Stocks Lane
A street created by the 1836 Enclosure Act
By Sue Miller
The village centre before the creation of Stocks Lane
Detail from the Enclosure map of 1836, showing a direct link from Back Street to High Street
Stocks Lane was created by the Orwell Enclosure Act of 1836 to extend Back Lane (now Lotfield Street) to the High Street. Presumably the village Stocks were located somewhere along this new road and gave it its name, but we are still looking for proof of this theory.
Stocks Lane, February 2014
The pump in the pavement outside number 2 replaced Stocks Lane Well sometime in the 19th century. This well was one of the three village watering places mentioned in the 1836 Enclosure Act, and was originally an open well about four feet in diameter.
The land on each side of Stocks Lane was, until the late 1930s, laid out as orchards, allotments or gardens, with the only houses being Oak Cottage, Blenheim House and a pair of cottages, now one house known as Stockslea. Two bungalows were then built, at numbers 9 and 17, but there was no further development until the 1960s.
Access roads for the new Pearmains and Cross Lane Closes were made in the 1970s and more bungalows were built on the west side of the road. By 1990 infilling was complete on both sides of Stocks Lane.
This gallery was added by
Sue Miller on 27/07/2013.