Larkbeare

This area was a deep wooded valley and, unsurprisingly, noted for the many larks in the woods. Beare is an ancient name for 'wood'.

A large castellated house named Larkbeare House was built in the 16th century where Holloway Street and Roberts Road meet. In 1737 the house was purchased by John Baring, of the Baring Bank family. The grounds spread to extensive rackfields at this time. The family disposed of the house in 1832 and it was partly demolished in 1889.

A son of Larkbeare was John Bowring, who was born in Great Larkbeare, in 1792. After learning a variety of foreign languages, he travelled widely, and then became the Governor of Hong Kong. He also introduced the florin to British coinage with the intention of establishing decimal currency to the country - eventually achieved in 1971.