Time Walk
A Country Lane Swallowed by the Parish
A pauper nursery once stood where terraces now run along this stretch of road. Crown Dale was an old country lane before the 19th century filled Lambeth's southern edge with streets. Walking it today, what catches the eye is institutional rather than domestic: long brick ranges set back from the road.
Beneath the current housing lies more than a century of use as a home for parish children with nowhere else to go. That story, not the street's name, is what gives Crown Dale its character.
Name Origin
A Name the Records Leave Unexplained
The sources used here do not explain where the name Crown Dale comes from. What they do establish is the road's age and its place in the wider pattern of Lambeth's streets.
Crown Dale was one of a chain of roads forming a single east-west route across the southern part of the ancient parish of Lambeth. It existed as a country lane before the 19th-century development that turned this part of Lambeth into built-up suburb.
History
From Workhouse Overflow to Children's Home
Crown Dale's institutional story begins with overcrowding elsewhere. The parish workhouse at Kennington had become overcrowded and unhealthy, and in 1810 the Vestry moved pauper children out to the rural edge of the parish, establishing a House of Industry for the Infant Poor at the corner of Elder Road and Crown Dale. The land on the west side of Elder Road was bought from John Barnard that same year.
The institution grew steadily through the 19th century. It was enlarged in 1824 and again in 1828, and a school was formed there in 1834. In 1837 the adult paupers whose labour had kept the workhouse running were removed, replaced by hired labour.
A new school-house was built facing Elder Road in 1849-50, with Mr. Rogers as surveyor and Joshua Higgs and Son as contractors; it became known as Elderwood. By 1882 the accommodation was no longer adequate, so more land was bought, and large new buildings — now known as Wood Vale — went up in 1883-4 under the architect Mr. Coe and the builder Mr. Lucas, at an estimated cost of £55,000. An Outdoor Relief Station was built facing Elder Road after Wood Vale went up.
Elderwood, still standing on Crown Dale, began life in 1849-50 as a school-house for children sent out from an overcrowded workhouse in Kennington.
People
Surveyors, Builders and a Seller of Land
No resident of note appears in the record for Crown Dale, but the names behind its buildings do. John Barnard sold the Vestry the land on Elder Road in 1810 on which the House of Industry was raised. Four decades later, Mr. Rogers surveyed and Joshua Higgs and Son built the school-house that became Elderwood.
When the institution outgrew itself again in the 1880s, Mr. Coe drew up the designs for Wood Vale and Mr. Lucas built it. Together their work gave Crown Dale the two buildings that still define its institutional character.
Recent Times
From Vestry Charge to County Council
The institution's long life under parish management ended in 1930. The buildings at the corner of Elder Road and Crown Dale passed to the London County Council that year, and the school was renamed Norwood Children's Home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Crown Dale?
The sources used here do not explain the name. Crown Dale is documented only as part of an old lane crossing the southern part of Lambeth parish before the area was built up in the 19th century.
What is Crown Dale known for?
Crown Dale is known for the House of Industry for the Infant Poor, founded there in 1810 to house pauper children moved from an overcrowded workhouse in Kennington; its successor buildings, Elderwood and Wood Vale, still stand.
What buildings survive from the old institution?
Elderwood, built in 1849-50 as a school-house, and Wood Vale, built in 1883-4 to replace outgrown accommodation, both survive on Crown Dale near its junction with Elder Road.