Forest Hill’s history revealed as shop gets facelift

The redecoration of a former fish and chip shop at 11 Dartmouth Road has given us a glimpse of the Victorian and Edwardian history of the area. The redecoration work revealed the facade of Ashby’s fish and poultry shop who ran a fish market on the site.

The photo below is taken from the junction of Dartmouth Road and London Road, looking west. The second building facing you is the Dartmouth Arms and behind this a sign on the end of the terrace reading “The Forest Hill Fish and Poultry Market”.

The “Fish Market” was at 11 Dartmouth Road and was run by William Ashby. He was a fishmonger and poulterer there from the late 1860s, when this parade of shops was built, until the late 1880s. From 1891 until 1920 it was Farrance’s fishmongers and in 1921 it became MacFisheries.

Thanks to Dan Stevens and Steve Grindlay for information