Chapter 6

Returning to Roehampton Lane, and passing up the rise to the south, we come to the Alton Road, lined with good houses, and a little to the west the Bessborough Road falls into it, and runs through a favourite residential district built up with fine dwellings. Here the hollows made by gravel-digging on the edge of the heath are being, in a measure, filled up with earth from the building going on near by, and opposite The Elms, on the brow of the common, a peculiar tomblike building is noticed. This is merely a spring-house covering the artesian well that supplies the drinking-fountain in the village. At Highwood, a solidly-built mansion, we come to the Portsmouth Road, and after passing several villas, to Kingston Road at the foot of the hill. Here, on the west side, Richmond Park stretches parallel with the road, the enclosing wall being so close to the road as to give the houses hardly any garden; still, from here to the Robin Hood Gate there are many pretty villas, and at Beverley Brook a row of cottages has been erected close to the wall. On the east side of the road a new cemetery of the Putney Burial Board is under the lee of the hill, and beyond are fields stretching southward, running up to and meeting Wimbledon Common. In the hollow adjoining the main road is the Newlands Farmhouse to which these acres belong, and adjoining is the Halfway House, at one time an inn said to have been the favourite drinking-place of the highwayman Abershaw. Stag Lane leads to the common, and further on Beverley Brook is crossed, here a narrow strip of Wimbledon Common meets the highroad. This stream from here, through the park, and across Barnes Common into the Thames, is the western boundary of London, and by following it we pass cottages on the right, and may note the beautiful views to the east toward Wimbledon and Combe. If we turn into Richmond Park through the Robin Hood Gate, so called from the roadside inn near, we come to one of the prettiest corners of the park, from which roads diverge in all directions. On the rise to the west is White Lodge, at one time the residence of the Duke and Duchess of Teck, parents of the Princess of Wales; and bearing to the right we see the deer-paddock, with Silver Hill and the King's Farm Lodge. The area of the park is a little over 2,015 acres, and it was formed by Charles I. in the early years of his reign out of wood and waste land. The wall--eleven miles in circumference--was built without consulting the owners and tenants of the houses and farms enclosed. In 1649 this park was given to the City of London in perpetuity, but was handed back again to Charles II. on his restoration. The Princess Amelia closed the public rights of way through the demesne, but in 1758 a decision of the courts renewed this privilege.

Leaving the park on the right, we see Mount Clare, built in 1772 by George Clive, and named in honour of Claremont, the residence at Esher of his relative Lord Clive. On the west side of Priory Lane are three mansions, of which one, Clarence House, was for awhile the residence of the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV. Clarence Lane skirts the grounds of Grove House, which was in the reign of George IV. the residence of the celebrated danseuse, Mademoiselle Duvernay. The lane comes out into Roehampton Lane opposite Roehampton House, a fine red-brick building, with wings, erected in 1712. The ceiling of the saloon has a painting of the Banquet of the Gods by Sir James Thornhill, the father-in-law of Hogarth.

Southward, nearer to the park, are Cedar Court and Downshire House, two fine old mansions, the latter for a time the residence of the Marchioness of Downshire, and now a training college for army and navy students. At a bend in the road, where it goes downhill, is a quaint old-fashioned house, The Cottage, curiously built. To the west the view is charming toward the park. Holy Trinity Church, now closed, was built in the middle of the nineteenth century, but the original church was consecrated by Archbishop Laud.

A very fine cedar stands in the churchyard, and on the north is the large and costly mausoleum of the Stephens family. Further north is the Convent of the Sacred Heart, standing in Roehampton Park, a spacious Gothic edifice, and opposite is the Rookery, alongside of which runs a lane through beautiful meadows past Putney House into Putney Park Lane. Towards Barnes, in Roehampton Lane, standing in wide grounds, are several family mansions, of which Lower Grove House, Subiaco Lodge, Ellenborough House, and Roehampton Lodge, are some of the best known. The new polo club, which it is prophesied by its originators will outshine Hurlingham and Ranelagh, has its grounds between Priory and Roehampton Lanes at their northern ends.

Roehampton Lane runs into Upper Richmond Road at its junction with Lower Richmond Road. Barnes Common, one of the prettiest of the bits of wild land near London, is rather cut up by the railroad. To the London boundary in the west, that is the Priests' Bridge over Beverley Brook, the road runs between hedges most of the way, but near the bridge are a few cottages and small shops. The Manor House stands at the junction of the upper and lower roads, and wears an air of solidity, compared with its newer neighbours nearer town. It faces a small angle of lawn, backed by a hedge of rhododendrons, and is a plain, square, two-story dwelling with a porch, flanked by greenhouses; the walls are hidden behind ivy that climbs to the tiled roof. East of the Manor House rows of red-brick cottages on the north side stretch to Dyers Lane, and opposite is Putney Park Avenue, with its small cottages closely built; there are fields before Putney Park Lane which is lined with tall Scotch firs. Workmen digging here disclose the depth of fine sand and gravel which underlies all this region and gives it such perfect surface drainage. A gate marked "Private" leads into Putney Park Lane, and passing south under an avenue of magnificent elms, with the remains of orchards and market-gardens to the east and rolling fields to the west, we pass Putney Park House, and beyond a nurseryman's gardens see the Granard Presbyterian Church, a stone church with slated spire, standing at the corner of the lane that leads across the fields and past orchards and market-gardens to Howard's Lane. Westward from the church another lane leads through pleasant meadows, with beautiful views of the mansions that lie back from the roads, and comes out at the convent in Roehampton Lane. Towards Putney Heath two large houses are seen--Granard Lodge in the Putney Park Lane, and Summerfield behind it. Passing down the lane from the church and entering Howard's Lane we find a district of new houses to the north, in straight rows at regular intervals, gauged, apparently, by the size of the backyards. To the south one row of small cottages, Upper Park Fields, juts out into the market-gardens, which, with the fields behind, are still free from buildings. At the western end of Howard's Lane is a large tennis-ground belonging to a local club, while beyond is seen the advance of bricks and mortar towards the west. Carmalt Gardens leads into the Upper Richmond Road at its best part, for all the houses here are of a good style and size. At the corner of Gwendolen Avenue stands a Wesleyan Methodist church of stone, with a square tower, and south a few houses flank it; but though all this land was lately open it is now built over. At the St. John's Road, however, buildings have rapidly risen, and the Church of St. John at the corner of the Ravenna Road is now surrounded by a well-built-up neighbourhood. Cambalt Road is also new, with strange types of houses, and behind this, again, is another avenue, Chartfield Road, filled with new houses, running through to Putney Hill. South of this rise the well-wooded grounds of the large houses on the hill, with fields to the westward.

And thus we take leave of Putney, one of the pleasantest of the London suburbs, as well as the most accessible. The immense increase in the number of houses in late years testifies to its popularity; but there is still an almost unlimited extent of open ground which cannot be covered; and with wood and water, common and hill, there will always be an element of freshness and openness in Putney seldom to be obtained so near London.

INDEX

Abershaw, Jeremiah, 86, 89

Addison, 70

Alphery, Mickephor, 17

Alton Road, 88

Arundel House, 51

Ashburton House, 83

Barn Elms, 76

Barnes Common, 77, 91

Beavor Lodge, 17

Bessborough Road, 88

Beverley Brook, 89

Billington, Mrs., 41

Bishop's Park, 59, 63

Blythe House, 23

Bolingbroke House, 49

Bonner, Bishop, 61

Bowling-Green House, 85

Bradmore House, 8

Brandenburg, Anspach, Margravine, 40

Brandenburg House, 39

Bristol House, 85

Broadway, The, 19

Brook Green, 20

Brook Green Almshouses, 20

Broom House, 66

Buckingham, Duke of, 77

Burlington House, 54

Burne-Jones, Sir E., 36

Burney, Dr., 5

Butchers' Almshouses, 47

Butterwick House, 8

Cambalt Road, 93

Camden, 5

Canning, George, 85

Carey, Hon. T., 69

Carnwath House, 67

Caroline, Queen, 41

Catherine of Braganza, 16

Cedar Lodge, 81

Chancellor Road, 13

Chandos, Lord, 84

Charles I., 35

Charles II., 83

Chartfield Road, 93

Cheselden, Mr., 72

Child, Sir Francis, 49

Chiswick Ait, 3

Church Road, 54

Churches: All Saints' (Parish), Fulham, 55 All Saints', Putney, 77 St. Andrew's, Fulham, 38 St. Augustine's, Lillie Road, 44 Christ Church, Blythe Road, 23 Holy Cross (R.C.), Ashington Road, 68 St. Clement's, Fulham, 42 St. Dionis', Parson's Green, 67 St. Gabriel's, Clifton Street, 32 Granard Presbyterian, 92 Holy Innocents', Hammersmith, 27 Holy Trinity, Hammersmith, 32 Holy Trinity, Roehampton, 91 St. James's, Moore Park Road, 47 St. John's, Putney, 93 St. John's, Walham Green, 47 St. Joseph's (R.C.), 87 St. Luke's, Uxbridge Road, 30 St. Mark's, Hammersmith, 13 St. Mary's, Goldhawk Road, 29 St. Mary's, Hammersmith Road, 37 St. Mary's (Parish), Putney, 73 St. Matthew's, Sinclair Road, 24 St. Paul's (Parish), Hammersmith, 9 St. Peter's, Hammersmith, 18 St. Peter's, Reporton Road, 44 St. Saviour's, Cobbold Road, 29 St. Simon's, Minford Gardens, 24 St. Stephen's, Shepherd's Bush, 28 St. Thomas's, Godolphin Road, 28 St. Thomas's (R.C.), Rylston Road, 44

Cipriani, 7, 37

Clapham, Margaret, 8

Clarence, Duke of, 90

Clarence House, 90

Clarke, W. T., 12

Clinton House, 83

Clyde House, 76

Colet Court, 5

Colet, Dean, 4

Compton, Bishop, 63

Compton, Colonel, 84

Compton, Spencer, 5

Convent of Good Shepherd, 13

Convent of Sacred Heart, Hammersmith, 19

Convent of Sacred Heart, Roehampton, 91

Craven Cottage, 59

Crest House, 81

Crispe, Sir Nicholas, 10, 40

Croker, Crofton, 68

Cromwell, 3, 75, 80

Cumberland, Bishop, 5

Dawes, Sir A., 81

Dawes, Sir T., 83

Devonshire, Christina, Countess of, 83

Doulton, 54

Dover House, 83

Duels, 84

Duvernay, Mademoiselle, 90

Dwight, John, 53

Eagle House, 21

Earl's Court Exhibition, 38

East End House, 49

Eelbrook Common, 49

Ekins, Dr., 49

Elizabeth Free School, 66

Elizabeth, Queen, 35, 75, 77

Ellenborough House, 91

Elm Lodge, 77

Eridge House, 52

Evelyn, 14

Exeter House, 83

Fairfax, 75

Fairfax House, 80

Female Philanthropic Society, 7

Ferne, Mr., 8

Fisher, Bishop, 5

Fisheries, 18

Fitzherbert, Mrs., 49

Fitzjames, Bishop, 60

Fleetwood, 75

Francis, Sir Philip, 5

Free Library, Fulham, 51

Free Library, Hammersmith, 25

Free Library, Putney, 79

Friends' Meeting-House, 15

Fulham House, 53

Fulham Palace, 59

Fulham Pottery, 53

Gardeners' Lane, 79

Gibbon, Edward, 82

Godolphin Schools, 27

Goldhawk Road, 27

Gouge, Thomas, 13

Granard Lodge, 93

Grantham House, 83

Grindal, Bishop, 63

Grisi, Madame, 51

Grove House, 80, 90

Gurney, Sir R., 26

Gwendolen Avenue, 93

Halfway House, 89

Halley, 5

Halliday, Sir Frederick, 5

Hammersmith and West Kensington Synagogue, 21

Hammersmith, boundaries of, 1

Hammersmith Cemetery, 39

Hammersmith Terrace, 18

Hannen, Lord, 5

Hartley, Dr., 84

Harvey, Colonel Edmund, 50

Henry III., 35

Highlands, 85

High Street, Putney, 79

Highwood, 88

Hook, Theodore, 58

Howard's Lane, 93

Howley, Bishop, 62

Hurlingham, 64

Iles, Dr., 20

Impey, Elijah, 9

Ireton, 75

James I., 35

Johnson, Joseph, 49

Jowett, Benjamin, 5

Keene, Charles, 5

Kelmscott House, 17

King's Theatre, 19

Kingston Road, 88

King Street, 24

Kitcat Club, 77

Kneller, Sir Godfrey, 16

Knolles, Sir T., 69

Laburnum House, 76

Lacey, John, 75

Latymer, Edward, 6

Latymer Foundation School, 6

Latymer Schools, Upper, 18

Laud, Bishop, 60

Leander Club, 74

Lee, Bishop, 5

Leland, 5

Lillie Road, 44

Lily, 4

Lime Grove, 82

Linden House, 17

Little Wapping, 15

Lloyd, Bishop, 17

London Club, 74

Loutherbourgh, 18

Lower Grove House, 91

Lower Mall, 14

Lucy House, 12

Lytton, Sir E. Bulwer, 45, 59

Manchester, Duke of, 5

Manor House, Barnes, 91

Manresa House, 87

Marlborough, Duke of, 5

Marryat, Captain, 16, 41

Milton, 5

Monuments in Fulham Church, 56

Mordaunt, Viscount, 69

Morland, Sir S., 14

Morris, William, 17

Moyle, Walter, 8

Moulinière House, 81

Mountain, Mrs., 18

Mount Carmel Hermitage, 45

Mount Clare, 90

Mulgrave House, 64

Mulgrave, third Earl of, 8

Munster, Duchess of, 52

Munster House, 52

Munster Park Chapel, 52

Murphy, Arthur, 12, 18

Nevill, Sir Edward, 12

Normand House, 44

Northfield Square, 80

Old Ship, 17

Ollivant, Bishop, 5

Pallenswick, Manor of, 25

Park Lodge, 81

Parson's Green, 67

Payne of Pallenswick, 26

Pembroke, Earl of, 83

Pepys, 5

Perrers, Alice, 25

Peterborough House, 69

Pitt, William, 85

Point House, 76

Pollock, Sir Frederick, 5

Ponsonby Road, 87

Poor Sisters of Nazareth, 5

Pope, 49

Porteous, Bishop, 62

Portsmouth Road, 83

Powell's Almshouses, 54

Purser's Cross, 50

Putney Bridge, 72

Putney Heath, 83

Putney Hill, 81

Putney House, 91

Putney Palace, 74

Putney Park, 83

Putney Park Avenue, 92

Putney Park House, 92

Putney Park Lane, 92

Pryor's Bank, 58

Queen Elizabeth's Dairy, 77

Queen's Club, 38

Queen Street, 14

Radcliffe, Dr., 16

Ranelagh, 76

Ravenscourt Park, 25

Ravensworth House, 48

Richardson, Samuel, 36, 68

Richmond Park, 89

Richmond, Sir W. B., 17

Riverside House, 76

Robin Hood Gate, 88

Rocque, John, 48

Roehampton, 87

Roehampton House, 90

Roehampton Lane, 91

Roehampton Lodge, 91

Roehampton Polo Club, 91

Ronald, Sir Francis, 17

Rosamund's Bower, 68

Sandford Manor, 70

Sands End, 69

Shepherd's Bush, 28

Sherlock, Bishop, 61, 62

Shrewsbury, Earl of, 77

Sibbald, Sir J., 41

Siddons, Mrs., 85

Sion House, 21

Sisters of St. Katherine, 45

Smith, Sir T., 69

Spring Gardens, 76

St. James's Home, 42

St. Joseph's School, 23

St. Mary's Catholic Orphanage, 20

St. Mary's Cemetery (R.C.), 32

St. Mary's Training College, 22

St. Paul's School, 3

St. Paul's School (Girls), 21

St. Paul's National Schools, 13

Star and Garter Hotel, 75

Starch Green Road, 29

Stourton, Lord, 53

Strype, 5

Subiaco House, 91

Summerfield, 93

Sussex Lodge, 16

Swan Brewery, 48

Swinburne, 81

Syndercomb, Miles, 28

Tarnworth, John, 69

Temple, Bishop, 63

Terrick, Bishop, 62

Thames Club, 74

Thanet Lodge, 76

Thompson, James, 16

Tonson, Jacob, 77

Truro, Lord Chancellor, 5

Turner, 17

Union Workhouse, 39

Upper Mall, 15

Upper Richmond Road, 93

Vanbrugh, Sir John, 61

Wager, Sir Charles, 49

Walham Green, 46

Walker's Place, 79

Walsingham, Sir Francis, 77

Waste Land Almshouses, 29, 42

Waterloo Street, 14

Weltje Street, 17

West End Chapel, 24

West Kensington Park Chapel, 24

West Lodge, 77

West London Hospital, 19

White Lodge, 89

Wildcroft, 84

William Smith's Almshouses, 14

Wimbledon Common, 86

Windsor House, 76

Wolsey, Cardinal, 82

Worlidge, Thomas, 12

Wormholt Barns, 30

Wormwood Scrubs, 31

Wren, Sir Christopher, 61

THE END

BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD

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Transcriber's Notes

The following errors in the original text have been corrected:

Page 4: Charity Commissoners changed to Charity Commissioners

Page 21: stuccoed bnilding changed to stuccoed building

Page 43: to build almhouses changed to to build almshouses

Index: Page number for entry "Ekins, Dr." added.

The inconsistent hyphenation of "needle work" and "needle-work" and "Bulwer Lytton" and "Bulwer-Lytton" has been left as per the original.

The use of "Moulinere House" in the main text and "Moulinière House" in the index has also been left unchanged.

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