HISTORY
Some background information about how Welcomes and Uplands Road came in to existence.
Who were the Original Owners of Welcomes Road?
The best evidence we have is from Conditions of Sale Welcomes Farm on 13th May 1862. An extract is as follows:
“Mr MARSON (Kenley House) and the late owner of Welcomes Farm (Mr Thomas KEEN) covenanted with each other that a new road (called ‘New Road’ to Kenley i.e. Welcomes Road) which has been made at their joint expense, should from time to time and at all other times there after, be maintained and kept in repair by, and at the equal expense, and of that or their respective heirs, appointees or assigns, owners for the time being of the lands through or over which the said new road has been made.”
It reads that this was agreed in 1853. The new owner of Welcomes Farm from 1862 to 1896 was Mr George CUTT. The land started to be sold off in the 1890s. Mr John YOUNG purchased Kenley House & lands in about 1865 and within a few years sold off building plots at the bottom of Welcomes Road. The OS map of 1912 (revised 1910) shows some of those early properties together with significant development along Uplands Road (viewable here courtesy of the National Library of Scotland). The remaining estate was sold in 1927.
TIME LINE
The time line below shows the historical development of Kenley, specifically in relation to Welcomes and Uplands Roads. View 1946 map here.
- 1682 - 1792
Wellcomes Farm changes hands multiple times
- c. 1865
Mr John Young purchased Kenley House & lands from Mr G. Cutt in c.1865 and sells off building plots at the bottom of Welcomes Road.
- 1872
Development is being encouraged along the Caterham branch line] [Early properties in the immediate area start to appear
- 1876
The list has expanded to 54 entries, with properties listed on Hayes Lane, Godstone Road & Valley Road
- 1886
1886 brings the arrival of a school, with a Mr Walter Smith as the schoolmaster.
- 1901
Ravenscroft appears in the register (listed as a school at this point
- 1905
The following are listed in the directory: Kenilworth, (165 Welcomes Road), Ridgehurst (Uplands Road), The Hermitage (Uplands Road), Kings Close
- 1906
Sherwood Mount (Uplands Road) appears in the register
- 1908
The Chestnuts (155 & 157 Welcomes Road) appear in the register
- 1927
The remaining Welcomes Farm estate is sold off
- 1956
WURA holds its first committee meeting
- 1545
The early ownership of Wellcomes Farm is documented as being with the Gresham family.
- 1862
The land auction. Welcomes Farm is sold to Mr George Cutt on 13 May 1862
- 1869
Kenley starts to be identified as a distinct area in the Croydon Directory
- 1872/73
Early properties in the immediate area start to appear
- 1882
The Waddenden Arms appears in the Directory, now known as the Wattendon Arms
- 1890
By this time the number of entries for Kenley has increased to 243
- 1904
Welcomes Road appears in the listing with some of the houses named still in use today: The Copse (22 Welcomes Road), WyssWood (78 Welcomes Road), Woodend (80 Welcomes Road), Alwyne Cottage (163 Welcomes Road), Babbecombe (Uplands Road), The Nest, The Cottage
- 1907
The Garth (12 Welcomes Road), Barrington (36 Welcomes Road), The Homestead (151 & 153 Welcomes Road), The Glen (Now Uplands Road, with 102 Welcomes Road & others in front), Morven (Uplands Road)]
- 1909
The Old Place (Uplands Road), the Woodhurst & Elmhurst listings move to ZigZag Road, Hillside Stables
- 1943
The OS map shows multiple properties in Uplands Road & Welcomes Road.