WIMBLEDON District Line (Wimbledon)




Three for the price of one - the Old Village,
the Common and the Windmill. There’s a lot
to see, so a fair bit of walking is involved, but
there is a bus if you want to go straight to the windmill.






The village:to get the village take the right-hand exit from the Underground and, crossing Alexandra Road, walk up Wimbledon Hill Road where you will find a Victorian library. ( If you pop round the corner of the library into Compton Road you will see several clever terracotta decorations in the form of bookshelves.

Soon the commercial area gives way to a leafy hill with residential buildings. After about five minutes walk look over the road to see the striking white stuccoed Byron House c 1860, at present a Montessori College.

Now, at the top of the hill, the village proper begins, marked by a drinking fountain erected in 1868 to the memory of Joseph Toynbee. The fountain is in front of a bank building (1895), not in the usual solid style, but with a decorative turret. The village shops and restaurants are small-scale and varied in style, and while wandering round you may encounter a string of horses with impeccably turned out riders clip-clopping neatly through the traffic on their way home from a work-out on the Common – a cheerful sight.




The building with a perky bell tower opposite the large Dog and Fox pub was once the fire station (1890). The pub is well-known, being the nearest to the LTA Courts, so in Wimbledon Fortnight it’s packed with tennis folk of all kinds. At the T junction cross Church Road and walk left, past the old fire station. This is the oldest and most attractive part of Wimbledon Village. Continue towards the Common. Soon you will come to Eagle House, now The Islamic Heritage Foundation. Although the brickwork has been rendered, the shape of the three curved gables is not lost. The centre gable is topped by an eagle. The house was built in 1613 for Robert Bell, one of the founders of the East India Company.



The Windmill: If you wish to get to the famous windmill you still have quite a bit of walking to do, so press on towards the War Memorial. It is probably a good idea to print out a map of the area, as there is a choice of routes you might take once you have reached the Common. From the War Memorial the windmill is about fifteen minutes pleasant walking parallel with Parkside on the East. The mill, built in 1817 is a hollow post windmill (for technical details and history see Mill Museum website ) and was used until 1864 to grind the wheat of local residents who preferred to have their flour produced by a miller they knew and trusted rather than go to the larger concerns along the River Wandle. You may be pleased to discover there is a café nearby . This is run independently from the museum and is open every day - the windmill museum itself is usually only open at weekends from March to October.




Buildings round the Common:When you have pottered round the windmill and its relaxing surroundings you might be tempted to cheat and walk down Windmill Road to catch a (frequent) no. 93 bus either all the way back to the station, or just back to the War Memorial to explore the other side of the Common. This is reached by crossing the High Street and following it as it turns sharp right before becoming Southside Common. This short stretch of the High Street has a delightful selection of cottages. Claremont House (photo)at the end is well worth a look. At the corner of the Common is an eighteenth-century converted farmhouse and a couple of other charming dwellings that do not prepare you for the monsters further along Southside. If the weather is dry wander over the grass past the unfenced Rushmere Pond then return to the road to see another ex farmhouse at the corner of Lauriston Road. This bears a plaque declaring that ‘on this site’ William Wilberforce lived (the actual house where he lived for a few years as a child, was demolished in 1958).






Continue until you are past the extensive buildings of King’s College School. Here Southside becomes Woodhayes Road and you will find Southside House, half-hidden behind a brick wall. This has a mellow brick pedimented frontage of 1687 which disguises an older building. It struck me as a rather romantic house. There is something appealing about its weather-beaten appearance, and it does have a fascinating history, having been the home of the Pennington Mellor Munthe family for generations. The most famous inhabitant was Axel Munthe who wrote the 1929 best-seller ‘The Story of San Michele’. Rather surprisingly this reticent house (and garden), packed full of family memorabilia and art treasures is open to the public. It has limited opening hours, so please check if you want to enter this intriguing time warp.











A little further on No. 6, Gothic Lodge, has delicate ogee windows set in green-washed stuccoed walls. Originally eighteenth-century, it was enlarged in Victorian times. It is best viewed from over the way, as the house has a high front wall. Having crossed the road you are in Crooked Billet where cottages are jumbled up on two sides of a small green.










Turn right and then left to find the Crooked Billet itself. There has been a pub on this site since 1509, though the present building only dates back to 1776. Almost next door is another pub - the Hand in Hand. This newcomer (1835) has a cosy ‘cottage’ atmosphere.







At Westside Common turn left. Some of the large houses along here have been so over-restored/rebuilt or are modern copies that they are now somewhat characterless. The gardens of Cannizaro House, now a hotel, are open to the public. As you turn the corner to enter the park a – um – surprising – fountain hoves into view, but soon there is an enchanting modern aviary. Tables on the terrace of the hotel look across a wide swathe of lawn to mature trees, so you may be tempted . . .This would not be a cheap option, of course. Even without a glance in an estate agent’s window you will have realized by now that this is a seriously expensive area.


Returning from the park to Westside Common, walk to the corner of Camp Road past The Keir (eighteenth-century) Go left, following a very high, creeper-covered wall and passing (or not) the Fox and Grapes. This pub was used as changing rooms for twenty years by members of the club that eventually became Wimbledon FC (1905) They played on the Common and other local pitches until 1912, when The Dons moved to Plough Lane. The team was originally called Wimbledon Old Centrals since the players had been pupils at the school just down the road, our next port of call. The 1960’s almshouses next door to the pub don’t have the charm of more ancient buildings – but no doubt they are a lot more comfortable. Quickly return your attention to the long wall – a strange one, as there are wooden doors set into it at intervals and a house at the end which is an integral part, looking as if it has somehow grown there.



Opposite is another oddity - an octagonal school. This was the Central School referred to above. Founded in 1758 it began life as a charity school for 50 boys and 50 girls, and for a short time William Wilberforce was one of the trustees. Closed in 1960, it is now open as a private preparatory school for girls. Continuing round the school block will take you into Camp View and past the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club. Camp view is so called because of the remains of the Iron Age hill fort in the grounds of the golf club. Caesar is reputed to have stayed there, but there is no evidence to support this.


Wander round the corner into North View where the scene changes yet again to an expanse of woodland and rough grass. At the end of North View turn right to get back to Westside Common. Here there is a haphazard collection of plain nineteenth-century cottages and a house with a two-storey oriel window that looks out over the grassland. At this point, cut across the Common towards the War Memorial, where there is a bus stop for the no. 93. This will take you to the Underground station –but don’t let me stop you if you want to walk all the way! If you have the energy, pass the Tube station and continue down to the Tesco’ed Town Hall and Centre Court shopping centre - an enterprising conversion! There is a new entrance to the station in the Centre, so you don’t have to walk back.

Tennis fans may be wondering where the Lawn Tennis Association fits into all this. The designated station for Wimbledon Fortnight etc. is Southfields, but from there it is more than 15 minutes not particularly interesting walk, so I have not included it. I have made a separate entry for Wimbledon Park (where there is lots to see) noting that from Church Road it is only ten minutes walk to the Tennis Museum. This makes it an option for anyone who wishes to make a detour.

This is just one walk from the many to be found at London Tube Rambles. There are architectural gems, beautiful country views, historic places and whacky buildings to be found, even in the most unpromising areas covered by the Greater London Underground stations. Usually the places listed are within a mile of the Tube - often only five minutes walk away. If you reached this as an individual page via a search engine, you might like to go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk to see the other destinations explored . You'll be amazed at what's out there!

© DR2007