The Lost Houses and Gardens of Wandsworth Common

The "Five Houses", Bolingbroke Grove

Build 18 — 28 September 2026

Five houses and ornamental grounds, now lost, once stood on and around Wandsworth Common — their history, occupants, and eventual demolition.

Editorial status

Where each section stands in the current editing round. A tick means that editor’s comments have been entered into the draft on this site.

Editors: M — MarkS — SarahH — HenriettaP — Philip

Superseded drafts are kept, unchanged, in an archive: look for “earlier” beside each section below. On each draft page, a bar at the top switches each editor’s comments on or off; “Clean text” hides them all. Stages: with editors → comments being entered → for discussion → agreed.  –  = not yet circulated in this round.

Introduction

Background and outline of the project, the land, the landscape and gardens, and the servants of Five Houses Lane.

— Introduction (early, complete, undivided) - most recent stale version, 19 September 2026, for reference.

Draft Introduction now separated into 3 sections, with edits taken in since 19 September:

— Background · Build 8 · earlier: Build 7 (27 Sep)

— Landscape and gardens · Build 8 · earlier: Build 7 (27 Sep)

— Servants · Build 8 · earlier: Build 7 (27 Sep)

Houses

1. Bolingbroke HouseBuilt 1777, demolished 1937.
   • 1A — Bolingbroke House: The House (1777–1880)Origins, architecture, estate and grounds, occupants. · Build 6 · earlier: Build 5 (27 Sep)
   • 1B — Bolingbroke Hospital (1876–2008)Canon Clarke, hospital founding, expansions, demolition of the house, and the Ark Bolingbroke Academy. · Build 3
   • 1C — Bolingbroke House: AppendicesSupporting documents and source material for 1A. · Build 7
2. Grove HouseBuilt 1777–78, demolished 1889. · Build 6
3. Bolingbroke Grove HouseBuilt 1777, demolished 1864. · Build 6
   
   Appendix: Keith Bailey, ‘Developing Victorian Battersea: The Story of James Lord and George Todd, Junior’. · Build 3
4. The ElmsBuilt 1777, demolished c.1874–1881. · Build 5
5. Dent’s HouseBuilt 1777–78, demolished c.1881. · Build 5

Beneath these streets / After Demolition

1. The building estates that followedTerraced streets built on the plots vacated by the Five Houses, once each was demolished. Not yet written. P is discussing this section with Keith Bailey, doyen of Battersea building studies.

Maps

A growing collection of historical maps relevant to the Five Houses and their setting, from eighteenth-century surveys through to detailed Ordnance Survey editions. More will be added over time.

1. Rocque, 1746 — An Exact Survey of the Citys of London, Westminster, ye Borough of SouthwarkAn early large-scale survey of the London area, showing Wandsworth Common and its surroundings well before the Five Houses were built. Not yet added.
2. Harman, 1773 — estate planKeith Bailey's essay on the Bolingbroke/Harman estate; the original plan itself (London Archives, E/BOL/16–17) hasn't yet been obtained.
3. Corris, Battersea Book of ReferenceA parcel-by-parcel reference to an early Battersea estate map, with proprietors and tenants.
4. Batten, 1827 — Clapham Common with Five Houses insetAn 1827 map of Clapham Common, with a detailed inset of the Five Houses area.
5. Ordnance Survey (various editions)High-detail 25-inch OS maps across several decades, to track the changing plots over time. Not yet added.

Earlier versions of this page: Build 17 (27 Sep)