Ashwood Mews and The Brambles

In the late 19^th century, a large plot between 14 and 24 Prospect Road was acquired by Thomas Mercer, who set up his Marine Chronometer factory in a workshop at the rear of the plot. At the turn of the twentieth century, Thomas Mercer built the two large semi-detached houses, nos. 16-18, where he lived and also used these as offices. He built another house at the bottom of number 18 and used this as his workshop. His family called this the Power House. By 1913, Mercer had relocated the factory to the larger premises between the bottom of St Stephens Hill and Eywood Road. In the 1980s, this land behind Prospect Road was residentially developed. The development was called Ashwood Mews. Joanna McCann who used to live at 20 Prospect Road recorded the clearing of the site and the building of Ashwood Mews from a bedroom window. Mercer’s original workshop was incorporated into the scheme now numbers 6 and 7 Ashwood Mews. The name Power House is still there. Bennett and Fountain, an electrical wholesaler had the Mercer workshops before the Ashwood Mews development.

A similar development was undertaken in the late 1980’s, when the back-land to the rear of nos. 24 to 52 was assembled and residentially developed. This ‘close’ is known as The Brambles.