Time Walk
A Plain Kennington Terrace
A plain Kennington street holds a plaque for one of the most famous faces in film history. Walk it today and the main things to notice are the grey-brick terraces, with bands of red brick along the sills and window heads, and arches over the windows and porches alternating red and blue brick.
None of this existed in 1785, when a survey of the area showed open, undeveloped land where the street now runs. The houses date from the area's Victorian redevelopment, and one of them, marked today with a plaque, was a childhood home of Charlie Chaplin. That is the thread worth following here: an ordinary terraced street, and an extraordinary name attached to one of its doors.
Name Origin
An Unexplained Name
The sources used for this page do not give an origin for the name Methley. No lease, survey extract or council document consulted here records why the street was given that name. What can be dated is not the name's origin but the street's appearance on the ground, between a survey of 1785 that shows nothing built there and Horwood's map of 1799, by which point the road had been laid out.
History
From Copyhold Fields to Lovejoy's Terraces
Methley Street was laid out on land that had recently been open fields. Hodskinson and Middleton's survey of 1785 shows no development on the site at all. By the time Horwood published his map in 1799, the street had been formed, as part of a wider wave of redevelopment across Kennington in those years.
The street took its present shape nearly a century later. In 1868, Sir Gilbert East put a plan to the Metropolitan Board of Works for developing the land between Queen's Row, now Ravensdon Street, and Cleaver Square. Methley Street was one of three new roads in the scheme, alongside Radcot Street and Milverton Street. East also reached an agreement with neighbouring copyholders to extend Methley Street and give it a route through to Kennington Lane by way of what is now Bowden Street.
The houses that line the street were designed by Alfred Lovejoy, an architect and surveyor working from Cannon Street in the City. A Lambeth appraisal ranks the resulting houses as the most impressive housing of their period, built in stock brick and red brick with Gothic touches.
People
A Boyhood Address
Charlie Chaplin, born in 1889, lived at several addresses across Kennington, including 39 Methley Street and 287 Kennington Road. No. 39 stands in one of the street's 19th-century terraces, known locally as Prince's terrace, and its plaque marks it as a one-time home of the future film star.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Methley Street?
The sources consulted for this page do not explain the origin of the name. What is recorded is when the street appeared: it was laid out between a survey of 1785, which shows no building on the site, and Horwood's map of 1799.
What is Methley Street known for?
Its Victorian terraced housing, designed by architect Alfred Lovejoy, and as the site of 39 Methley Street, a childhood home of Charlie Chaplin now marked with a commemorative plaque.
When was Methley Street built?
The street was laid out between 1785 and 1799. Its present terraces date from a wider development scheme put forward by Sir Gilbert East in 1868.