I spotted this warehouse on my way to the doctors - it’s always nice when an exploration turns up on your doorstep! It was all boarded up but a little walk mosey around soon revealed access.
Although I couldn’t find any info about it, it is located next to the site of an old nursery (the garden centre kind) which has now been demolished and replaced by none other than… council flats!
“The largest [nursery] lay between Oakleigh Road, Friern Barnet Lane, and Whetstone High Road, and was extended around a small nursery by J. Sweet, who moved from Leyton (Essex) in 1862. By 1898 20 a. out of 29½ a. were under glass, and expansion was planned. Sweet, using glasshouses with larger panes and lighter frames, was described as 'the father of the modern hothouse nursery business'. The land was requisitioned during the Second World War by the army, which controlled 33 a. in 1946. In 1969 it became the site for Sweet's Way.”
From the design of this warehouse though, I reckon it was originally used as a stables next to the nursery. It later got converted into H. Mills & Sons Ltd – they also had a branch in Northampton and the company is no longer in existence.
The dates on the documents inside stop in 2001.
Enjoy!
Although I couldn’t find any info about it, it is located next to the site of an old nursery (the garden centre kind) which has now been demolished and replaced by none other than… council flats!
“The largest [nursery] lay between Oakleigh Road, Friern Barnet Lane, and Whetstone High Road, and was extended around a small nursery by J. Sweet, who moved from Leyton (Essex) in 1862. By 1898 20 a. out of 29½ a. were under glass, and expansion was planned. Sweet, using glasshouses with larger panes and lighter frames, was described as 'the father of the modern hothouse nursery business'. The land was requisitioned during the Second World War by the army, which controlled 33 a. in 1946. In 1969 it became the site for Sweet's Way.”
From the design of this warehouse though, I reckon it was originally used as a stables next to the nursery. It later got converted into H. Mills & Sons Ltd – they also had a branch in Northampton and the company is no longer in existence.
The dates on the documents inside stop in 2001.
Enjoy!