The Victorian Society introduced us to the idea of studying local history on the ground by looking at roads, buildings and features that make up the fabric of our village. The two local amenity societies have developed the technique and now we are applying it to Beaconsfield Road to unravel the story of its development as we walk from Knolle Park to Strawberry Field.

These notes are a supplement to what our guides can say in the time available as we walk. It is not our intention that you should read them during the walk; we hope to be audible and so interesting that you will not want to read them then. We do hope you will read them when you get home and that they will fill out what we have been saying. We think there is a great deal to be learned from local history if it is approached in this intensive way.

The guides on this walk would like to emphasise that they have no complete knowledge, though they have done a lot of homework on the area we are covering. In many places they are feeling their way and they base their statements and opinions on features that strike them, and their enthusiasm for architecture and local history. In our study of this area we have had sight of only two sets of deeds but those have been of great help and we have gathered some oral memories but not as many as in Quarry Street. We hope that as we walk this afternoon we shall spark off memories from you and gather clues to where more material is to be sought as we are sure that we have not yet uncovered the whole story, and until we have architects names for all these buildings we will not be really satisfied,


Contents:

1 Knolle Park
2 Beaconsfield
3 Stoneleigh
4 High Lee
5 Higher Lee
6 Beacon Hill
7 Abbots Lee
8 Newstead
9 Woodcroft
10 Strawberry Field
11 Lower Lee

continued . . .