Time Walk
A Lawn Behind the Main Road
This close once ran through to Canterbury Grove, until that link was broken, leaving it enclosed around its own triangular lawn. Houses line its north and south-east sides, and from the square you can look west, past the railway line, towards the Leisure Centre. It feels self-contained, cut off from the traffic a few steps away.
The houses on the southern side are older than the rest of the close, a trace of that earlier, more open layout. What the close is now called is a question the records here don't answer.
Name Origin
An Unrecorded Name
The sources used here do not explain the name Bloom Grove. No lease, map reference or naming record in this pack links it to a person, family or earlier field name.
History
Older Houses, a Broken Link, and a Borderline Case
Bloom Grove's houses did not all go up together. The northern and south-eastern sides are lined with matching Italianate villas that now carry local listing.
In May 1888, when buildings along the northern part of nearby Knights Hill were given street numbers, five structures already standing between Bloom Grove and Nettlefold Place were numbered 2 to 10. That record treats Bloom Grove as an established point on the map by that date.
When Lambeth extended the West Norwood Conservation Area in 2003, a member of the public suggested Bloom Grove should be considered for inclusion. The council decided against it: despite its "attractive Victorian villas", officers judged the houses did not share a close physical relationship with the conservation area's focus on the cemetery and St Luke's Church, and left Bloom Grove out.
Thirteen years later, in 2016, Lambeth added the garden square and eighteen of its houses to the borough's Local Heritage List instead, recording them pair by pair for their matching brickwork, bay windows and doorways, each noted for its group value with the others around the square.
Bloom Grove once ran through to Canterbury Grove. The link no longer exists, leaving today's close enclosed around its triangular lawn.
Today
A Close Apart
The triangular lawn remains, now enclosed by modern railings. Around it stand the same paired Victorian houses recorded in 2016. Bloom Grove sits just outside the conservation area that wraps the cemetery and St Luke's Church nearby, a quiet close on its own terms rather than an extension of its grander neighbour.
On the Map
Bloom Grove Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Bloom Grove?
The sources used for this page do not explain the name. No record here links it to a person or feature.
What is Bloom Grove known for?
Its triangular garden square and the eighteen matching Victorian houses around it, added to Lambeth's Local Heritage List in 2016.
Is Bloom Grove in a conservation area?
No. It was considered for inclusion in the 2003 extension of the West Norwood Conservation Area but was left out, as it was not thought closely tied to the area's focus on the cemetery and St Luke's Church.