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This is one of
the most elegantly designed houses in
Richard's Town, waiting for the builders hammer to fall
on it. It has unique arches in the drive-way which reminds one
of the Mysore Tobacco bungalow on
Richmond Road. Just around the corner, (below) is Tommy
D'aguier in front of his house with his playful dog, on Viviani
Road. The adjacent house on Cookeson Road which has the same
carpentry woodwork on the front trellis as Tommy's house,
apparently the houses were built at the same time. Strangely,
the number of houses that gardens can be found in this area is
not very high in proportion to the size of the properties,
although some have maintained very artistically laid out ones.
One must remember that every bungalow traditionally had a
self-respecting garden attached in the 'Good Old Days', today
the concepts are different with different priorities with a
different generation that now looks to 'divide and concrete',
which changes the whole complexion of that tradition.
St. John's Hill
is situated to the South of a residential location called
Cleveland Town. It is a fairly large and populous section of
Bangalore and was inhabited by a large number of European and
Eurasians (also known as Anglo-Indians), with neat cottages and
the spire of St. John's Church rising up in their midst, in the
good old days gave the ambiance of an English Village (today it
is far from a pretty sight). The houses were ideal for the
middle class people, and behind the European sector, one can
find the 'servants' village with small houses very close to each
other. Something unique in design of these little houses is that
they are not similar to to any other servants quarters in
Bangalore. Perhaps it is because they may have been built later
than the other existing ones found in Neelsandra and Austin
Town, or other places.
To the North-East
of St. John's Hill lies the burial grounds at Kulpully. The
Protestant Cemetery, which is in charge of the Chaplain of St.
John's Church, contained a monument in red granite erected by
the Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO's) of the 42nd Company, Royal
Engineers, to their comrades who died in peace and war. This
monument has been moved to the Museum and Archives Building of
the Madras Engineers Group (MEG) and preserved there, but the
monument seems to be white not red as reported by JW Morris in
1905. Some of the tombstones date back to 1868. The late General
Cleveland (after whom Cleveland Town was named) lies buried here
along with his wife. The inscription on his tomb and his wife's
are as follows: "John Wheeler Cleveland, Senior General in Her
Majesty's Indian Army, who, after a service of 75 years, during
which he took part in the first Burma War, and afterwards held
all the highest commands in the Madras Presidency, died at
Bangalore on the 1st November, 1883, in his 92nd year", "Louisa
Elisabeth Cleveland, 31st October 1874. Aged 77, for 59 years
the beloved wife of General John Wheeler Cleveland." , and I
guess from where Wheeler Road got it's name too. The Catholic
Cemetery which adjoins the Protestant Cemetery, is not was well
maintained, but has a grotto which contains a beautiful life
like representation of the Crucification. Both the Cemeteries
are worth a visit if you would like to search for your
ancestors. For the Protestant Cemetery, Admiral OS Dawson, 32
Viviani Road, would be the ideal person to contact for
information, and you would have to meet the Parish Priest of St.
Francis Xavier's Cathedral for the Catholic one. There is a
whole Page on Internet with photographs dedicated to cemeteries
of Bangalore which I request you to visit. It is called the
'Forgotten Soldier's' Home Page.
Goodwill Girl's
High School, on Promenade Road, St. John's Hill, the school was
earlier known as the Wesleyan Mission School, and Rev. Goodwill
was the Principal. The date given on the wall below the name
shows 1855! I need to check up on this, as it couldn't be older
than
Frazer Town itself! Cleveland Town lies to the north-east of
the Cantonment Railway Station, and North of St. John's Hill. It
was said to be one of the most healthy and 'cheerful' localities
of Bangalore, with good houses and tolerably wide and straight
roads. Benson Town lies across the railway tracks, and is
similar to Cleveland Town in description
Cole's Park, situated to the West of
St. John's Hill, once a beautiful Park where the residents of
the area could spend many a pleasant evening, and with a
Bandstand where the Band of the Bangalore Rifle Volunteers
played, now renamed as 'Freedom Fighters Park'! At one stage
this Park was falling into a garbage heap, now those that
maintain the Park have done a fairly good job to keep it clean
and neat, although there is quite a bit of encroachment. Can one
imagine that this 'Park' had three tennis courts, and one of
these was used by the Y.W.C.A. Club in that area.. When one
walks along Coles Road, at the junction of Mosque Road, you will
see presently the ruins of an old house (below), which is quite
questionable, as to what are the shades for? there could have
been windows and a door that opened onto the road? The ledges
seem to cover openings that are bricked up, if it is windows, it
is very low to ground level, I still have to come across someone
who can tell me what it is all about.
Nutharpanrady is
an area North East of Frazer Town , bordered by Wheeler Road and
Mosque Road, that still has a few vintage houses seen below. The
Buddhist Society building has a date of 1907, another beautiful
house seen below is found on the back roads. I never saw this
house before, and only by chance did I notice it when my
daughter Joanne and I were going around the Buddhist building.
The photographs found on this page have been taken by Joanne,
who seems to have a flair for photography, and all future photos
will probably be taken by her. Some of the photographs have
their individual comments when you look at their properties.
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