Social tenants old and young from Croydon are being invited to contribute their memories towards an interactive museum exhibition this summer celebrating 100 years of council housing.
The 1919 Housing Act heralded a huge council house building programme across the country in the decades since, including around 25,000 built in Croydon. This nationwide expansion included early replacements for slum dwellings and households bombed out during the Second World War, as well as major new estates to meet growing post-war demand.
To celebrate this centenary Croydon Council wants people’s stories, films and other memorabilia for an exhibition at the Croydon Clocktower in August.
The first council homes built in the borough after the Act was passed were in Godstone Road (1920), Woodside (1921) and Norbury (1921), with key groups being rehoused including ex-servicemen, First World War widows and a growing commercial class such as clerks, postal workers and tram conductors. After the Second World War, the new estate at New Addington was begun in 1948, and Croydon’s first high-rise blocks were built in 1957 in Lodge Lane and Violet Lane.
Now housing officers and Museum of Croydon staff are compiling items from photographs to rent books that will go on display at a commemorative exhibition in August, and they want contributions from people who have lived in a Croydon council house.
Councillor Alison Butler, deputy leader and cabinet member for homes and Gateway services
“From New Addington to Norbury, many thousands of families have benefitted from council homes in Croydon, and our event is about marking this significant contribution to our communities.
“We are already dusting off our council archives for this exciting centenary, and I hope as many people as possible dig out their memorabilia and let us know so we can include it in this summer’s exhibition.”
To find out more and to provide contributions, contact residentinvolvement@croydon.gov.uk or call 020 8726 6100 extension 47350.
