Building   

Holmwood

Categories: Education

British History Online 1 gives "The mathematician Charles Babbage (1792-1871) and the novelist Captain Frederick Marryat (1792- 1848) attended a school run by the Revd. Stephen Freeman in a house in Baker Street later known as Holmwood."  Grace's Guide says that Babbage: "joined a 30-student Holmwood academy, in Baker Street, Enfield, Middlesex under Reverend Stephen Freeman. The academy had a well-stocked library that prompted Babbage's love of mathematics."

Freeman's ledger covering the period 1806 - 48 is held at the London Metropolitan Archives and The National Archives give: "The Reverend Stephen Freeman's School was a red brick house situated at the upper end of Baker Street in Enfield, known as Holmwood." About Baker Street, British History Online 2 gives: "Large houses which survived until the 20th century included ... Holmwood and Pattensweir, adjacent 18th-century buildings at the corner of Clay Hill." 

Sadly there seems to be no image available of Holmwood/Holmwood Academy. But the map of 1935 shows it, alongside Pattensweir at the junction. Trying to work out which is which, we found at the National Archives, a 1834 conveyance for Pattensweir (Pattens Ware), "A piece of land 1a 2r 34p fronting towards the south on the public road leading from Clay Hill to Baker Street and bounded towards the east by the new river". This has a "Plan incorporated" which would answer our question but it's not online. Also, with no mention of a house this suggests that neither house had yet been built.

The line of trees running approximately north-south on our map indicate the old course of the New River and Baker Street already existed in 1834 so the parcel of land either had a road running across it or it was only the land between the River and Bakers Street, and not the land on which the two houses were built at all.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Holmwood

Commemorated ati

Captain Frederick Marryat - Enfield

Capt Frederick Marryat, 1792 - 1848, novelist, was educated at 'Holmwood' on ...

Read More

Other Subjects

Hakuai Nakamura

Hakuai Nakamura

Became a student at UCL in 1865.

Person, Education, Japan

1 memorial
Ansel Wong

Ansel Wong

A cultural and political activist, an educationist and academic. In a wide-ranging career has worked at senior levels in various organisations in the public and charitable sectors, including with t...

Person, Community / Clubs, Education, Politics & Administration, Race Issues, Caribbean Islands

1 memorial
Royal Military Academy

Royal Military Academy

Founded as an academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. Originally located in a converted workshop of the Royal Arsenal and so popularly known as...

Building, Armed Forces, Education

2 memorials
Winifred Darch

Winifred Darch

Author and teacher. Born in Brighton. A prolific writer of novels, mainly for girls. From 1906 to 1935, she worked as a teacher and housemistress at the High School for Girls, Loughton. We cannot f...

Person, Education, Literature

1 memorial
Harold Laski

Harold Laski

Born Harold Joseph Laski at Smedley House, Cheetham Hill, Manchester. His mother's maiden name was Frankenstein. He lectured at universities in Canada and America. Returning to Britain he became Pr...

Person, Education, Philosophy, Politics & Administration, Canada, USA

1 memorial