Building MPM1383 - 15 Mulberry Lane

Rendered two-storey house with clay tiled roof dating to the early-19th and 20th centuries. Shown on 1870 Ordnance Survey as Knapps. [1]

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A building is marked at roughly the same site as the house on the 1810 Ordnance Survey map, but the map does not record a name [2]. The house is clearly marked on the Widley Tithe Map of 1840 [3]. The 1870 Ordnance Survey map records the name of the property as 'Knapps' [4]. The name was changed to The Mulberries' shortly after this date, and remained so until at least 1932. An article in the Portsmouth Evening News published 19th October 1931 when the property was purchased by the Free Church, reported that the house had been named after a Mulberry tree which stood within its grounds. The report also stated that until 1926 the house had been used as the official residence of the Officer-in-Charge of Whale Island. [5]

<1> Portsmouth City Council, 2011, City of Portsmouth Local List of Buildings (Bibliographic reference). SPM37.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1810, Ordnance Survey Map 1810 (Map). SPM506.

<3> Howard, Henry, 1840, Widley Tithe Map (Cartographic materials). SPM505.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1870, Ordnance Survey Map 1870 (Map). SPM282.

<5> Portsmouth Evening News, 1931, Portsmouth Evening News (Bibliographic reference). SPM503.