Carrington House, a former lodging house in Deptford, tells us a lot about the problems facing social reformers in London. I've already mentioned it as the residence of murderer Albert Stratton. It was built on Mill Lane (Brookmill Road) to replace an area of slums and lodging-houses, notorious for their use by criminals and prostitutes. Other local residents included itinerant labourers and beggars; as well as crime, overcrowding was a real problem.
Unfortunately, the development of social housing here was hampered by squabbling between official bodies. The London County Council demolished about 50 houses on Mill Lane at the end of the nineteenth century; eight were lodging houses. The law required half of the former residents to be rehoused. How to do that was the topic of protracted arguments between the LCC and Greenwich Board of Works.
Carrington House was the LCC's favoured option, while the local Board of Works preferred small cottages for families. The latter were built alongside the lodging house, and named Sylva Cottages. Both completed in 1903, they certainly offer a contrast in scale:
The lodging house was a new departure for the LCC, who had borrowed the idea from six 'Rowton Houses' created by philanthropist Lord Rowton to provide cheap accommodation to working men. The LCC building was named after Lord Carrington, chairman of the LCC's Housing of the Working Classes Committee, and officially opened by the Countess Carrington. Each of the 800 men it could accommodate had their own cubicle to sleep in, and there were also common rooms. Photographs in Harvard University Library show a dining room, reading room and smoking room, all large, tiled spaces with parquet flooring and huge windows, furnished with long tables and benches. The 'lavatory' was a room of bare pipework and rows of washbasins. Despite this careful copying of the Rowton Houses, some early residents soon returned to the nearest Rowton House saying it was 'more homely, more comfortable and warmer'. The LCC's version would never be as popular as the originals.
During the First World War, Carrington House was home to refugees. The British Journal of Nursing reported in 1914 that
Today, the lodging house has been converted into flats and renamed Mereton Mansions.
Unfortunately, the development of social housing here was hampered by squabbling between official bodies. The London County Council demolished about 50 houses on Mill Lane at the end of the nineteenth century; eight were lodging houses. The law required half of the former residents to be rehoused. How to do that was the topic of protracted arguments between the LCC and Greenwich Board of Works.
Carrington House was the LCC's favoured option, while the local Board of Works preferred small cottages for families. The latter were built alongside the lodging house, and named Sylva Cottages. Both completed in 1903, they certainly offer a contrast in scale:
The lodging house was a new departure for the LCC, who had borrowed the idea from six 'Rowton Houses' created by philanthropist Lord Rowton to provide cheap accommodation to working men. The LCC building was named after Lord Carrington, chairman of the LCC's Housing of the Working Classes Committee, and officially opened by the Countess Carrington. Each of the 800 men it could accommodate had their own cubicle to sleep in, and there were also common rooms. Photographs in Harvard University Library show a dining room, reading room and smoking room, all large, tiled spaces with parquet flooring and huge windows, furnished with long tables and benches. The 'lavatory' was a room of bare pipework and rows of washbasins. Despite this careful copying of the Rowton Houses, some early residents soon returned to the nearest Rowton House saying it was 'more homely, more comfortable and warmer'. The LCC's version would never be as popular as the originals.
During the First World War, Carrington House was home to refugees. The British Journal of Nursing reported in 1914 that
A large new establishment for the reception of refugees has just been opened at Carrington House, Deptford, and Miss Ravenor, a sister at Chelsea Infirmary, is acting as Matron. Miss Barton has also supplied nurses. The House can accommodate 800. Nurses engaged in the care of refugees are doing invaluable work at the present time.By the 1920s, the building was once more a lodging house (the LCC's largest). A contributor to Age Exchange's Library of Experience remembers its residents pouring the contents of their pots over the fascist Moseley and his supporters as they marched down the road before the war. In sad contrast, its inhabitants in 1949 included a number of black seamen who faced a racist mob on 18 July. Carrying knives in self-defence, they rather than their 600 attackers were arrested.
Today, the lodging house has been converted into flats and renamed Mereton Mansions.
9 comments:
Apart from the Italianate style tower on one side it actually looks quite modern. It's quite amusing that should have renamed it a 'mansion' though given its rather interesting past!
Thanks for this - I've often wondered what the history of these buildings was when I've been going past!
What a stunning building, thankyou for that.
Carrington House was quite a problem before they converted it into flats. The residents used to spend the daylight hours lounging against the railings in Deptford Broadway swigging cans of Carlsberg Special Brew and making entertaining remarks to the drivers stuck in the traffic. A friend of mine called them the Deptford School of Philosophy.
Thanks for updating us about this building. I'd often wondered what had happened to it.
Thank you - and ChrisP, thanks for the info on Carrington House's later days! (I suspect many of the residents were always much the same: something of that came across in the 1905 Stratton trial).
And did you know that the railings at the front of the building are re-cycled field stretchers from the 2nd world war? I was a local lad and often walked past.
as a resident of carrington house in the 1940 i have to say the discription given is exactly as it was i was born in a workhouse in daventry then put in childrens homes for 14 yrs i was put out and with no job,money,food,accomodation,i was left to tramp the streets ending up in london. my life has changed completely but i still remember those days i am now 80 yrs old
Thank you for your comment, Dave, and for sharing your experiences. It's interesting that the House was much the same in the 1940s as when it first opened.
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