Abingdon St

Follow this link for a pdf of Pier St & Abingdon St map

Abingdon St was developed in 1858 to link the station to the Highbridge Road (Marine Drive did not exist at this time as it was built after the closure of the line on the site of the railway track). It is thought to be named in honour of George Reed’s recently deceased son Joseph Haythorne Reed who was MP for Abingdon (Oxfordshire) from 1854 to 1857. 

The photo above (c.1960), from the Glyn Luxon collection shows where the station stood in relation to Abingdon St. An earlier photo below (c.1914) shows the row of shops where La Vela and the Southern Fried Chicken Take-away now stand (2019). Hodges Gent’s Outfitters and later Hanby’s ‘Babyneeds'(1950’s – 60’s); Marguerite’s Fashions (1960’s – 70’s) and then Salvo’s Italian Restaurant occupied the spot now taken by ‘The Coffee Corner Company ‘.

The newspaper advert below is probably from the 1950’s. Hiretax is probably an earlier incarnation of Hanby’s Babyneeds & Taxis.

Adverts from Burnham Guides of  1957 & 1967

Davis’ Restaurant occupied No. 14 (recently the China Garden Take-away) at some point, though we have no record of when. It is possible that it succeeded Hinges in the 1930’s. Paradise Farm Dairies moved in during the 1950’s (advert below from Burnham Guide of 1957). 

The photo below is a view from the east end, date not known. The College / Hotel can be seen at the far end. There were a few scattered shops at this end over the years, such as Young’s General Store at No. 28 (1960’s-80’s), Browning’s grocers at No. 51 & Carman’s Drapers (1930’s) at No. 62 (adverts below from Burnham Guides of 1957 & 1940).

East end, looking west.
Photo courtesy of Bob & June Thomas.

Billingsley’s decorators and hardware suppliers (below) occupied No 64 during the 1960’s through to the 1980’s

Photo (1986) courtesy of Nick Whetstone.

On the corner with Abingdon St, in Clifford House was Wensley’s Ladies Hairdressers next door to the Post Office. This eventually moved around the corner into the Oxford St frontage.

Photo courtesy of Brian Guy.

3 thoughts on “Abingdon St”

  1. Does anyone know if there’s any 1800s or early 1900s photos of the middle of Abingdon street? So the view of houses from the photo shop area rather than the ends of the streets? I would love to see an old photo of my house that’s in the middle near the photo shop/launderettes

    1. Unfortunately the only view we have which may include the area you mention is the one on the webpage taken from the East end. Perhaps other readers may have additional pictures? If so we would be pleased to hear from them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *