Locals may know of two historic houses in Walthamstow named the Clock House - one on Wood Street, towards Whipps Cross, and the other on the corner of Pretoria Avenue and Mission Grove.
What is perhaps less well-known is that there was once a third Clock House, located on the north side of Forest Road, at the junction with Fulbourne Road and Wood Street. This house was demolished many years ago, at the end of the 19th century, but it was a very visible and well-known dwelling in its time, especially as it was located on one of the area’s main thoroughfares.
Its position, with farmland to the rear and countryside beyond meant that it enjoyed extensive and unspoiled views to the north. The house itself was a fine and elegant Georgian family residence, with six bedrooms, a drawing room, dining room, morning room, servants’ quarters, and stabling and outbuildings. The landscaped and ornamental grounds of a modest three acres or so contained a lawn, shrubbery, trees, a kitchen garden and meadowland.
The house was very much a gentlemen’s residence, and in the early 19th century it was owned by the well-to-do Goss family who had made their money in the wharfing business.
John William Goss was a wharfinger (wharf owner or manager) at bankside premises Bull Wharf in Queenhithe, not far from St Paul’s Cathedral, with additional warehouse premises at Bull Wharf Lane.
Like many successful City business owners of this era, living close to industry and to the working river was not a pleasant prospect, and many sought houses in the nearby countryside, with Essex being a popular choice, notably in the parishes of Walthamstow and Leyton. And so John William acquired Clock House, which was then copyhold of the manor of Walthamstow Toni.
When John died in 1826 he left his Walthamstow property to his wife Bella, but when she died a few years later in 1833 aged 64, his unmarried daughter Ann became head of the household at Clock House. Ann never married, but the household was instead expanded with other family members. Although Ann’s younger sisters Elizabeth and Sarah had married, they were both widowed relatively young and came to live with her, along with Sarah’s four children, as well as two sons of another sister. Ann’s unmarried younger brother John who had taken over the wharf business also came to join the household. In 1851 there were 12 people living in the house, with ages ranging from 13 to 54, including three servants. Ann Goss died in 1852 aged 57 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s, followed in the next year by her brother John who was also 57 when he died.
Clock House was sold by auction in 1860 and was then occupied by the Taylor family. Charlotte, her husband Samuel who was a retired chemist, and their unmarried twenty-something daughter Charlotte (middle-name Kitchen) moved from their nearby Wood Street residence.
Samuel’s retirement was sadly short-lived, as he died at Clock House in 1868 aged 62. Charlotte was able to enjoy more time there, and outlived him by some 20 years, until 1888. Their daughter Charlotte lived on for only five years more than her mother. She never married, and died in 1893, leaving effects of just over £10,892, a small fortune estimated to be the equivalent of £1,084,212 today. Her death marked the end of an era, and shortly afterwards, as was the fate of many fine and grand houses in the area, Clock House was demolished to make way for new housing development.
- Karen Averby is a seaside-loving historian and research consultant specialising in researching histories and stories of buildings, people and places. She researches house histories for private clients and collaborates in community heritage projects (karenaverby.co.uk). She is also director of Archangel Heritage Ltd, an historical research consultancy providing research services for the commercial heritage sector (archangelheritage.co.uk). Also found on Twitter @karenaverby and @archaheritage.
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