Putney Lower Common is a part of Wimbledon and Putney Commons, lying about 1.5 miles north of the rest, between the Lower Richmond Road and the River Thames.
Putney was probably settled during the Roman occupation. Lower Richmond Road was probably a Roman Road, and the Lower Common was probably an open pasture and farmland.
Land was apparently lost in the 19th century when Elm Lodge was built. This was rebuilt in 1912 as Putney Hospital. The common also includes Putney Lower Common Cemetery which was established in 1858.
In 1871 the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act was passed which prevented further building. The Common still provides traditional activities associated with commons before they were overtaken urbanisation and enclosure - cricket is played in the summer and there is a fairground on bank holidays. In the south-east corner lies All Saints' Church, built in 1874. The number 22 bus route begins at the Spencer Arms, at the North East corner of the common.
Famous quotes containing the word common:
“This is really the common mentality of prisoners: they read with great attention all the articles that deal with illnesses and send away for treatises and “be your own doctor” or “emergency treatments” and end up by discovering that they have at least 300 or 400 illnesses, whose symptoms they are experiencing.”
—Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937)