The East London House is a historic building in East London

 

The East London House is a historic building in East London. The Limes, formerly known as Barclay's The Limes, was one of Walthamstow's numerous 18th-century houses, and it was located on Shernhall Street, south of Barclay Road.

In little over an acre of carefully managed grounds and gardens, which included an avenue of lime trees and a vinery, as well as an extra two acres or so of adjacent grassland, the home stood out as a beacon of beauty. To the west of the main house, there was horse stabling, a cowhouse, and a variety of outbuildings to accommodate the animals.

While still standing in the 1930s, the Limes was hailed as "one of the most beautiful of the area's 18th-century structures," making its demolition less than a decade later all the more galling.

Throughout the years, the Limes has been home to a number of well-known residents. Beginning in the 1840s, members of the wealthy Barclay family made their home in the region for several generations. The Barclay family, including Joseph Gurney Barclay (of Barclay & Co Ltd banking renown), Bulk  Steps, Edging and Kerbs low cost  lived here until 1853, when they relocated to Knotts Green House, which was a short distance away. Both he and his second wife Margaret were well-known for their generous gifts to local organisations, notably schools in Marsh Street (now High Street). However, it is Barclay Road, just to the north of where The Limes formerly stood, that is Joseph's most enduring legacy to this day.

The Limes' next tenants were Joseph's cousin Henry Ford Barclay and his family, who had migrated from Grove House in Leyton to take up residence there. In addition to his positions as a JP, High Sheriff of Essex, and Commissioner of Epping Forest, Henry was a prominent figure in the community, and it is thus no surprise that the family made their grounds available for different social gatherings. This venue hosted the first ever Leyton and Walthamstow Horticultural Society exhibition in 1862, which had an array of flowers, trees, and fruits on display to the accompaniment of a variety of brass band performances.

When the family relocated to Woodford, the Carters, who had previously resided at Stoney Down on Blackhorse Road, took up residence in the neighbourhood. Charlotte Carter was in charge of the construction of a church mission on Church Hill Road that stood for many years, and her husband, ship trader Henry Carter, was a JP and a churchwarden at St Stephen's Church in the City of London. During the school board election in 1894, Mabel, one of their children, was elected with a landslide victory by the voters.

As evidenced by the following snippet, which appeared in several newspapers in 1886 and described an egg inside an egg laid by one of Henry's hens: "I believe some of your scientific readers will be interested to know of an exceptional egg laid by one of my pullets.... I believe some of your scientific readers will be interested to know of an exceptional egg laid by one of my pullets....

In circumference, it is 9 12 inches in diameter and weighs six ounces." After moving from the Limes to Redhill in the 1890s, Mabel Carter became a rich woman, and she lived the remainder of her life in that position. At the time of her death in 1933, she left an astounding £35,126 in personal items behind her.

After being auctioned off in 1894, the grounds were described as "ideal for construction operations without compromising the residential qualities of the property," which was indicative of the periods in which great residences and grounds were being sold off for housing developments in the town.

They were the final occupants of the Limes, having lived there from the 1890s until the 1930s, following Sir William Mallinson's death in 1936, and were the last family to dwell there.