No81 The Hollow is first mentioned in the Bath Directory of 1940, as the home of a Mr P Burgess. Houses on the road were built from 1935, often with names like Everest and Mornside. The closest local employer was Blackmore and Langdon Nurseries (advertised on their website as “the world’s largest growers of exhibition begonias and delphiniums”), who moved to their current home in Pensford in 1972. Many of their employees are listed in the street directories as resident on the Hollow, whilst the proprietors themselves lived at No37 – Highfield. Other facilities on the road in 1939 included West Twerton School, a grocery store and a confectioner/tobacconist.
It is worth noting that the 1839 Parish Map of Twerton has field names of Upper and Lower Blackdown marked in this area, along with the more esoteric Lower Catsbrain Field. The Hollow itself was once called Blackdown Lane.
The Hollow is suspected to follow the route of a branch of the Roman Fosse Way (which ran through Odd Down along the route of the present day A367) and Roman burials (coins, coffins and an altarstone) have been found in the area (Argyle Terrace in 1872).
Southdown used to be called Twerton Hill. Between 1896 and 1903 the Vicar of Twerton (prebendary Stokes Shaw) made efforts towards having a church built for the Twerton Hill area. St Barnabas Church was opened in 1903 at the junction of Rush Hill and Englishcombe Lane but a church hall had to wait until 1928, when the City Council swapped land at Mount Rd for Church holdings in Glebelands.
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