It was not until 1867, under Bishop Tait, that the present chapel was opened. It is connected with the main building by a pa.s.sage, and stands on the river side of the palace. It was designed by Mr. b.u.t.terfield, and is bright and well proportioned. Behind the altar at present stands a reredos of carved wood with a representation of the Crucifixion.
The palace grounds have been considerably curtailed by the formation of the public park, which now bounds them riverwards. The idea of giving this portion of land to the public was carried out by Bishop Temple, though it originated with his predecessor. The park includes the long strip above mentioned, lying outside the moat, and the field to the north already spoken of in connection with the drive. The embankment has entirely altered the aspect of this part of Fulham, and the days when the Bishop of London "took water" at his private stairs have gone for ever.
Within the palace gardens are many curious specimens of trees not found elsewhere in England. Bishop Grindal was the first of the Bishops to take an interest in gardening, but it is to Bishop Compton that we owe the real beauty of the gardens. He was bold enough to defy James II., and to declare in the House of Lords that the civil and ecclesiastical const.i.tution of the kingdom was in danger; he further incensed the King by refusing to suspend a clergyman who had preached a sermon against Roman Catholicism. For this he himself was suspended, and not allowed to exercise his ecclesiastical functions, though, as according to the law, the temporalities of the see were his own--they could not be touched.
The Bishop therefore retired to Fulham and sought solace among his plants, to the great gain of his successors in the See.
But the palace and its grounds have occupied us long enough, and the ramble through Fulham must be resumed.
A small footbridge leads across the moat to the churchyard. Crossing this, we find ourselves in Church Row, which brings us to the junction of the New King"s Road and the old High Street. Following the New King"s Road and pa.s.sing under the railway, we come almost immediately to the shady drive leading to Mulgrave House. Adjoining the grounds of Mulgrave House are those of Hurlingham Club, which cover fifty acres, and include a picturesque lake. Pigeon-shooting, polo-playing, tennis, and archery are all provided for. The entrance in the Hurlingham Road leads to a well-kept drive, which takes us straight up to the club-house. The house is of white stone, and the front facing the river has an arcade supported by enormous pillars running right up to the cornice. On the west side is a fine conservatory, on the east the large dining-rooms and smoking-lounge, which have been added to meet requirements. Within the house itself the drawing-room and coffee-room have been ornamented with coloured designs on ceiling and walls, and are very bright and handsomely furnished. Many of the rooms upstairs have ornamented carved cornices and panels. The club was started in 1867, mainly for pigeon-shooting, under the auspices of Mr. Frank Heathcote, who leased it from Mr. Naylor. Before that time the house had been the residence of the Horsley-Palmers and of Lord Egremont. In 1874 the property was bought by the club, and polo-playing was begun. The King and Queen--as Prince and Princess of Wales--and Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Edinburgh watched the first game in the June of that year.
The ancient history of the house is defective. In the churchwarden"s accounts of the parish in 1681 we read: "It is ordered that there be built and erected two small tenements next to the north side of ye poore Almes Houses given by John Lappy with such old stuff as was lately taken downe from the Pest Houses in Hurlingham Field at ye charge of the Parish contayning two roomes." And Faulkner adds an extract from Brayley"s "London" to the above in the form of a note: "Hurlingham Field is now the property of the Earl of Ranelagh, and the site of his house.
It was here that great numbers of people were buried during the plague."
The origin of the name seems lost in obscurity, though it has been suggested, perhaps facetiously, it was derived from the custom of hurling the bodies of the plague dead into any grave without care or compunction. Broom House, next door, with adjoining grounds, is noticed in Rocque"s 1757 map, and is inscribed on Faulkner"s 1813 map as "Broom Houses." Faulkner refers to it as a little village, but mentions that "the Dowager Countess of Lonsdale has an elegant house and garden here in full view of the Thames." The place is said to have received its name from the broom which grew here profusely. Broomhouse Road runs from Hurlingham Road, past the gates of Broom House, down to the river. It is a veritable lane, with leafy trees shadowing it. On the east side, a little above Broom House, is a very striking building of red brick, with bright white stone facings, and a square central tower surmounted by four pinnacles. This is the Elizabeth Free School, founded and endowed by Mr. Sulivan of Broom House, in 1855. Further down the road, close by the river, is Carnwath House, the residence of the Earl of Carnwath. It is irregularly built of brick. Beyond it is a raised path, which winds along by the river and leads past acres of market-gardens, in which are large plum-orchards.
Northward is Parsons Green, so called from the fact that the old rectory-house stood on the west side. Lysons says: "Parsonage house stands upon the west side of Parsons or Parsonage Green, to which it gave its name. It is now divided into two tenements. In the year 1598 it was in the tenure of Sir Francis Walsingham"s widow." Bowack, in 1705, wrote that it was old and much decayed. He says an old stone building adjoining seemed to be 300 or 400 years old, and might have been used for religious services by the Rectors and their households. Parson"s Green was once a very fashionable place; in Strype"s edition of Stow"s "Survey" it is commented on as having "very good houses for gentry." St.
Dionis" Church is a noticeable object, built of red brick, with Bath stone dressings. Though only consecrated on June 18, 1885, it carries with it a.s.sociations from an older building, St. Dionis Backchurch, which stood at the corner of Lime Street and Fenchurch Street. When that church had been pulled down, the pulpit, font, and altar were transferred to the new building at Fulham, and 10,000 was devoted out of the proceeds of the sale of the site for the use and endowment of the new church. The pulpit and font date from 1666. The plate also is interesting, including two flagons, four chalices, four patens, etc., which are of various dates from 1625 to 1725. A large red-brick hall, separated from the church by Rectory Road, is used as a mission-hall. A few steps further northward, partly hidden from the road by intervening buildings, was the old house called Rosamund"s Bower. Before its demolition in 1892 it was quaintly pretty, with leaded window-panes and red-tiled roof, and was then known as Audley Cottage. It was called Rosamond"s Bower first in order to perpetuate the tradition of its standing on the site of a mansion of Fair Rosamund. The earliest mention of it is in 1480, when it was valued at ten marks per annum. It belonged to Sir Michael Wharton before 1725, and when he died in that year it was divided between his co-heirs. It was the residence of Mr. Crofton Croker between 1837 and 1846, and he has written a very full account of it.
Samuel Richardson came to Parson"s Green in 1755 from North End. In Ashington Road stands the Church of the Holy Cross, a Roman Catholic building of plain yellow brick, with a cross at each end, built in 1886.
Just after leaving Parson"s Green, there is on the right a high red-brick wall, which shows signs of age. Within it stood until recently Peterborough House, the second of the name. The original Peterborough House stood on the site of one still older, known as Brightwells. It was the property of John Tarnworth, Privy Councillor to Queen Elizabeth, and he died here in 1569.
Sir Thomas Knolles afterwards owned it, and sold it in 1603 to Sir Thomas Smith, whose only daughter married the Hon. Thomas Carey. It was he who pulled down the old house and built a new one, calling it Villa Carey. Carey"s daughter married Viscount Mordaunt, younger son of the Earl of Peterborough. The house recently demolished only dated from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Bowack describes the old house as a "very large square regular Pile, built of brick, and has a gallery all round it upon the roof." Building of red-brick mansions and small houses is being carried on vigorously all about here, and the face of the district has changed very rapidly.
Wandsworth Bridge Road runs across Townmead Road to the bridge. On the south of Townmead Road there is a small hospital for small-pox, built in 1876. Below it lies West Wharf. Eastward acres of market-gardens extend right up to the premises of the Imperial Gasworks. This part of the parish is called Sands End. Somewhere about here a very ancient house, called Grove House, stood. Rocque marks it "The Grove" in 1757 and 1761.
The house called Sandford Manor is still standing, and is very little changed from the small print of it given on the t.i.tle-page of Faulkner"s large edition. It is a small white house close to Stanley Bridge, and has been often spoken of as if it were included in Chelsea. Addison, who lived here, used to date his letters from Chelsea. Therefore the house has been more particularly described in the section devoted to Chelsea.
The Manor of Sandford is first mentioned in 1403, when Henry, Earl of Northumberland, gave it to the Dean and Chapter of St. Martin-le-Grand in exchange for a house in Aldersgate Street. King Henry VIII. granted the collegiate church of St. Martin and endowments to Westminster. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster granted the manor to the King again in 1549. It was sold by Queen Mary to the Maynards, in whose family it remained till 1756.
We have now traversed Fulham from end to end, beginning at the north-east corner, and ending in the south-east corner close to Stanley Bridge. Fulham can boast with pride of one ancient mansion--the palace of the Bishops of London--and of one literary reminiscence--that of Richardson--worthy to rank, if not in the very first cla.s.s, yet somewhere near it.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FULHAM DISTRICT.
Published by A. & C. Black, London.]
PUTNEY
BY J. C. GEIKIE.
The first mention made of Putney--styled "Putenhie" in the Conqueror"s Domesday Book, and "Puttenheth" in all subsequent records--is in connection with the fishery and ferry which existed here at the time of the Conquest. In 1663 the fishery was held for the three best salmon caught in March, April, and May, but this rent was afterwards converted to a money value. At the sale of Sir Theodore Janssen"s estates the fishery was let for 6 per annum. The rent was afterwards increased to 8, and a lease upon those terms expired in 1780. Since 1786 this fishery has been abandoned. Mention is also made that occasionally a porpoise was caught here, and, as a matter of fact, two watermen shot one here lately; but it was confiscated, and the men fined for discharging firearms on the river. The ferry at the time of the Conquest yielded 20s. a year to the Lord of the Manor, and Putney appears at all times to have been a considerable thoroughfare, as it was usual formerly for persons travelling from London to the West of England to come as far as this by water. In Elizabeth"s reign it was ordered that watermen should pay a halfpenny for every stranger, and a farthing for every inhabitant of Putney, to the ferry-owner, or be fined 2s. 6d. In 1629 the Lord of the Manor received 15s. per year for the ferry.
In 1726, the twelfth year of George I."s reign, an Act of Parliament was pa.s.sed for building a wooden bridge from Putney to Fulham, which was finished in the year 1729 at an expense of 23,975, and the ferry was bought up, those interested in it being paid proportionately. The plan for the bridge was drawn by the celebrated Mr. Cheselden, Surgeon of Chelsea Hospital. The bridge was 789 feet long and 24 feet wide, with openings for vessels to pa.s.s through, the largest of which, in the centre, was named Walpole"s Lock, in honour of Sir Robert Walpole, who helped to procure the Act of Parliament to build the bridge. A toll of a halfpenny was charged foot-pa.s.sengers, and on Sundays this was doubled, for the purpose of raising a fund of 62 a year, which was divided annually between the widows and children of poor watermen belonging to Putney and Fulham as a recompense to the fraternity, who were not allowed to ply on Sundays after the building of the bridge. This bridge was purchased by the Corporation of London, and by them transferred to the Board of Works, who erected in the years 1884-1886 the present substantial stone bridge on the site formerly occupied by the aqueduct of the Chelsea Waterworks Company. The approaches on both sides have been greatly improved, and it is now toll-free.
The parish church of St. Mary"s stands on the river-bank adjoining the bridge, and was originally built as a chapel of ease to Wimbledon, and, owing to absence of all records, the date of its erection cannot be ascertained, though it is certainly older than the church at Mortlake (1348), for Archbishop Winchelsea held a public ordination in it as far back as 1302. The stone tower is of more recent date, being probably not later than the middle of the fifteenth century. The church suffered greatly in the dreadful storm which happened in November, 1703. Facing south on its tower is a sundial with the appropriate motto, "Time and tide stay for no man."
Pepys makes frequent mention of Putney and the church, and his contemporary Evelyn also speaks of the village. This place maintained its suburban character until a few years ago, and it is not long since the High Street was represented as having one broad pavement lined with stately trees, and a kennel on either side, by means of which the road was watered in summer. From the bridge westward the river has been embanked and a promenade built and lined with seats, and this is a favourite spot on warm summer evenings. At the far end of this broad road are the boat-houses of the London, Thames, Leander, and other well-known clubs, mostly of brick, with dressing-rooms upstairs and wide balconies giving fine views of the river. Some boat-building and oar-making also is to be found here, as this is the headquarters of London rowing, and noted for the Oxford and Cambridge Boat-race. This race was first rowed at Henley in 1829, next from Westminster to Putney in 1836, and that course was adhered to until 1851, when that from Putney to Mortlake was adopted, and this, save on three occasions--in the years 1846, 1856, 1863--has since been the battle-ground of the Universities.
After leaving the High Street at the bridge end, the way to the river-bank is down what was formerly Windsor Street, but is now known as part of the Lower Richmond Road; and here on the south side, covering the site of River Terrace, now torn down, and River Street, stood "the Palace," so called from its having been frequently honoured by the presence of royalty. It is described as having been a s.p.a.cious red-brick mansion of the Elizabethan style of architecture, forming three sides of a square, with plate-gla.s.s windows overlooking the river, and possessed of extensive gardens and pleasure-grounds. It was built within a courtyard, and approached by iron gates. It occupied the site of the ancient mansion of the Welbecks, and was erected by John Lacey, citizen and clothworker of London, in 1596. Queen Elizabeth honoured Lacey with her company more frequently than any of her subjects, and between the years 1579 and 1603 at least twelve or fourteen visits of hers to this house at Putney are recorded. The house is mentioned as the headquarters of Fairfax in 1647. In that year, when Charles I. was at Hampton Court, all the Parliamentary Generals were at Putney. Cromwell was at Mr.
Bonhunt"s, the site of which is not known; Ireton at Mr. Campion"s (a school in the occupation of Rev. Mr. Adams when Lysons wrote, and now covered by Cromwell Place); Fleetwood was at Mr. Martin"s; and the other officers at neighbouring mansions, of which at that time there seem to have been many. Councils were held in the church, seated round the Communion-table, the officers afterwards listening to a sermon. Two days after the King escaped from Hampton the army quitted Putney, having been there some three months.
Facing the river near the Putney Steamboat Pier is a big hotel, the Star and Garter, for long a landmark at Putney, and recently rebuilt in all the splendour of red brick and gilt. Beyond this formerly stood a number of old houses--Clyde House, Riverside House, Thanet Lodge, Laburnum House, Windsor House, and Point House; these had tiled roofs and bay-windows, and formed a picturesque group. They have recently been replaced by large mansions, called Star and Garter, and University Mansions. In Spring Gardens was formerly a curious collection of the cottages of watermen and boatmen, but these have now vanished. The lane has been paved and the whole district altered.
West of this as far as the common many alterations have taken place in the last few years, and now the market-gardens and fields are covered with street after street of small two-storied cottages stretching in straight lines from the Lower Richmond Road to the river. The same applies to the district between here and the Upper Richmond Road as far west as the London boundary at Northumberland Terrace. Here stood until recently prolific gardens and orchards, but now the site is covered with streets arranged as closely as possible, and filled with a rather better style of dwellings than those to the northward.
Pa.s.sing west, we come at length to the gateway of the Ranelagh Club at Barn Elms. From this entrance, with its large gates and porter"s lodge, the private road runs over the Beverley Brook, and, swerving to the west, enters the park proper. This manor was given by Athelstane to the Canons of St. Paul"s, and is still held by them. The mansion of Barn Elms was formerly in the possession of Sir Francis Walsingham, and here in 1589 he entertained Queen Elizabeth. Pepys and Evelyn both make mention of this place in their diaries, and it was here that the duel was fought--January 16, 1678--between the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Duke of Buckingham. The meetings of the Kitcat Club were held here in a room specially built for the purpose by Jacob Tonson, the bookseller, who lived in a house formerly known as Queen Elizabeth"s Dairy, and died there November 25, 1735. At present Ranelagh rivals Hurlingham as a social outdoor club, and the merits of the respective grounds are a matter of opinion.
On the Lower Common, standing out by themselves, are two old houses, Elm Lodge and West Lodge, in big gardens sliced off the common. The houses are fancifully painted, and half hidden behind a privet hedge and a row of elms. The common to the south is bare of bushes, but to the north there are still big clumps of gorse and brambles, with many straggling trees between. Putney Cemetery is on the common, and further west that of Barnes is seen. At the beginning of the Mill Hill Road is an old cottage hidden behind closely-trimmed trees and a high hedge, the residence of the cattle gate-keeper, whose duty it was in former years to prevent the straying of animals from the parish of Barnes into that of Putney. The gate has been removed, but the place marks the London boundary, which follows the line of the big ditch due south across the Lower to the Upper Richmond Road.
On the south side of the Lower Common stands a long row of staring Queen Anne cottages, and at the east end of them the Church of All Saints, in the Early English style, erected in 1874, with schools close by. Hidden away behind the church is an old wooden farmhouse, the last of many that formerly dotted these fields.
Pa.s.sing eastwards, the Upper Road leads to the Charlwood Road, and across the railway-bridge the new streets, Norroy and Chelverton Roads, have been made as far as the High Street through the grounds of The Lawn, an old house which stood next the Spotted Horse. To the west short roads have been pushed out into the market-gardens, and north, at the angle, stands the Quill Inn, behind which Quill Alley, a narrow paved pa.s.sage skirting the backs of the houses, leads into a labyrinth of small streets set at all angles and of all degrees of respectability.
There are many newly-built flats on either side of Quill Alley. Every foot of ground is taken up, and from the Coopers" Arms to Gardeners"
Lane the district is compact with small houses and shops. Here in Walker"s Place, a square of old houses, with gardens in front, under the shadow of an enormous brewery, was formerly a little wooden tumbledown inn known as the Coat and Badge. This has been rebuilt; it was so called from the insignia of the actor Doggett"s annual prize for Thames watermen. At the end of this lane stands an old hostelry, the Coopers"
Arms, and at the end of Gardeners" Lane was another, the Bull and Star, also rebuilt recently. Gardeners" Lane leads through a closely built up settlement to the Whirlpool, and here the last remnant of the market-gardens is to be found.
In the High Street, which is fast altering its character, there are one or two old houses, but the greater number are modern. The Public Library, which is situate in Disraeli Road, leading off the High Street, was first established in 1887. It is only since 1899 that it has occupied its present building, which, with the site, was the gift of Sir George Newnes, Bart., M.P., and was opened by the late Lord Russell of Killowen, Lord Chief Justice of England.
To the east of the High Street the residential part of Putney is built up of new, clean streets, laid out on the market-gardens and orchards that till recently occupied most of this district.
In Northfield Square stood several fine old houses, one of which, Fairfax House, made way for the Montserrat Road at its High Street end; and another, Grove House, said to originally have been a convent, and a.s.sociated by tradition with the name of Oliver Cromwell, disappeared when the western end of Disraeli Road was made. The railway-station adjoining occupies the site of some very old houses, and in the railway-cutting the workmen came upon a sewer, in which were discovered some silver spoons of ancient date. A Baptist chapel in the Werter Road, Oxford Congregational Chapel in the Oxford Road, and Emanuel Church in the Upper Richmond Road, supply the religious needs of the neighbourhood.
Pa.s.sing along the Putney Bridge Road from the High Street, Brewhouse Lane runs north to the waterside; on one side are rows of new shops, on the other a swimming-bath. This lane was formerly one of the princ.i.p.al landings for ferry pa.s.sengers to Putney, but to-day is almost deserted.
An engraving of Fulham by Preist in 1738 is evidently taken from the steps, and shows the bridge and Fulham Church. From this landing a fine view is to be had of Putney Bridge; upstream and downstream is seen the big iron lattice bridge that carries the District Railway over from Fulham on its way to Wimbledon. A soap-boiler"s establishment with several smaller yards makes the lane busy, but there are still a lot of small cottages--some very old--of a poor type, and rented for the most part by labourers.
Pa.s.sing on, the almshouses founded by Sir Abraham Dawes are on the south side. He was a farmer of the Customs, an eminent loyalist of the reign of Charles II., and one of the richest commoners of the time. Originally built for twelve almsmen and almswomen, they have been latterly occupied entirely by women. The north side of the road is here substantially built up, and the Deodar, Florian, and Merivale Roads on the Cedars Estate are comparatively new. Two old houses, Cedar Lodge and Crest House, remain, with Park Lodge at the corner of the Atney Road, newly fronted, but below the grade of the road. To the railroad arch which spans the road are built on the north side a row of new cottages with shops opposite. Beyond the arch at the bend of the road, which is here narrowed by an old house encroaching on the footpath, is a fine old mansion, Moulinere House.
Returning whence we came, we pa.s.s up the High Street and come to Putney Hill, which forms a test of the endurance of cyclists.
At the base of Putney Hill stands The Pines, the residence of Swinburne the poet. Here, where modern villas have risen most recently, and stately trees fallen most rapidly, stood Lime Grove, the seat of Lady St. Aubyn. This mansion derived its name from a grove of limes through which the road to the house formerly led; and it was here in 1737 that Edward Gibbon, the historian, was born. He was educated in Putney till his ninth year, when he was sent to a public school at Kingston. It was on Putney Hill that the following event occurred: When Cardinal Wolsey ceased to be the holder of the Great Seal of England, and, obeying the mandate of Henry VIII., quitted the Palace of Whitehall, he removed to his palace at Esher. Embarking at Whitehall Stairs, he went by water to Putney, and started up the hill, but was overtaken by one of the royal Chamberlains, Sir John Norris, who presented him with a ring as a token of a continuance of His Majesty"s favour. Stow tells how Wolsey at once got off his mule unaided, and, kneeling down in the dirt on both knees, held up his hands for joy at the King"s most comfortable message.
Pa.s.sing up the hill, a few new streets are being pushed into the fields, which are, however, still continuous to the westward, the limit of building being apparently reached for a time in that direction, and, after a short climb past fine houses with s.p.a.cious grounds and drives, we come to Putney Heath near the Green Man, a quaint little road-house of the last century; close by it is the old cattle-pound. The heath, of some 400 acres, somewhat resembles that of Hampstead, and from the higher ground some excellent views are to be obtained, whilst the sandy hollows and surface are plentifully covered with heather, gorse, and brambles. On the northern side, facing the road which leads to Roehampton, are many fine houses--among others, Grantham House, the residence of Lady Grantham; Ashburton House; Exeter House, occupied by the second Marquis of Exeter, who, divorced from his Marchioness, wooed and won for his bride a country girl under the guise of an artist; Gifford House; and Dover House, the seat originally of Lord Dover, afterwards of Lord Clifden, and now the residence of J. Pierpont Morgan.
To the west of the heath lie Putney Park and Roehampton. Putney Park--styled Mortlake Park in old memorials--was reserved to the Crown by Henry VIII. Charles I. granted the park to Richard, Earl of Pembroke, who here erected a splendid mansion, which soon after his decease was sold, together with the park, to Sir Thomas Dawes, by whom it was again disposed of to Christina, Countess of Devonshire, whom Charles II.
visited at this place with the Queen-mother and the Royal Family.
Putney Heath is divided by the Portsmouth Road, which starts at the Green Man and meets the Kingston Road at the foot of the hill in Putney Bottom, and facing this road are many fine houses, as well as the reservoirs of the Chelsea Water Company, from which water is conveyed to the Middles.e.x side of the Thames by pipes beneath the roadway of Putney Bridge.
To the south of the reservoirs is a fine new house Wildcroft, the residence of Sir George Newnes, Bart., which stands in the grounds of the old Fireproof House, lately pulled down. This house was erected in 1776 by David Hartley, son of the celebrated Dr. Hartley, to demonstrate the efficacy of his plan for securing buildings from fire. This plan consisted in thin sheets of iron and of copper being laid between floor and ceiling to prevent the ascent of heated air from the lower to the upper rooms. The lower part of this house was repeatedly set on fire in the presence, among others, of the King and Queen, the members of Parliament, the Lord Mayor, and the Aldermen. The House of Commons granted Hartley 2,500 in aid of the expenses incurred, and the Corporation erected in the grounds an obelisk--which can be plainly seen from the Kingston Road--recording the experiments of the grant. The heath was the scene of many duels, among others, in May, 1652, Lord Chandos and Colonel Compton fought with fatal issue, Compton being killed. In May, 1798, on a Sunday afternoon, William Pitt, the Prime Minister, who lived in the Bowling-Green House close by, fought a bloodless battle with William Tierney, M.P.; and in September, 1809, an encounter took place between Lord Castlereagh and George Canning, when the latter was wounded in the thigh. This last duel was fought near the Admiralty semaph.o.r.e erected in 1796, the site of which is indicated by the Telegraph Inn immediately behind Wildcroft. Across the corner of the green from the inn is Bristol House, which owes its name to the Bristol family, who possessed it till a few years ago, and which was for some two years the residence of Mrs. Siddons. A part of the estate has been built on; many handsome residences have been erected.
Next is a large mansion, Highlands, and west of it is the historical Bowling-Green House, a low, two-storied mansion painted white, with large windows, and the Pitt arms over the doorway. In this house, shaded by fine trees, with a beautiful prospect from the lawn, lived for some years William Pitt, the Prime Minister; and here, on June 23, 1806, he died. The house derives its name from the bowling-green formerly attached to it, and for more than sixty years (1690-1750) the most famous green in the neighbourhood of London. The house had large rooms for public breakfasts and a.s.semblies, was a fashionable place of entertainment, and noted for "deep play." South of this Bowling Green House is Scio, a charming residence, with beautiful lawns facing the main Kingston Road, in the Gothic style, and from here the flagstaff and windmill on the heath are noticed. Close by was the gallows in the olden time, and here it was that one of the last of the highwaymen--Jeremiah Abershaw--hung in chains in 1795, after suffering the penalty of the law on Kingston Common, then the place of execution for Surrey. Being crossed by a main road, this dreary neighbourhood was formerly much frequented by footpads and highwaymen. Aubrey mentions the gallows near here, and adds that Roman urns are often found in the dry, gravelly ground.
Putney Heath merges into Wimbledon Common, a fine expanse of 1,000 acres of breezy upland. The headquarters of the National Rifle a.s.sociation till 1889 were in the Windmill, a picturesque landmark seen from far and near; but owing to increasing danger and the enormous crowds that flocked to the camp it was removed to Bisley in Surrey. The Windmill was formerly a favourite resort of duellists. Some distance from the windmill is Caesar"s Well, the most historical spot on Wimbledon Common, and its water is said to possess medicinal properties. This common and Putney Heath were in the last century the scene of frequent reviews.
George III. reviewed the Surrey volunteers here in 1799, as he had previously done the Guards in 1767; and Charles II., in 1684, also reviewed his forces on the heath. At the north-west corner of the heath lies the village of Roehampton, snugly nestling in a valley, and consisting of a small cl.u.s.ter of houses. The centre of the village is at the angle of Roehampton Lane, where a drinking-fountain, a gift of Mr.
Lyne-Stephens, stands in the road, with the Catholic chapel of St.
Joseph"s, approached through a beautiful carved oaken lych-gate, facing it. This chapel and rectory stand in the grounds of Manresa House, a training college of the Jesuit Fathers. To the north is a quaint old village inn, the Montague Arms, flanked by a row of old cottages.
Ponsonby Road and Medfield Street are lined with small houses, for the most part new, very clean, and well kept. The parochial schools, in two buildings, for boys and girls, are in the Ponsonby Road on the hillside, and between them is a church, completed in 1899. In the High Street, which is built up with small shops for a short distance, stands on the north side, well back from the road, the King"s Head Inn, with its wonderful signboard displayed in the garden, its big, old-fashioned bay-windows, curious low-ceilinged rooms, and weather-boarded sides, shaded by great elms, giving it a very picturesque aspect. The gardens, with tables set out in little nooks, and the stables of the house across the yard, complete a picture, of which few are to be found near London now. In this street is one of the buildings of St. Mary"s Convent, a red-brick pile used as a laundry.
Returning to Roehampton Lane, and pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.sing 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 pa.s.s 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 d.u.c.h.ess 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 circ.u.mference--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.