Time Walk
A Milestone Still Counting to Whitehall
A stone marker here still gives the distance to Whitehall as two and a half miles. Walking Binfield Road today means passing a curved concrete roof over a working bus garage, a stuccoed corner pub, and a quiet terrace of brick houses.
Beneath the parked buses and the brickwork, older layers survive in plain sight: a cast-iron stench pipe at the Clapham Road corner, and that milestone beside it, both older than most of what now surrounds them. The road's own name is where the trail runs cold.
Name Origin
An Unexplained Name
The sources consulted for this page give no explanation of why Binfield Road carries its name. The earliest dated reference to a building on the street, a map of 1868 showing the Angell Arms, confirms the road existed under its present name by then, but says nothing of its origin.
History
Pub, Garage, Terrace and Pipe
The Angell Arms is the oldest dated building on the street, thought to date from the 1850s to 1870s though the earliest map evidence is from 1868. By 2012 it was assessed as a former pub making a positive contribution to the area.
At the junction with Clapham Road stand two smaller survivors: a cast-iron stench pipe with two lamp fittings, dated to the late 19th or early 20th century, and a stone milestone about a metre high, inscribed "2½ miles Whitehall".
Binfield Road's grandest neighbour is the Stockwell Bus Garage, listed Grade II* in 1988 for the special interest of its imposing curved concrete roof.
A stone milestone on Binfield Road still records the distance to Whitehall as two and a half miles.
People
A Driver Lost in the Blitz
Winifred Arens lived at 33 Binfield Road. She was thirty years old and worked as a driver for the London Ambulance Service. She died on 9 September 1940 at South Lambeth Road, during the early weeks of the Blitz.
Today
Small Survivors
Binfield Road still carries its scattered listed fragments: the Angell Arms, the stench pipe and milestone at the Clapham Road corner, and the Stockwell Bus Garage anchoring its southern edge. None of it explains the road's name, but together these pieces make Binfield Road a street better known for what stands on it than for how it got its name.
On the Map
Binfield Road Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Binfield Road?
The sources used for this page do not explain the origin of the name. The earliest dated record under this name is a map of 1868 showing the Angell Arms public house.
What is Binfield Road known for?
It borders the Grade II*-listed Stockwell Bus Garage, noted for its curved concrete roof, and carries several locally listed features including a cast-iron stench pipe, and a milestone marking two and a half miles to Whitehall.
Is there an old pub on Binfield Road?
The Angell Arms, a stuccoed early-to-mid 19th century building, stands on the street. It was first mapped in 1868, though it may date from the 1850s, and is now a former pub included in the Larkhall Conservation Area.
Is anyone notable linked to Binfield Road?
Winifred Arens, a 30-year-old London Ambulance Service driver, lived at 33 Binfield Road. She died on 9 September 1940 during the Blitz.