Oak Lea, Sydenham Hill!?

[Falkor]

The name definitely rings a bell, but I don't know where I've heard it from...not in the index to John C's book. Anyhow, can anyone guess where it might have been located?

[Lostmind]

I found a seller on eBay selling an old photo-card with "Oak Lea" written on the back. Portrait room, 1 Kelvin Grove. Any use?

(hope the link works!)


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-CDV-VICTORIAN-H ... m153.l1262

[Steve Grindlay]

That's the one Falkor was referring to. I must confess that I intend bidding on this item. If I'm successful I will upload hi-res images, and explain about the house and why I find it interesting.

[Lostmind]

Ahhhh. I see.

A beautiful building, though.

[Falkor]

Well done, Steve! You got that quite cheap considering... I'm trying my luck at some Crystal Palace bits tonight, yet I doubt even a score will get me anything.

[Steve Grindlay]

Oak Lea is on Lawrie Park Avenue, at the junction with Border Road. The building still survives, with an extra storey and and without some of the detail:


This picture show the house in 1868:

The woman in the basket chair is almost certainly Harriet Price, who was widowed in 1853 and lived in Oak Lea from 1861 until her death in 1880. She is buried in St Barts churchyard. The other woman is her sister-in-law and long-term companion, Charlotte.

In a way, this picture (also of 1868) is more interesting:

The photographer has stepped back to the other side of the road, to include the border oak, with Border Road beyond.

Letters can just be made out on the trunk of the oak:

The tree marked the boundary between the parishes of Lewisham and Beckenham so the letters "LP" and "B", probably in whitewash, must stand for "Lewisham Parish" and "Beckenham", probably with the "P" out of sight. I've rarely seen a boundary oak so clearly marked.

By the way, I've uploaded hi-res images here.