norwood grove was originally part of the great Streatham
common, which was recorded in the Doomsday Book as Lime Common, in 1635 part of
the common was enclosed by the Duke of Portland to form an estate around the
shooting box which was presented to him by King Charles II
Roques Map of 1746
indicates that there was a house on the site of the grove called
"copgate" gibson's hill and in 1800 the driveway past the
house was important as the only road across the common
the mansion or "white house" as it is locally
known is early 19th century and by the end of the century was considerably
larger than now with the west wing and its identical bow front extending almost
to the stable buildings, there was another wing running off this at an angle, during
the war one wing of the house was bombed and part of the garden also suffered
damage
the ownership of the mansion was passed to Croydon council
and since then the state of the building has seriously declined and now risks
becoming unsafe and unusable as the council cannot fund essential repairs
the council claims they
don't have the funds to repair the building and so they do nothing whilst the
place falls apart - are they hoping it will fall down so that they will no longer have any responsibility other than to clear the rubble?
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