Petts Wood: The making of a 1920s garden suburb

by Peter Waymark

Shopping

After the railway, the next essential service for the new suburb was a shopping centre. Again, Scruby planned this from an early stage. The shops were grouped around a square adjacent to the station, giving Petts Wood a logical centre. Echoing the mock-Tudor style of many of the houses, the shops had flats above and service areas behind with a generous width of pavement.

One of the early arrivals in Petts Wood was the Dunstonian Garage, which sold Hillman and Humber cars. To conform with the character of the Scruby estate, the owner agreed to put the petrol pumps under a canopy and use oak beams on his sales office and workshop. On Station Square, too, Scruby set up his estate office, directly facing the station and with a car ready to take prospective buyers to the show houses.