P. G. Wodehouse Locations - Valley Fields

Valley Fields

Valley Fields is one of London's quiet, leafy suburbs, in the SE21 postal district. The setting of much of Sam the Sudden, it is home to Matthew Wrenn, whose friend Mr Cornelius is the local estate agent and historian; he has many a tale to tell of the suburb, the most exciting being that of Edward "Finky" Finglass, the notorious bank robber, who lived for a time in the house later inhabited by Sam Shotter.

In Uncle Fred in the Springtime, we learn that part of the suburb was formed from the old estate of Lord Ickenham's Uncle Willoughby, known as Mitching Hill, setting of the drama related in "Uncle Fred Flits By". It is also home to Maudie, niece of Blandings Castle butler Beach.

The suburb is a setting in many non-series novels, including Ice in the Bedroom, which has a similar plot to that of Sam the Sudden. In the preface to the 1972 edition of Sam the Sudden, Wodehouse wrote: "It was the first thing of mine where the action took place in the delectable suburb of Valley Fields, a thin disguise for the Dulwich where so many of my happiest hours have been spent." In his youth, Wodehouse attended Dulwich College in the London suburb of West Dulwich.