters which would pin down the day and confirm that we are sometime in the summer or early autumn.

The houses were there well before the middle of the 19th century and there was quite a large community living there including Richard White and his family.  Mr White is someone I have featured already.**  He was the village school master and responsible for the collection of the census returns for part of Eltham in 1841.

Mr Cook's shop, 1905

Now I am no romantic and rarely indulge in idle speculation, but I rather think he would have known these cottages and may even have lived in one.

And that is about it although I will go off and hunt down Mr Cook who sold papers from his shop on the corner of Pound Place.

Well almost because Matt K Minch commented, "I have a slightly clearer version of this which says it is 1905, I think the right hand billboard says 'Lord Kitchener' at the top".

And with that kindness that comes from a love of all things Eltham, Matt sent over his image which is far superior to mine and deserves to the centre piece f the story.

But given that the piece has already been written I will add it at the end because as my mother always said ...."leave the best to the last Andrew" and that I have done.

Matt's superior picture, 1905

Picture; Pound Place, 1909,   from The story of Royal Eltham, R.R.C. Gregory, 1909 and published on The story of Royal Eltham, by Roy Ayers, http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm
and Pound Place courtesy of Matt K Minch

*R.R.C. Gregory, the Story of Royal Eltham, 1909

**http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/sherard-house-and-church-row-in-eltham.html

Going to school in Eltham in 1840

Now the National School  was opened in 1814 by the Reverend J.K. Shaw Brooke.

These were church schools and provided elementary education for the children of the poor.

They were the product of the National Society which had begun in 1811 and aimed to establish a national school in every parish delivering a curriculum based on the teaching of the church.

According to a report of the Charity Commissioners from 1819 the annual salary of the school master was to be £20 and by one of those wonderful chance survivals the first register was preserved which the historian R.R.C.Gregory published in his of Eltham.*

“Amongst the “batch of boys admitted were many bearing names that are still familiar in Eltham,
James Shearing, aged 7
John Scriven, aged 11
Thomas Foster, aged 6
Edward Hand, aged 10, 
William Stevens, aged 6
Charles Russell, aged 9
James Kingston, aged 7
I. Wakeman, aged 6
T.Wakeman, aged 8.”

And just like these names were familiar to Mr Gregory and his readers in 1909, some have stepped out of the shadows again today.

Thomas Foster was the son of the blacksmith who helped run the smithy on the High Street and the Wakeman boys were I think related to Peter Wakeman who had been invited to the Jubilee celebrations to mark the Reverend J.K. Shaw Brooke’s fifty years as vicar of Eltham.

This first school was at the end of Pound Place where it joined Back Lane and 1840 the infants’ school was added.

Now given that I have already mentioned Richard White who taught at the school in 1841, and lived on Pound Place I reckon there are a few more stories to come on the National School, its teachers and students.

Location; Eltham, London



Pictures; The National Infants School 1909,  from The story of Royal Eltham, R.R.C. Gregory, 1909 and published on The story of Royal Eltham, by Roy Ayers, http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm

The Story of Royal Eltham and a thank you to Roy Ayers

Pound Place in 1909

Now this is a view of the Eltham which has passed out of living memory.

It is of Pound Place looking north and dates from about 1909 and comes from a wonderful treasure of a book written in that year by R.R.C. Gregory.

I suspect few people now read The Story of Royal Eltham which is a great shame.

For here is a detailed history of the area before and after it slowly was transformed from rural community to suburb.  And what of course makes it even more fascinating is that since it was written at the beginning of the last century Eltham has continued to change, making it a fascinating record of the area at a time before now.

So you can read it as a straight history book or use it to recreate the Eltham of 1909.

Now it has long been out of print but is a firm favourite of those who have a copy and through the hard work of Roy Ayers can be read online at http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm

Roy has carefully digitalised the text and the images as well as producing a biography of R.R.C. Gregory who was an outstanding man. 

I came to the biography last which in some ways is a pity because his life story helps explain how the book came about.

Mr Gregory was a teacher and later the headmaster at Eltham National School from 1901-1920 and the book began as a series of lessons for his students.

Having spent my career in inner city schools teaching history I was drawn to his passionate commitment to education and to the children he taught. 

Mr Roper and staff circa 1920

He had found the Admission Register for the school in 1814 which formed the inspiration of his teaching of local history, which drew praise from the Inspectors.

"The Headmaster directs the work with sympathy and he has striven to maintain the more helpful characteristics of a village school, more especially in regard to the old customs and associations. 

The school is in touch with the homes of the children and a helpful interest has been taken in their after careers. 

There is a very good tone in the school. 

A wise and kindly administration has secured the co-operation of the staff and the regard of the children."(1914).*

Now I could go on, but I have always maintained that if someone has done the research, put in the time and written the story then it is their words which should be read.

Original image from the book

So I will direct you to Roy’s site and while I will with his permission feature bits from it in the future I think it is the Story of Royal Eltham that you should go to.  It is essential reading for any one who like me has not got the book or wants to know more about its author.

Pictures; from The story of Royal Eltham, R.R.C. Gregory, 1909 and published on The story of Royal Eltham, by Roy Ayers, http://www.gregory.elthamhistory.org.uk/bookpages/i001.htm

*quoted by Roy from The story of Royal Eltham,

Back on Pound Place a long time before now

Pound Place was always somewhere I tended to walk past and looking down it now I can’t even remember what stood on the site of the Council Offices.

I have written about  it in the past not least because of its old cottages which once occupied the site and because part of it was the village pound or pinfold which was used to accommodate stray animals and.*

Now a few photographs of Pound Place from the beginning of the 19th century have survived, but today I thought I would feature another of those drawings by Mr Llwyd Roberts who was living in Eltham in the early 1930s.

During his stay here he drew many pictures and some of these appeared in the Kentish Times in 1930 and were reprinted in Old Eltham sixty-six years later.

Picture; Pound Court, Llwyd Roberts, circa 1929-30, from Old Eltham, 1966, courtesy of Margaret Copeland Gain

*Pound Place, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Pound%20Place