Ferndale Street - Faringdon History Website

Ferndale Street formally known as Back Street and then Union Street was literally a ‘back street’ to London Street. It became known as ‘Union Street’ after 1801 when The Faringdon Poor Law Union, commonly known as the Workhouse was built. That was demolished in 1968 to be replaced with the Lansdown Road Estate and Brackendale Sheltered Housing. About the same time, a link road called Hart Avenue was built to link Ferndale Street to Bromsgrove. It was hoped that this would help alleviate traffic flow through the town centre before the bypass was built.

Also see our house by house tour of Ferndale Street in the Year 2000.

See Faringdon Streets for an indexed list of all streets in Faringdon.

Views of Ferndale Street

Ferndale Street E1 1993 — 1993. Looking east from the junction with **Southampton Street** (left) and Hart Avenue (behind). On corner #1, **Raymond Hutt’s house.

Ferndale Street S1 C1994 — 1994/95. House on the opposite corner with Southampton Street, which is now closed to traffic.

Ferndale Street E2 C1994 — 1994/95. A bit further up by the old stone wall in the first photo. The turning on the left is Normandy Court

Ferndale Street W1 1993 — 1993. Further up and looking back from the corner of Lansdown Road. The Baker’s Arms on the right closed at end of 1993; now a private house.

Ferndale Street E3 1993 — 1993. Turning around and looking towards the Stanford Road. Lansdown Road on the right was the site of the old Workhouse.

Ferndale Street 1953 — 1953. Looking back down Ferndale Street from the Stanford Road entrance. The street is very narrow at this point.

** Raymond Hutt donated his verbose photographic tour in and around Faringdon to the society: Hutt Collection 1953

2000 – the first photo is No 13 Ferndale Street, which was before/on the corner of Skinners Lane. There were 4 similar buildings, one behind the other. It was an architectural salvage site, but empty for the last year or two. In 2021 – the second photo, the site has been cleared ready for four houses, according to the planning permission. Pagella’s fruit and veg merchants used to be on this site back in the 1960s.

c.1930’s Annie Dixey outside her shop, the boy is thought to be ‘Stoker’ Edgington. The shop was in front of the Workhouse on Union Street, once Back Street and now Ferndale Street. Later on the Dixey family ran a café as well as the shop. Frederick Dixey used the Workhouse gardens to grow vegetables which he sold in the shop. They had four sons, one dying at a young age, and two daughters. Mrs Dixey died in 1943.

Business Directories & Advertisements in Local Media

The following shops/businesses/traders were advertised in Back/Union/Ferndale Street, Faringdon in the year stated:

BAKER J., general house decorator, Union St, FA 1919.
EDMONDS Joseph, boot and shoemaker, Back Street. DG 1863
EDMONDS James, butchers, Back Street, PIG 1844
BOWLER Henry, Retailers of Beer, Back Street, PIG 1844
FIELD Zemira, gardeners, Back Street, PIG 1844
KIRKPATRICK Robert, watch and clock makers & gun maker, Back Street, PIG 1844
LING Charles, boot and shoe makers, Back Street, PIG 1844
MATHEWS Walter, bakers, Back Street, PIG 1844
UNION WORKHOUSE – John Pottow (master),, Back Street, PIG 1844
WHEELER Edward, stone masons, Back Street, PIG 1844

Media Key: FA = Faringdon Advertiser; FDS = Faringdon Dramatic Society; FV = Faringdon Venture; FF = Faringdon Folly; DG = Directory & Gazetteer of Oxon, Berks & Bucks (Dutton, Allen & Co. 1863); PIG = Pigot & Co.’s Directory of Berks & Bucks 1844.

Researched by Ian Lee, February 2020.