Place Name
Northumberland, England’s northernmost county, is steeped in ancient history and known for its wild landscapes. Once part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, it was a battleground for centuries due to its proximity to Scotland. Hadrian’s Wall, built by the Romans, runs through Northumberland and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The county’s medieval castles, like Alnwick and Bamburgh, served as defences against Scottish incursions. The name of Northumberland is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as norð hẏmbra land, meaning the land north of the Humber. As for this street name, at the start of the 20thCentury this area still formed part of Newbarns Farm although it was later used as a golf course. It remained that way until shortly after the Second World War when demand for housing from the newly demobbed men and their families far outstripped supply. At first accommodation consisted of dozens of pre-fabricated Arcon bungalows hastily erected around Pollards Hill but from the 1950s a more permanent solution was sought. Merton Council’s archive explains: “In the 1950s the Council built six-storey maisonette blocks, starting with Westmorland Square and finishing the final block in Bovington Square in 1956. By the standards of the day, the much needed housing was built in record time and Mitcham Council could boast a house-building programme which exceeded that of any other Surrey Council.” But even this wasn’t enough to meet future demand. Following the post-war population boom much more housing was needed by the mid-1960s and so the Pollards Hill Housing Estate was laid out and built between 1968 and 1971. It was a high density scheme that included various areas of green space in the form of private gardens, partly enclosed squares, and a public park, Donnelly Green, named after Mitcham’s Head of Parks. Taking its cue from those original post-war buildings the streets were named after counties and county towns in England and Wales. By coincidence Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, which was created in 1802 for lawyer and politician Sir John Mitford (later Freeman-Mitford) lived nearby. He was the owner of Biggin Grove House, renamed Tamworth House in 1815, who was Speaker of the House of Commons between 1801 and 1802 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland between 1802 and 1806. He was grandfather of the Mitford sisters.
