Pollards Hill is a small residential district straddling

south London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sut ...

boroughs of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

and Merton between

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It h ...

Norbury Norbury is an area of south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring Streatham. Norbury is south of Charing Cross. Etymology The name Norbury derives from ''North Burh'', (North Borough). Some local histories note that ...

and

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

. The boundary of the two boroughs is a street named Recreation Way. No roads directly cross the Croydon and Merton divide, and streets were planned according to borough, leading to differing architectural or building schemes. It lends its name to a ward of the London Borough of Merton.

History

Mitcham Borough Council Mitcham was a local government district in north east Surrey from 1915 to 1965 around the town of Mitcham. History Mitcham local government district was created in 1915 as an urban district from part of the abolished Croydon Rural District. It ga ...

(MBC) dissolved in 1965 on incorporation into London. It helped to meet the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

housing shortage, wrought by the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, by building prefabricated ‘Arcon’ bungalows at Pollards Hill. The first were ready by January 1946, meant to last about 10 years. Many remained until the mid-1960s. The pre-fabs were mostly demolished in the 1960s, to make way for a new, high density, low-rise scheme that was constructed by

Merton London Borough Council Merton London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Merton in Greater London, England. It is one of the 32 councils that form Greater London. History There were previously a number of local authorities responsible ...

and

Wimpey Homes George Wimpey was a British construction firm. Formed in 1880 and based in Hammersmith, it initially operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919, and he developed it into a construct ...

between 1967 and 1971. Separately, four landmark maisonette blocks were built by MBC in the 1950s on Yorkshire Road: Westmorland Square (1950), Bovingdon Square (1956) and between those years Hertford Square and Berkshire Square. A branch library and community centre were built, which received a design award.

Governance

Councillors

Both sides of Pollards Hill elected Labour Party councillors at the last Council elections in May 2018. At present in the local government re-warding process used nationally for the regular election of a delegation of councillors, it lends its name to a ward of the Merton.

UK elections (general elections and by-elections)

East and west have, since 1992 and 1997, respectively seen their relevant two seats in London, locally dependent wholly on borough, return Labour MPs. The seats are Croydon North and Mitcham and Morden. The narrower majority, narrowly, is in the latter; at all elections since 1997 the two seats have seen a greater than 28% Labour majority.

Geography

To the east (in Croydon), covering the sides of the hill, are larger houses, stretching towards central

. The roads are lined with

pollarded Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BCE. The practice oc ...

lime trees. To the west (in Merton), at the foot of the hill, is the Pollards Hill estate stretching to Broad Green and

Purley Way Purley Way is a section of the A23 trunk road in the London Borough of Croydon, in the areas of Purley, Waddon and Broad Green, and has given its name to the out-of-town shopping area alongside it with a catchment area covering most of South ...

. A section of the estate was transferred to the ownership of Moat Homes

housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, non-profit making organisations that provide low-cost " social housing" for people in need of a home. Any budget surplus is used to maintain existing housing and to help fi ...

in 1998 under a stock transfer from the local authority. Moat has since demolished four maisonette blocks dating from the 1950s and is undertaking a wider regeneration of the stock. Covering the crown of the hill is Pollards Hill Park, an open area of 7.75 acres (3.14 hectares), managed by

Croydon Council Croydon London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, electing 70 cou ...

, to whom it was donated in 1913. The park is the highest point in the Norbury area and can give views as far as

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

. A viewpoint at the top of the park indicates the direction of various landmarks.

Education

In September 2006, Harris Academy Merton opened on the former site of Tamworth Manor High School. The academy is on the Merton side but right on the

border. Tamworth Manor High School was originally Pollards Hill Secondary Modern School built in the 1950s, which became a comprehensive school, Pollards Hill High School, in 1968.

Transport

The nearest railway stations are Norbury railway station and Streatham Common railway station & Thornton Heath railway station. Bus routes 60, 255 serve the eastern Croydon area & Buses 152, 463 serve the western merton area.

Demography

Pollards Hill is home to the largest

Ghanaian British Ghanaians in the United Kingdom (also British Ghanaians) encompass both Ghana-born immigrants and their descendants living in the United Kingdom. Immigration to the UK accelerated following the independence of Ghana from the British Empire i ...

community in the UK on the Merton side according to the 2011 census, with 6% of the population and over 600 people born in Ghana. It has a large

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Bri ...

population on the Croydon side, and the area is home to many other different nationalities.

Culture and community

Pollards Hill on the Merton side also contains a wide range of community facilities including a library, community centre, youth centre and a neighbourhood police station, the first in Merton. In 2005, a community cycling club was set up with help from the Commonside Trust. It won the London Cycling Campaigns' award for Best Community Cycling Initiative in 2006.

References

External links

Croydon Council - Pollards HillCroydon Council - Pollards Hill History
{{London Districts Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Croydon Districts of the London Borough of Croydon Districts of the London Borough of Merton