Around the corner on Mecox Road, other builders and developers are erecting more spec houses on what used to be farmland.

For all time did their builders erect them, and in sooth they yet serve nobly, for beneath them the grey toad makes his habitation.

In 1881, a local builder, John Richardson, erected 26 cottages known as the Pembroke Cottages.

The greatest builder of them all, he erected three examples, with bases ranging from 144 to 220m (472 to 721ft) square.

Between 1878 and 1880, at the height of Camberwell's feverish building activity, some 416 firms or individual builders erected a total of 5,670 houses.

In just eight weeks, builders have installed a foundation, erected a frame and piled up rooms.

This took place haphazardly and without any planning: local builders erected individual houses or streets speculatively and in a mixture of styles.

In the early days, the students worked as brick makers, builders and carpenters to erect the various college buildings and homes.

In 1871, a local builder, Robert Auld, erected a front structure at 422 along with a six-foot-wide alley leading to a three-story rear building.

Sometimes the builder would merely erect a shell and the interior finishing would be carried out by someone else, often under the direction of the intended tenant.