Forum Topic

Putney’s Oldest Buildings

What are the oldest buildings in SW15?  
I know the Winchester House Club is old and looking online the house dates back to the early 17th Century, but what are the others?  Anything Georgian? I think the churches must be some of our oldest buildings, but what’s the oldest house? Thank you for any info.

Martine Guy ● 7d22 Comments

For Adam - could that possibly be Thomas Cromwell's cottage? Any date on the map?

Katrina Black ● 2d

"I'm not sure whether either books are still in print though."Both books available on Ebay and Amazon currently. I believe that all are likely to be used copies.

David Ainsworth ● 2d

DavidThe 'stately' building is probably Grove House, now the University main offices. Part 18C, hugely expanded in the late 19C by Pauline Lyne-Stephens.  But under it are some of the cellars of the original 17C Roehampton Great House. Now listed Grade II* - list ref. 1065523.

Andrew Catto ● 2d

some years ago I came across a old map of Putney online (pre railway) which had a reference to "Cromwell's cottage" in the east of Putney along what is now the railway

Adam Tripp ● 2d

Hello David,Are you thinking of Grove House?  It is truly magnificent!I just looked it up and it was build in 1777 by architect James Wyatt.I had not thought about it; apologies Martine!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grove_House,_Roehampton

Ivonne Holliday ● 2d

I remember during my years as a student at the Roehampton Institute of Higher Education (now Roehampton Institute) in the late 1980s and early 1990s that there was a very fine looking stately building in the grounds of Froebel College (one of the four colleges that comprised the Roehampton Institute), close to the junction of Roehampton Lace and Clarence Lane. I assume that building to be either late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century. The grounds were quite expansive and I remember a beautiful wooden panelled room inside. A soft-back A4 size photographic book by Patrick Loobey called 'Putney and Roehampton', which I purchased about thirty years ago from the Wandsworth Museum when it was located at Putney Library in Disraeli Road, and Dorian Gerhold's 'Putney and Roehampton Past' are excellent sources of information on these old buildings of Putney and Roehampton - both take a prominent position on my bookshelf as someone born in Roehampton and a resident of the area for over 33 years. I'm not sure whether either books are still in print though.

David Beeney ● 2d

As your going towards the High Street in Chelverton Rd, if you look at the shops opposite above the Butchers there is a sign 1876 or something. When i googled the Spotted Horse said 250 yrs old approx.

Barbara Stevens ● 3d

Very interesting and little known information.

Miles Thompson ● 4d

The book I quoted from was published by Wandsworth Historical Society. Maybe they have an archive?

Katrina Black ● 4d

Thanks Katrina.  I shall look up those photos too. One part of SW15 that I can’t find any photos of, is E.Putney, specifically the section of URR that runs from Milbrook Court to the junction with West Hill.  We used to live on that part of URR so I was curious to see if there were any old photos showing what it was like in Victorian/Edwardian times.  There are photos of Milbrook Court on the corner of Keswick Rd, but I can’t find anything else along that stretch of URR.  

Martine Guy ● 4d

Martine, Fairfax House was on Putney High St. Montserrat Road now runs where the entrance porch was. The house dated from 1630 in its earliest parts. Source of this info is William Field's Photographs of Putney ISBN 0 905121 06 6

Katrina Black ● 4d

Yes, I always thought the Spotted Horse was very old. A good place to find old photos of SW15 is the London Picture Archive, but I can’t just put them on here as there is copyright.  An interesting one is Gay Street and the photos show the whole terraced street before it was demolished.
Am I right in thinking Fairfax House was on Putney High Street?  If so, where was it located?

Martine Guy ● 4d

Further  to  my  earlier  post, the  upper  story  set  back  from  Bosa & Headmasters  on  The  High  St  are  certainly  early  to  mid  Victorian  as  they  were  part  of  a  large  house  built  prior  to  the  construction  of  the  stone  bridge  in  1886. I  have  read  that  some  of  the  brickwork  in  The  Spotted  Horse  is  18th  century  but  can' t  find  any  verification  of  this.

Duncan Laird ● 4d

The Victorians did a thorough job of demolishing almost anything in the town centre, so Martin's short list, along with Winchester House already mentioned and the tower of St Mary's is probably all we have.  Roehampton however fared much better and still has 3 of the 5 Grade 1 listings in the whole Borough.  The Montague Arms, however is newer than it's bodged construction suggests.  It was listed as 'newly built' in the 1740's.

Andrew Catto ● 5d

Correct!

Miles Thompson ● 6d

If Templeton House House on Priory Lane was built in 1876 it is Victorian.

Miles Thompson ● 6d

Putney's Grade listed buildings are:All Saints Church.St Marys.Old Putney Burial Ground.Putney Bridge.Brandlehow School.Dukes Head.Putney Lodge.The Pines. (See AT THE PINES, Swinburne and Watts-Dunton In Putney by Mollie Panter-Downes 1971)The White Swan is a Victorian Building which was built on the site of a much older building of the same name & I think is also listed.

Miles Thompson ● 6d

Ivonne, I’ve just looked online at Templeton House.  It dates from 1786.  Really magnificent. I hadn’t heard about it before, so thanks for telling me about it. I looked online at Listed Buildings in SW15.  Here are the very old ones: 17th Century Kings Head, Roehampton 17th Century Montague Arms, Roehampton 17th Century Park Lodge, Putney Bridge Rd Another group of buildings which I couldn’t find on the above List, but are on the Wandsworth Council Conservation Area Appraisal as being Grade II Listed and built in the early 19th Century, so Georgian, are the terrace of cottages on Lower Richmond Rd, just after Thames Place

Martine Guy ● 6d

Thank you both for the info. I wondered what buildings are Georgian besides the one Ivonne mentions.  There’s quite a few early Victorian houses that look Georgian.   Wandsworth seems to have a few but not Putney.

Martine Guy ● 6d

The  oldest  secular  building  is  Winchester  House. The  oldest  religious  one is  the  tower  of  St  Mary' s. The  remainder  of  the  church  is  a  Victorian  rebuild  with  a  1970s  interior.

Duncan Laird ● 6d

Ooops!!!  Built in 1786!!!!

Ivonne Holliday ● 7d

Hello Martine,I know Templeton House on Priory Lane is a Georgian mansion built in 1876 I believe.Fabulous house, it used to belong to Roehampton Institute (now Roehampton University).  It is privately owned now.

Ivonne Holliday ● 7d