Swilly was the name given to the first council estate built in Plymouth during the 1920s. Swilly House had been at the centre of a country estate. The original anglo-saxon word from which Swilly is derived word means 'farmland'. Before the Second World War much of the locality of what is now North Prospect and the western edge of Beacon Park was known as Swilly. Swilly Post Office was at the corner of South Down Road and West Down Road. The council estate, designed with plenty of open space and trees, was very prosperous up until the 1950s when the area became very rough and developed a reputation for being a "dumping ground for problem families". From this time onwards efforts have been made initially to apply Swilly only to the council estate and later to get rid of the name altogether. During the 1970s the name was euphemistically changed to North Prospect and the area has seen considerable urban regeneration since. North Prospect consists of many residential streets connected with North Prospect Road where the local shops are located.