The Lost Houses and Gardens of Wandsworth Common

The "Five Houses", Bolingbroke Grove

Build 24 — last modified 31 October 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 — HenriettaR — RichardP — 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Superseded drafts are kept, unchanged, in an archive: look for “earlier” beside each section below.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;  …  = comments awaited.

Part 1 — The setting and the people

The Five Houses in their setting: the land, the landscape and gardens, and the people who lived and worked in them.

1. 1 — IntroductionThe Five Houses, Five Houses Road and Balham Lane; the project. Formerly “Background”. · Build 11 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 10 (31 Oct) · Build 9 (2 Oct) · Build 8 (28 Sep) · Build 7 (27 Sep)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
2. 2 — LandscapeLand use and the area through maps, from Rocque to the Ordnance Survey; the coming of the town. · Build 11 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 10 (31 Oct) · Build 9 (2 Oct) · Build 8, with Gardens (28 Sep) · Build 7 (27 Sep)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
3. 3 — GardensNearby houses and their grounds, planting, garden design, nurseries. · Build 12 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 11 (31 Oct) · Build 10 (31 Oct) · Build 9 (2 Oct) · Build 8, with Gardens (28 Sep) · Build 7 (27 Sep)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
4. 4 — Above stairsThe owners and occupiers of the Five Houses. New: outline only. · Build 1
5. 5 — Below stairsThe servants of Five Houses Lane in the 19th century. Formerly “Servants”. · Build 10 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 9 (2 Oct) · Build 8, as Servants (28 Sep) · Build 7 (27 Sep)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
6. 6 — Outdoor staffCoachmen, grooms, gardeners and farm workers. New: outline, with the paragraphs on coachmen and gardeners from Below stairs. · Build 1 (current)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)

— Introduction (early, complete, undivided), 19 September 2026: no longer on the site; available from Philip on request.

Part 2 — The Five Houses

1. Bolingbroke HouseBuilt 1777, demolished 1937.
   • 1A — Bolingbroke House: The House (1777–1880)Origins, architecture, estate and grounds, occupants. · Build 15 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 14 (31 Oct) · Build 13 (31 Oct) · Build 12 (31 Oct) · Build 11 (31 Oct) · Build 10 (31 Oct) · Build 9 (31 Oct, with plant list) · Build 8 (31 Oct, old layout) · Build 7 (1 Oct, all suggestions visible) · Build 6 (28 Sep) · Build 5 (27 Sep)
     ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
   • 1B — Bolingbroke Hospital (1876–2008)Canon Clarke, hospital founding, expansions, demolition of the house, and the Ark Bolingbroke Academy. · Build 6 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 5 (31 Oct) · Build 4 (31 Oct, old layout) · Build 3 (23 Jul)
     ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
   • 1C — Bolingbroke House: AppendicesSupporting documents and source material for 1A. · Build 7
2. Grove HouseBuilt 1777–78, demolished 1889. · Build 10 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 9 (31 Oct) · Build 8 (31 Oct, with plant list) · Build 7 (31 Oct, old layout) · Build 6 (31 Jul)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
3. Bolingbroke Grove HouseBuilt 1777, demolished 1864. · Build 10 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 9 (31 Oct) · Build 8 (31 Oct, with plant list) · Build 7 (31 Oct, old layout) · Build 6 (3 Aug)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
   
   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 9 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 8 (31 Oct) · Build 7 (31 Oct, with plant list) · Build 6 (31 Oct, old layout) · Build 5 (31 Jul)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)
5. Dent’s HouseBuilt 1777–78, demolished c.1881. · Build 9 (current) · earlier versions, newest first: Build 8 (31 Oct) · Build 7 (31 Oct, with plant list) · Build 6 (31 Oct, old layout) · Build 5 (30 Jul)
   ► Reader’s version (all editors’ notes hidden)

Part 3 — After the Five Houses

What happened once the houses were demolished: the land sales to developers and builders large and small, and the laying out of the new roads and terraces.

1. 1 — After the Five Houses DraftHow each estate was sold and built over, house by house, from Chatham Road (1850s) to Kelmscott and Bramfield Roads (1890s); the Falcon Brook and Northcote Road; the new community. A first draft by Claude from Logan, the Survey of London and Keith Bailey, for the editors to check. P is also discussing this part with Keith Bailey, doyen of Battersea building studies. · Build 1

Companion pages for Part 3:
• Roger Logan, Between the Commons: South Battersea’s Formative Years, 1851–1900 — our full transcription, the main source for Part 3.
• South Battersea, 1851–1900: the map sequence — Logan’s six sketch-maps on a slider, showing the changing street layout decade by decade; an earlier map, before the Five Houses were built, is in preparation.
• Timothy Walker, ’Twixt the Commons (2010) — transcribed excerpts.

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. South Battersea, 1851–1900 — map sequence after Roger LoganSix sketch-maps by R.I.L. from Logan’s Between the Commons, on a slider, showing the streets spreading over the Five Houses estates. A first map, of the area before the Five Houses were built, is in preparation.
6. Ordnance Survey (various editions)High-detail 25-inch OS maps across several decades, to track the changing plots over time. Not yet added.

Sources

Full texts and transcriptions on this site that the book draws on.

1. Roger Logan, Between the Commons: South Battersea’s Formative Years, 1851–1900 (2007)Our full transcription of Logan’s Wandsworth Paper, with its figures and data annexes. The main source for Part 3. With it: the map sequence, Logan’s six sketch-maps of 1851–1900 on a slider.
2. Timothy Walker, ’Twixt the Commons (2010)Transcribed excerpts. Not yet drawn on in the book.

Earlier versions of this page: Build 23 (31 Oct) · Build 22 (31 Oct) · Build 21 (31 Oct) · Build 20 (31 Oct) · Build 19 (2 Oct) · Build 18 (28 Sep) · Build 17 (27 Sep)