Building   

Holmwood

Categories: Education

British History Online 1 gives "The mathematician Charles Babbage (1792-1871) and the novelist Captain Frederick Marryat (1792- 1848) attended a school run by the Revd. Stephen Freeman in a house in Baker Street later known as Holmwood."  Grace's Guide says that Babbage: "joined a 30-student Holmwood academy, in Baker Street, Enfield, Middlesex under Reverend Stephen Freeman. The academy had a well-stocked library that prompted Babbage's love of mathematics."

Freeman's ledger covering the period 1806 - 48 is held at the London Metropolitan Archives and The National Archives give: "The Reverend Stephen Freeman's School was a red brick house situated at the upper end of Baker Street in Enfield, known as Holmwood." About Baker Street, British History Online 2 gives: "Large houses which survived until the 20th century included ... Holmwood and Pattensweir, adjacent 18th-century buildings at the corner of Clay Hill." 

Sadly there seems to be no image available of Holmwood/Holmwood Academy. But the map of 1935 shows it, alongside Pattensweir at the junction. Trying to work out which is which, we found at the National Archives, a 1834 conveyance for Pattensweir (Pattens Ware), "A piece of land 1a 2r 34p fronting towards the south on the public road leading from Clay Hill to Baker Street and bounded towards the east by the new river". This has a "Plan incorporated" which would answer our question but it's not online. Also, with no mention of a house this suggests that neither house had yet been built.

The line of trees running approximately north-south on our map indicate the old course of the New River and Baker Street already existed in 1834 so the parcel of land either had a road running across it or it was only the land between the River and Bakers Street, and not the land on which the two houses were built at all.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Holmwood

Commemorated ati

Captain Frederick Marryat - Enfield

Capt Frederick Marryat, 1792 - 1848, novelist, was educated at 'Holmwood' on ...

Read More

Other Subjects

Girton College

Girton College

England's first residential college for women. Established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon. Originally located at Benslow House in Hitchin as it was felt to be less controversial not t...

Building, Education

1 memorial
Serjeant James Beaconsfield Nightingale

Serjeant James Beaconsfield Nightingale

James Beaconsfield Nightingale was born on 19 April 1892 in Horley, Surrey, the fourth of the seven children of James Nightingale (1863-1941) and Alice Mary Nightingale née Potter (1861-1928). His ...

Person, Armed Forces, Education, France

War dead, WW1
2 memorials
Henry Leeke

Henry Leeke

Founder of St Olave's Grammar School. Southwark brewer. Lived at the foot of London Bridge by Pepper Alley. Bequeathed money for the school.

Person, Education

0 memorials
Lady Byron

Lady Byron

Born as Anne Isabella Milbanke, sometimes known as Annabella, an heiress in her own right. Unusually well-educated. An unwise marriage to Lord Byron in January 1815 lasted only a year but did produ...

Person, Education, Friend / family, Race Issues

1 memorial
Edward Pauncfort

Edward Pauncfort

Tory MP. Early in the 1700s he moved into Lauderdale House and took a great interest in Highgate. He became the treasurer and one of the governors of Highgate School and its Chapel. In Southwoo...

Person, Benefactor, Education, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Lenin - Holford Gardens - bust

Lenin - Holford Gardens - bust

WC1, Holford Gardens, Bevin Court

This memorial was given to the people of Finsbury by the Russian Embassy in London and unveiled on Lenin's birthday. We understand that i...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
Spitfire aircraft

Spitfire aircraft

From our Picture source: "Produced in greater numbers than any other British combat aircraft before or since the War, 20,341 Spitfires were built in 22 different variants (excluding the navalised S...

Vehicle, Armed Forces, Aviation, Transport

5 memorials
Streatham war memorial

Streatham war memorial

SW16, Streatham High Road, Garden of Rememberance, Streatham Common North

The quotation comes from Binyon's 1914 poem, ‘For the Fallen’. The memorial must have been renovated in 2010.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Nipper

Nipper

Born Bristol (and/or found as a stray, sources differ).  Mixed breed with a reputation for nipping visitor's legs, hence the name. His owner, Mark Barraud (1848-1887) worked as a scenery designer i...

Animal, Animals, Music / songs

3 memorials