Place Name
Kent, known as the Garden of England, has a rich history dating back to prehistoric times, with evidence of early human settlements. As one of England’s oldest counties, Kent played a pivotal role in the Roman invasion of Britain in AD43, with Canterbury becoming a Roman administrative centre. Later, it was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, with King Æthelberht of Kent converting to Christianity through St Augustine’s mission in AD597, leading to Canterbury’s role as the heart of English Christianity. Kent’s coastline meant it was a frontline defence against invasions, from the Norman Conquest to threats of the Spanish Armada and later, WWII. Dover Castle, known as the Key to England, and the White Cliffs of Dover remain symbols of this. The name dates back to at least the 4thCentury BC. It is one of the earliest names recorded in Britain, known to the Greeks since the explorer Pytheas, who recorded it as Kantion during his voyage around the British Isles in about 325BC. As such, it has been claimed as the “oldest recorded name still in use in England.” The meaning has variously been explained as coastal district, corner-land, or land on the edge (either from the Welsh cant meaning bordering of a circle, tyre, edge; the Breton can’t meaning circle; or the Dutch word kant meaning side, edge). In Latin sources the area is called Cantia or Cantium, while the Anglo-Saxons referred to it as Cent, Cent lond or Centrice. 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. This street is in the alphabetically arranged section of the estate to the north of South Lodge Drive, which was described by architectural historian Niklaus Pevsner as consisting of “three-storey blocks of houses and flats in an ingenious rectilinear Greek-key meander”.
