The Literary 'Ghost Door' of Tooting

I do like a good 'ghost' door, and this one engraved with the name 'Norfolk House' in Tooting is a bit of a peach. I assume that in it's day it might well have been a corner shop entrance but although it's quite an 'in your face' sort of doorway, that in itself wasn't the reason that I found it intriguing.

It's actually more to do with the figures on the top of the pillars - or more correctly I suppose the faces. Quite often these faces are those of fairly anonymous classical ladies or fierce-looking blokes with beards or even a cherub or two. Whatever they are they though they do seem to be taken from a set of stock characters or archetypes and not specifically intended to depict any specific and identifiable individual

I've a feeling that these two are slightly out of the ordinary though and that there's a good chance that they depict a couple of well-known characters. The one on the left looks European, has a shaggy moustache and a very strange hat, whilst the one on the right is clean shaven with short curly or wavy hair and looks very much like a Nubian as depicted in old Egyptian paintings. 

To my eye they look like a pretty good representation of Robinson Crusoe and Friday and I would suggest that the exotic foliage around their heads represents the lush jungle of their island home. It also looks as though the Crusoe figure has been modelled on the classic depiction of him in some of the Victorian editions, like this one taken from the Wiki entry  .

I think this is looking pretty plausible, so running with it for a while I was wondering if there might be an obvious link  between Robinson Crusoe and the name of the building 'Norfolk House'.

Well after copious amounts of dedicated research (hem, hem...) I'm happy to report that there is a link, but it's not all that obvious. Crusoe, it seems, was an unlucky mariner from the very start and after running away from home and boarding a ship from Hull managed to get as far as Cromer off of the Norfolk coast before sinking! He then walked to Yarmouth where he found some aid and assistance and wondered whether the fates were trying to tell him something... Very tenuous then, but luckily not the only one as it turns out.

The other link is to do with the name 'Robinson Crusoe' itself, which when you think about it is quite an odd name. The book itself explains its background

...my father being a foreigner of Bremen...settled first at Hull. He got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade, lived afterwards at York, from whence he had married my mother, whose relations were named Robinson, a very good family in that country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but, by that usual corruption of words in England, we are now called - nay we call ourselves and write our name - Crusoe; and so my companions always called me.

This is quite a bit of background colour in order to come up with such an unusual name - why not stick to something like Jack Jones or something? - but it looks as though the author Daniel Defoe may have picked the name up already before he even wrote the book. Defoe enjoyed and wrote about the town of King's Lynn in Norfolk, and as noted on the Literary Norfolk website  'In his A Tour Through the Whole Island of  Great Britain Daniel Defoe was hugely impressed by King's Lynn preferring it, in many ways, to both Norwich and Yarmouth.'  What Defoe might also have noticed would be the graves and gravestones in St Nichols' Chapel, Kings Lynn which happen to contain the earthly remains of several individuals by the name of Robinson Cruso!

Even if there's no real solid link between the figures of Crusoe and Friday (who incidentally, survived to appear in the sequel only to die half way through with three arrows in his chest) and the county of Norfolk, it was still very intriguing to spot what seemed to be a literary reference in a spot of doorway ornamentation. 'Norfolk House' is more than likely a bit of a red-herring - it could just  be that the owner enjoyed a good read!

Ghost Doors - A Primer

When you see ghost doors like these it's only natural to wonder what it was that caused that particular entrance to be abandoned. Was it because Uncle Albert died in that doorway after a raucous night at the Dog & Fox and ever since then there was a deathly chill on the threshold? Well, sadly not. Actually there can only be one reason, that internal restructuring - enlarging rooms or removing passageways - must have rendered them either a nuisance or obsolete. The answer is to then brick them in - only some do it with more care than others!

So to help spot the different types of ghost doors placed in descending order of attractiveness (personal opinion only of course) we have

A fine, sensuous arch from just off Tooting High Street. What I think is a really attractive example whose brickwork is beginning to merge into the background. It's not too obtrusive and the setting has been carefully enhanced by the use accessories such as telephone exchange boxes and fire alarms to allow it to nestle comfortably in its surroundings
This example below from Villiers Road, Surbiton looks fairly recent and is a nice example of the sort of thing that intrigues me. An attractive and distinctive piece of ornamentation now cast up on the Beach of Time by the Seas of Fashion. Slightly too angular to take top spot for me though
This is a more typical example from Hawkes Road, Kingston which is typical of almost every corner shop in a Victorian building. It's plain and utilitarian and I assume it used to go to the flat upstairs however extending the shop floor space means it's no longer required, so in go the bricks. Competent but not very inspiring.
Of course there's subtle and then there's subtle. And then there's breize block...
This pretty ugly example on Kingston Road, South Wimbledon comes in way down the field. Enough said really...
... but if they think sticking a totemic head next to such shoddy work can turn it into something post-modern and ironic I'd have to disagree. A gargoyle would have been a far more acceptable choice.
A couple of late examples have recently been spotted in Mitcham, including this fine example of a ghost door and window double. Not only was the door surplus to requirement but it seems that the window was as well. Twice the poignancy...
And finally another example from Mitcham, this time of 'brazen blockage' where not only has a fine and ornate doorway been filled, but those responsible have made no attempt to cover up their handicraft. In fact brickwork and a concrete skim almost make this a statement in its own right and give it air of a 'Lord of the Rings' or 'Harry Potter'. Maybe the muttering of an incantation or the reading of a rune or two might cause it to swing open unexpectedly? In many ways the cream of the crop...