Lingfield Road - No 5 of an Occasional Series

In the previous post I looked at Nbrs 31 to 51

Today's picture shows 'Phoenix House' which is 53 to 59 Lingfield Road. The name comes from its former role as the Phoenix Laundry.

We know from the 1939 Register that there were no houses between numbers 53 and 65. This is confirmed by the 1939 Ordnance Survey Map. However the 1910 Map shows 2 further buildings which from the 1901 Census suggests were numbered 53; 55; 57 & 59. The latter pair being occupied by Thomas Simmons a Blacksmith with his wife Elsie (described as a Laundress) their two young children and 3 adults (Mary Francis from Gloucestershire, Nilah Barnfield from nearby Three Bridges and local girl Kate Nichols; all described at Laundry Maids. 

Presumably, from these humble beginnings the Phoenix Laundry grew. It had ceased operations by the 1980s - presumably the mass availability of home washing machines removed the need to send your laundry out.

For the past 30 odd years the building has been a variety of usages. Today the process has started to strip the current building prior to demolition and the building of a terraced row of (you guessed it) 4 houses. 

What goes around comes around!