The roads fronting Peckham Rye were developed in the early and mid 19th century with substantial villas, semis and terraces aimed at the middle-class market.

With the arrival of effective public transport in the 1870s developers were faced with the problem of providing additional capacity without letting the area go down-market.

One solution was to build flats, and this development of the 1870s in Oakhurst Grove is a good example. The Gardens, set out around its own green square is another, more striking, example.