The 1901 Census
By the time the 1901 census was taken on the night of March 31st, the area once known as America was starting to be developed. Beechwood Avenue had appeared as had Woodland Grove and the bulk of the houses between the school and Oatlands Avenue had now been built, if not all occupied by census night.
Oatlands Avenue had now acquired its name - prior to that it had been known as America, America Road, Duchess Road, Duchess Avenue, Road by the Church and various other local variations and it would seem as though nobody actually wanted to claim it until there was some ratable value to be had from it...
From this point onwards, almost nothing changed until some more houses were built in St Mary's Road in the 1930s and the odd new house appeared in another part of the village. In realty, it showed almost no change until the 1960s if we ignore the property clearances in Vale Road caused by a bombing raid during WWII. The range of shops stayed fairly much the same even when the owners changed, the pubs stayed the same until the Sailor's Home and The Lion closed, families were born, grew up and stayed in and around the village until the property boom pushed houses beyond their financial reach...
1901 Census - Transcribed Schedules - Not Yet Available
1901 Census - Transcribed Schedules - Not Yet Available