Nos. 112 and 114 London Road were built as a pair of semi-detached houses in about 1908: their pointed gables can be seen behind the tree in the above detail from a postcard of c.1910. The building to the left of the detail is the Co-op (now Buckell & Ballard) on the other side of the London Road. There are a pair of semi-detached houses next-door to the west (now replaced by the Londis block), and another pair of large semi-detached houses to the east (demolished along with their detached neighbour on the Kennett Road corner to make way for the Iceland block).

The 1911 census shows George Church (49), the manager of the Co-op on the north-east corner of London Road, living in “Foxbury” on the left with his wife Sarah (47). On the right in “Wonderklip” was the Post Office telegraph clerk Frederic Palmer Brown (42) with his wife Mary (39) and their five children.

These houses are the only older buildings that have survived on the south side of the London Road between Windmill Road and Kennett Road. The photograph below (taken in July 2007) shows how their front gardens, which used to slope down to the pavement, have been turned into steps.

These houses were originally numbered 38 and 40, but the whole of London Road was renumbered in the early 1930s and they are now Nos. 112 and 114. They were both private houses until 1956, and the following planning applications were approved between 1956 and 1962:

• No. 112 (right):
  3 April 1956: “Change of use of ground floor to shop and new shop front and alterations” (56/05292/A_H)
  14 August 1956: “Workshop and store” (56/05591/A_H)
  11 October 1960: “New shop front” (60/09961/A_H)
  27 February 1962: “Extension to form offices” (62/11948/A_H)
• No. 114 (left):
  31 May 1960: “New shop front” (60/09677/A_H)
  25 June 1960: “Change of use from residential to shop, repair shop, and self-contained flat (60/09190/AA_H)
  28 November 1961: “Extension to workshop and storage” (61/11512/A_H)
  30 January 1962: “Change of use of flat on 1st floor to storage for shop use” (62/11651/A_H)

Brief history of this pair of shops