Old maps of Putney 2

As promised, here's the second of the maps of Putney from Bacon's Up-To-Date Atlas & Guide to London, published probably in the 1930s - click here for the earlier post covering the Southfields and Wandsworth parts. And click on the image above for a much higher resolution scan.

This map covers the majority of Putney and Roehampton. The most obvious difference between today's map is that there is no Alton estate in Roehampton: the only resemblance with Roehampton today is what is now the Alton East: Alton Road and Bessborough Road. But even here the type of housing on either side of these roads was very different; grand houses and smaller cottages.

The rest of the land west of Roehampton Lane comprises the estate of Downshire House, Mount Clare, Manresa House and the Maryfield Convent - all buildings which remain today, just surrounded by an estate, rather than expanses of open land.

Similarly, in the north of Roehampton there is no Lennox estate at the end of Priory Lane, and the crescent-shaped housing block today called Fairacres was in those days called Lower Grove.

Moving east from Roehampton you can see how it was that the Telegraph Pub was such an important inn and communications post for travellers into and out of London. Today the pub is part of a relatively isolated cul-de-sac community in the middle of the Heath but until fairly recently, it was right on the crossroads of major traffic routes: Portsmouth Road, Telegraph Road and Wildcroft Road all of which extended right across the Heath.

And just north of the Heath we again see what Putney looked like prior to the building of huge estates: where the map shows expansive grounds around Exeter House is now the Ashburton Estate and Elliott School. In fact the only one of today's estates can be seen already built: the Dover House estate around Dover House Road.

Roehampton and West Putney aren't the only areas where major council estates were built after the war: West Hill ward - the area east of Wimbledon Parkside has also changed unrecognisably. But as I mentioned in my post on Southfields, you can see reflected in the estates of today several of the historic names shown on this map: Levana Lodgeand Park Lodge in Victoria Drive now Levana Close and Park Lodge now a care home of the same name for example. And many of the mansions on Wimbledon Parkside still remain: Chivelston, Albemarle and Spencer House.