Earls Court
Ifield Road
Ifield Road runs between Fulham Road and Finborough Road. It consists of four-storey stone terraced houses (plus basement). The street is tree lined. The houses on the west side overlook a large cemetery and there are a couple of pubs in the street.
The road itself was a new construction. There had previously been a cart road called Honey Lane right next to the Brompton Cemetery. But in 1866 Corbett and McClymont were given permission to construct Ifield Road a house’s depth further east, so that houses could be built on either side of it (with the western ranges occupying the site of the old road and backing on to the cemetery).
From the Fulham Road to Adrian Mews the land belonged to the Pettiward family. From there to Finborough Road it belonged to Robert Gunter II. Corbett and McClymont came to an unusual arrangement with these owners. Elsewhere they had built houses almost entirely on the basis of taking leases of the sites at a ground rent from the freehold owners. Here they bought the freehold of the land between the new road and the cemetery. In July 1867 R J Pettiward conveyed the sites for Nos. 2-118 (even) Ifield Road to Henry Lewin at Corbett and McClymont’s request. Henry Lewin was the senior partner of Corbett and McClymont’s solicitors, Lewins, practising in Southampton Street. In August 1867 Robert Gunter II conveyed the sites for Nos. 120-180 (even) to Corbett and McClymont, and in February 1868 they conveyed the land to Robert Lewin, Henry Lewin’s brother. In June 1869 Robert Gunter II conveyed to Corbett and McClymont the rest of the land on this side of the road (the sites of Nos 120-194 Finborough Road). This time Corbett and McClymont conveyed it on to J L Tomlin, who was the Gunters’ solicitor.
The Lewins and Tomlin all then granted Corbett and McClymont (or builders nominated by them) leases of the land for house construction so it would seem that these arrangements were all part of a financing arrangement or a way of remunerating the solicitors for their services in some way. In 1869 Spencer Robert Lewin granted Corbett and McClymont leases for the construction of Nos. 2-68 and Nos. 132-180 followed by No. 70 in 1871. Nos. 72-118 were leased to B J Hudson and W Spires at Corbett and McClymont’s request.
The Lewins were given the honour of naming the new road and they chose “Ifield Road” after Ifield in Sussex where S J Lewin, one of the family, was vicar. The section of road north of Tregunter Road was called Adrian Terrace until 1909 when it all became Ifield Road up to the junction with Finborough Road.
The sites of Nos. 1-79 (odd) at the Fulham Road end of the street fell within the area owned by the Pettiward family. This was all to be taken by Corbett and McClymont and in 1866-8 R J Pettiward leased Nos. 1-57, and 63-79 to them. By arrangement with Corbett and McClymont, Nos. 59 and 61 were leased direct to B J Hudson and W. Spires. In 1867-8 Corbett and McClymont themselves granted sub-leases of some of their take to other builders: Richard Fitt (Nos. 1-5, 21-27) and George German (Nos. 7 and 9).
The Gunter section was roughly next to Adrian Mews. Robert Gunter II leased the land to Corbett and McClymont in 1868 for the building of Nos. 93-129 (odd).
In its early days Ifield Road was not on a par with the rest of the Redcliffe Estate. The 1871 census tells us that there were ten or eleven people living in some houses. The occupations of most of the house owners were decidedly working class: a third were in the building trade, 21 were in transport as cab drivers, bus conductors, coachmen, train guards and the like.
