House numbers 56 & 58

In 1857 when Pitt, Shone & Wood took up individual ownership of the building plots; this plot 1 went to Shone but was sold within months to Griffiths (no:56) and Foulkes (no:58). The double property is shown on the 1872 OS survey. The 1871 census does not record occupied dwellings that would appear to be this property. It does however note several unoccupied and from the architecture the suggested build date is around 1870.

The house name 'Fernbank' is first used in the 1891 census and appears to be for the double property. By 1901 the name Mona Villa is used for no:58; leaving no:56 using the Fern Bank name.

the frontage before all the post-WW2 extensions

and again as extended during the late 1990s.

The double property has the distinction of being included within the city boundary before the rest of the Park.

The 1872 OS survey and early Upton Park estate plans show a pond to the southeast of plot 1. The precise location of this pond varies on each early map suggesting that it was very variable with climatic conditions and the timing of the survey. Indications suggest that the pond took in the southeast corner of no:58's garden as well as part of the Avenue immediately to the east of no:58 and also land to the south now within the grounds of new property outside the Park. The pond is not shown from the 1898 survey onwards and the Whaleys - residents of no:58 post-WW1 - have no recollections of it. However, Robin Parker's memories from around the 1950s recall pond plants and garden waste being dumped as landfill.

see house no:56
see house no:58