Roundshaw

Last updated

Roundshaw
Roundshaw Community Centre - geograph.org.uk - 1599282.jpg
The Phoenix Centre, Roundshaw
Greater London UK location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Roundshaw
Location within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ302633
London borough
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Wallington
Postcode district SM6
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°21′12″N0°07′36″W / 51.353318°N 0.126708°W / 51.353318; -0.126708

Roundshaw is a housing estate and park in south Wallington and Beddington on the eastern edge of the London Borough of Sutton. Grid Ref TQ302633 .

Contents

History

Roundshaw Estate as it appeared in the London A-Z atlas, published in 1990 RoundshawEstateAZ.jpg
Roundshaw Estate as it appeared in the London A-Z atlas, published in 1990

Roundshaw was built on the site of the former Croydon Airport which once occupied the buildings of the first Croydon Aerodrome (originally named 'Plough Lane') which was demolished in 1928. [1] The estate is commemorated in various ways; the naming of roads after aircraft, personalities, and firms linked with aviation to recall the airport's history: Mollison Drive, Lindbergh Road, Olley Close, Avro Way, Brabazon Avenue among other related aviation names. [2] The name of the estate comes from Roundshaw Park on the edge of the site, named from a round 'shaw' or grove of trees. [3]

The estate accommodates approximately 1,800 homes. Construction began in 1965 with the first tenants moving in August 1967. The original brutalist pre-cast concrete flats and maisonettes were heated from a central communal boiler house. This was demolished during the regeneration of the estate and the newly refurbished homes incorporate their own energy-efficient modern heating systems.

The London Borough of Sutton were the sole proprietors of the Roundshaw housing stock until 2007, when the responsibility was outsourced to Metropolitan and Hyde Housing Group who jointly created Roundshaw Homes. In 2015 the estate was transferred solely to Metropolitan. [4]

Regeneration

During the mid 1980s and throughout the 1990s, major repairs and renovations of the concrete system dwellings were carried out by contracted specialists [5] commissioned by the London Borough of Sutton, as the 1960s construction and build deteriorated which resulted in the cause of concrete cancer. The layout of the estate included underground garages and balcony passageways in which anti-social behaviour was commonplace.

Because of the large spiraling costs generated by the ongoing housing repairs, the London Borough of Sutton began to formulate plans for a regeneration programme over a ten year period. After various consultations with the Roundshaw Residents Group, building contractors and various social housing groups, the problems were addressed with the original estate. This led to refurbishment trials which began at Barnard Close and Shaw Way, both the only original 1960's concrete system blocks to be refurbished. This was carried out as a pilot scheme in the late 1980s and mid 1990s but was not repeated throughout the rest of the estate, as it was not cost effective. Barnard Close is the only refurbished concrete system block still existing today. Shaw Way was subsequently demolished later at the final phase of the regeneration.

In 1998, the decision was taken to start the process [6] of a partial demolition regeneration programme over a ten-year period, resulting at a cost of £80m. 1,000 mid to high-rise, street level concrete system flats and maisonnettes were demolished. Phase one began at Roe Way, which was at street level, the system block maisonettes were demolished manually. Instone Close, a high-rise block, was imploded in November 2000. This followed a phase by phase roll-out of demolition with the rest of the estate over time being replaced with a number of new build low-rise houses and brick-built flats.

A further 674 brick built homes which were also part of the original estate and not of the concrete system, were retained and refurbished with pitched roofs. [7] The regeneration programme was completed in 2010. [8]

Local amenities

Wilson's School, Mollison Drive, Roundshaw Wilson's School, Mollison Drive, Roundshaw. - geograph.org.uk - 33433.jpg
Wilson's School, Mollison Drive, Roundshaw

St Paul's Church was constructed and opened in 1981, which is used by the Church of England and the Free Churches. St Paul's was rebuilt and extended during the regeneration. Originally, it collaborated in a churchless religious venture known as the 'Roundshaw Experiment'. A cross was set up outside the church which is made from a four-bladed propeller, or airscrew, obtained through the Croydon Airport Society.

The primary school was named after the famous aviator, Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo to Australia, from Croydon Airport in May 1930. [9]

Wilson's School was moved from Camberwell to Roundshaw in 1975.

Roundshaw Fields hosts the Croydon Pirates baseball team, one of the most successful teams in the British Baseball Federation. The fields have two of the best baseball diamonds in the U.K. which Croydon often hosts the London Tournament and National Finals. [10]

There are a number of shops and takeaways in Mollison Square.

The Phoenix Centre is the hub of the local community; in addition to the sporting and recreation activities, the centre has a library and IT Centre, Local Access Point, Youth Centre, Sensory Room and the Beehive Cafe. Charities such as Mencap run sporting sessions and community groups have access to the facilities.

The Phoenix Centre provides the following resources and activities:

Bus routes:

[12]

Mollison Drive, Roundshaw, April 1981 Mollison Drive, Roundshaw (2) - geograph.org.uk - 601464.jpg
Mollison Drive, Roundshaw, April 1981

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Borough of Croydon</span> London borough in United Kingdom

The London Borough of Croydon is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of 87 km2 (33.6 sq mi). It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; while other urban centres include Coulsdon, Purley, South Norwood, Norbury, New Addington, Selsdon and Thornton Heath. Croydon is mentioned in Domesday Book, and from a small market town has expanded into one of the most populous areas on the fringe of London. The borough is now one of London's leading business, financial and cultural centres, and its influence in entertainment and the arts contribute to its status as a major metropolitan centre. Its population is 390,719, making it the most populous London borough and sixteenth largest English district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waddon</span> Human settlement in England

Waddon is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Croydon, at the western end of the town of Croydon. The area borders the London Borough of Sutton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clapham Park</span> Area in the London Borough of Lambeth

Clapham Park is an area in the Borough of Lambeth in London, to the south of central Clapham and west of Brixton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Borough of Dudley</span> Metropolitan borough in England

The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Lodge Estate</span> 1920s housing estate in Highgate, London

The Holly Lodge Estate is a housing estate in Highgate, north London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Vale</span> Housing estate in West Midlands, England

Castle Vale is a housing estate located between Erdington, Minworth and Castle Bromwich. Currently Castle Vale makes up the Castle Vale Ward of Birmingham City Council which is part of Erdington constituency, 6 miles (9 km) northeast of Birmingham city centre in England. The area has an approximate population of 10,000 people and has a distinctly modern residential character stemming from its history as a postwar overspill estate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelmsley Wood</span> Town in England

Chelmsley Wood, sometimes called just Chelmsley, is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England, with a population of 12,453. It is located near Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. It lies about eight miles east of Birmingham and 5 miles to the north of Solihull. The town is also close to both Coleshill and Water Orton in Warwickshire, the county the area was historically part of.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aylesbury Estate</span> Housing estate in Walworth, London

The Aylesbury Estate is a large housing estate located in Walworth, South East London.

Sighthill is a neighbourhood in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde and is part of the wider Springburn district in the north of the city. It is bordered to the north by Cowlairs, to the east by the Springburn Bypass road and the Royston neighbourhood, to the west by the Glasgow to Edinburgh via Falkirk Line and to the south by the Townhead interchange of the M8 Motorway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitcham Common</span> Common land in Mitcham, south London

Mitcham Common is 182 hectares (460 acres) of common land situated in south London. It is predominantly in the London borough of Merton, with parts straddling the borders of Croydon and Sutton. It is designated a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackbridge</span> Human settlement in England

Hackbridge is a suburb in the London Borough of Sutton, south-west London, just over two miles north-east of the town of Sutton itself. It is 8.8 miles (15 km) south-west of Charing Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrier Estate</span> Housing estate in Kidbrooke, London

The Ferrier Estate was a large housing estate located in Kidbrooke, Greenwich, south London. Built as social housing between 1968 and 1972, it was demolished as part of the Kidbrooke Vision scheme between 2009 and 2012 and replaced with housing and retail space known as Kidbrooke Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pollards Hill</span> Human settlement in England

Pollards Hill is a small residential district straddling the south London boroughs of Croydon and Merton between Mitcham, Norbury and Thornton Heath. The boundary of the two boroughs is a street named Recreation Way. No roads directly cross the Croydon/Merton divide, and streets were planned according to each borough, leading to differing architectural or building schemes. Pollards Hill lends its name to a ward of the London Borough of Merton.

South Acton is an area in Acton, West London, 6.4 miles (10.3 km) west of Charing Cross. At the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people.

The 1950s and 1960s saw the construction of numerous brutalist apartment blocks in Sheffield, England. The Sheffield City Council had been clearing inner-city residential slums since the early 1900s. Prior to the 1950s these slums were replaced with low-rise council housing, mostly constructed in new estates on the edge of the city. By the mid-1950s the establishment of a green belt had led to a shortage of available land on the edges of the city, whilst the government increased subsidies for the construction of high-rise apartment towers on former slum land, so the council began to construct high-rise inner city estates, adopting modernist designs and industrialised construction techniques, culminating in the construction of the award-winning Gleadless Valley and Park Hill estates.

Stonegrove and Spur Road Estates (Stonegrove), Edgware, are situated on the edge of the green belt at the very northern edge of the London Borough of Barnet, close to Stanmore tube station and adjoining the London Borough of Harrow. The estates were built in the 60s and 70s, and are a mixture of 11-storey tower blocks and four-storey maisonette blocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roundshaw Downs</span>

Roundshaw Downs is a 52.7-hectare (130-acre) Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation Roundshaw in the London Boroughs of Sutton and Croydon. An area of 19.6 hectares in Sutton is also a local nature reserve. In the nineteenth century the area was farmland, and in the first half of the twentieth it was Croydon Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larner Road Estate</span> Housing estate in Erith, London

The Larner Road Estate was a housing estate located in Erith, Bexley, south east London. Demolition of the estate began in 2013, as preparation for a new development known as Erith Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public housing in the United Kingdom</span> British government and local authority housing programmes

Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. Dwellings built for public or social housing use are built by or for local authorities and known as council houses. Since the 1980s non-profit housing associations became more important and subsequently the term "social housing" became widely used, as technically council housing only refers to housing owned by a local authority, though the terms are largely used interchangeably.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancaster West Estate</span> Housing estate in North Kensington, London

Lancaster Road (West) Estate is a housing estate in North Kensington, west London.

References

  1. Bogle, Joanna; Cluett, Douglas; Learmonth, Bob (2003). "9". Croydon Airport: from war to peace. London Borough of Sutton Heritage Service. pp. 145–146. ISBN   0-907335-43-8.
  2. Croydon Online, Croydon Airport; 2015;
  3. The history of Roundshaw in Sutton, Sutton Borough Council; 2015;
  4. "1,800-home Roundshaw estate transfers to Metropolitan | Metropolitan".
  5. Roundshaw Estate Project - Master Scaffolding Ltd; 2015;
  6. Hidden London - Roundshaw, Sutton; 2015;
  7. Roundshaw Residents Celebrate Estates Tenth Anniversary - Sutton Guardian; Tuesday 5 January 2010;
  8. Last Tower Set to Come Down - Sutton Guardian; Friday 18 May 2007;
  9. Croydon Online, Croydon Airport; 2015;
  10. The history of Roundshaw in Sutton, Sutton Borough Council; 2015;
  11. The Phoenix Leisure Centre, Sutton Borough Council; 2015;
  12. TfL Website: tfl.gov.uk; 2015;
  13. Hidden London - Roundshaw, Sutton; 2015;
  14. 'Virtual Reality', insidehousing.co.uk; 8 April 2005
  15. Watching London - Transdiffusion Broadcasting System; http://www.transdiffusion.org/2002/11/01/london-2 1 November 2002;
  16. 'DJ and producer Andrew Weatherall dies', https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51535685; 17 February 2020