Katherine Road: the history around us

Changing needs

Among the original Victorian shops and businesses on Katherine Road, there are a lot that would be familiar to us today. For example, the Kelly’s Directory of 1894 lists: Charles Ashenden, newsagent; William Henry Denny, chemist; Samuel Sloper, hair dresser; and William Dunn, accountant – to name a few. However, it also lists some seriously outdated ones, such as cowkeeper Mary Ann Moss and Edwin J Shaw, oilman.

It’s often easy to see where shops have been repurposed to provide a service that is more in line with modern needs. Sometimes, a corner shop will still be a corner shop, but in the case of the business shown above, times have definitely changed. John Matthews is listed in Kelly’s Directory of 1914 as a china dealer – though we can also see from the image that he sold and repaired glass, tin and iron goods too. At a time when most people didn’t travel outside of the immediate area for household items, this would have been a key local supplier. Today, the shape of the shop is the same, but it houses a 21st century lettings agency (above right).

We all have to eat

If you walk the length of Katherine Road now, you’ll pass a large number of restaurants and takeaways. Eating out certainly wasn’t as common years ago, but for those living in bedsits or with a landlady who only provided one meal a day, dining rooms and – for men – pubs were a welcome local fixture. For example, under new ownership in 1912, The Bridge Dining Rooms at the small corner premises of 178 Katherine Road was keen to advertise that it served ‘A really enjoyable dinner’ (above left).

Same but different

Many of the surviving buildings along Katherine Road were built in the years before or just after 1900. But the striking structure that is now home to the Katherine Road Community Centre dates from a little later, opening in 1935 as a Tuberculosis and Chest Clinic. Making use of the site of Durban House – whose name lives on in the Durban Court block of flats – it took nine months to build and cost £5,700 (as can be seen in the newspaper report below). It’s interesting to note that this building continues to offer different but still essential services to local residents today.

Gone and forgotten? 

Admittedly, there are some historic local landmarks of which there’s no longer any sign. The Green Man (see above), was a well-known pub on the corner of Katherine Road and Plashet Grove from the 1830s until 2007. It was demolished in 2008 to make way for something the area needed more – housing. However, beyond the flats that now stand there, the curve of Plashet Grove behind and even a couple of the houses are immediately recognisable in the older photograph.

A lasting legacy

Though the streets around Katherine Road were created and built upon at a rapid rate towards the end of the 19th century, the East Ham Local Board also believed in the importance of green spaces for local people. There is now no evidence of the large residence known as The Wood House, so called because it was, unusually, made entirely of timber. However, part of its estate was bought to create Plashet Park to give the people of Katherine Road somewhere green to stroll and play – just as the park is still used today.

To read more about the early history of Katherine Road, see Katherine Road: from county lane to city street.