High Street Buildings

A parade of five shops with apartments above, built c1896, designed by the architect Alexander Hennell. The buildings are numbered 134, 136, 138/140, 142/144 and 146 along High Street in Sydenham.

This is a Queen Anne style terrace of three storeys, rising to four in the central section, constructed in red brick with extensive buff terracotta dressings. The architectural detailing is particularly dramatic at roofline level, featuring Flemish-style gables and Gothic pinnacles. The façade is symmetrical across the upper storeys: a central bay contains shallow bow mullion and transom windows with terracotta bands inscribed 'High Street Buildings' and a carved frieze of garlands; two flanking bays have further mullion and transom windows with pediments and cartouches with terracotta details; two additional bays feature carved friezes of foliage and cartouches, terminating the elevation. At ground floor level are shops divided by oversized pilasters with alternating large and small quoins and carved consoles. All ground floor storefronts have attractive green glazing. Three of the five original late 19th-century shop fronts survive (Nos. 134, 142/144 and 146), each featuring a recessed central entrance with mosaic floor to the shop, two display windows with metal surrounds, and a separate side entrance to the accommodation above. The shop fronts to Nos. 136 and 138/140 are modern replacements. Minor later alterations have mostly occurred at ground floor level.

Kirkdale was formerly the main road from central London to Sydenham and became particularly well-used after 1852 when the Crystal Palace exhibition hall was moved to Sydenham from Hyde Park. Combined with therapeutic springs discovered near present Wells Park Road in the 1640s, the Palace and its park made Sydenham a popular leisure destination for Londoners. Historic maps including J. Cary's 1786 "Fifteen miles around London" and Edward Stanford's 1862 "London and its Suburbs" depict the area, with the latter showing a corner building labelled "Fox and Hounds" and a terrace running north from it. The pub was rebuilt in the late 1880s and the terrace c1896.