Time Walk
A Lane That Kept Its Narrowness
A street this tight has stayed tight for over three centuries. Priory Grove still feels close and tucked-in, with a jumble of building ages and styles sharing a common brick palette, though houses toward the north rise grander. At the southern end the houses meet the pavement directly, with no front gardens at all — unusual for the area.
Beneath this patchwork lies something older: Priory Grove, along with Lansdowne Way and Larkhall Lane, appears to have existed in some form since at least the mid 17th century. That long survival, under a shifting skyline, is the thread worth following into its name.
Name Origin
A Shared Priory Name
Priory Grove's name is bound up with its neighbour. Lansdowne Way was formerly known as Priory Road, and the two streets evidently took their names from the same source — whatever that was, as the sources used here do not explain what the "priory" itself referred to.
What can be said is that the name is old, one of the area's longer-standing, even if its origin remains unrecorded.
History
From a 17th-Century Lane to a Board School
The square of early to mid-19th-century houses along Larkhall Lane, Lansdowne Way and Priory Grove survived long enough to be recognised formally, becoming the core of the Larkhall Conservation Area in June 1981.
The street's biggest single addition came in 1886, when the London School Board opened the Priory Grove Primary and Secondary Schools, designed by E. R. Robson and built by Plumstead contractor W. Tongue for a tender of £11,675, providing 1,200 school places. A purpose-built handicraft workshop followed in 1928, used for carpentry and other practical classes. The school was renamed Priory School by 1933, admitted girls from 1934 to 1948, and in the late 1930s turned one of its blocks into a model home fitted with a kitchen and childcare equipment used solely by girls.
The 1886 school on Priory Grove once had a model home built inside it, complete with a kitchen and childcare equipment, used only by girls in the late 1930s.
People
The Architect and the Builder
Two named figures stand behind the school that still shapes this street. E. R. Robson, architect to the London School Board, designed the Priory Grove schools that opened in 1886, and the building work went to W. Tongue. Neither man is recorded here beyond this single commission, but their building has outlasted its original purpose by well over a century.
Today
Flats, a Villa, and a Surviving Pub
The former school is flats now, converted into loft-style apartments, an example cited among Lambeth's redeveloped former educational buildings. Its caretaker's cottage survives at No. 8.
No. 7 stands out for its vivid reddish-tinted stucco, made to imitate natural stone. At the corner of Priory Mews, the former Windmill pub survives as a reminder of the street before post-war clearance swept much of the surrounding area. Looking across to Lansdowne Way, the distinctive butterfly roofs of its rear terraces can be seen clearly from Priory Grove — a small, specific detail marking where one street's buildings back onto another's.
On the Map
Priory Grove Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Priory Grove?
It shares its name with the neighbouring Lansdowne Way, formerly called Priory Road. Both streets appear to date from at least the mid 17th century, but the sources used here do not explain what the "priory" itself referred to.
What is Priory Grove known for?
Its narrow, tightly packed street scene, a Grade II listed Italianate villa at No. 5, and a former Victorian board school designed by E. R. Robson in 1886 that is now converted into flats.
Is the former school on Priory Grove still standing?
Yes. The 1886 London School Board building, designed by E. R. Robson and built by contractor W. Tongue, survives and was converted into loft-style apartments, with its original caretaker's cottage also still standing at No. 8.