Balham

Balham started life as one or two farms situated on the old Roman road. It did not really start to expand until the second half of the eighteenth century when the London gentry started to build 'country' retreats. However, it was not until about one hundred years later that the area began to develop as a London suburb.

The railway station opened in 1856 and was a small wooden building in Chestnut Grove. It moved to its present position in 1863. The railway line divided Balham into two and to the north the residential and commercial development proceeded at a greater rate than to the south. Daniel Dendy built more than eighty low rate properties in the 1860s. He named one of the new streets after himself and another after his daughter Kate.

The Devonshire

Formerly the Duke of Devonshire, this wonderful example of a proper Victorian pub with etched glass and an imposing front, has been part of Young’s since 1853 – but can be traced as far back as the 18th Century.