Roehampton

Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip, running north to south, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the University of Roehampton. Etymology The Roe in Roehampton's name is thought to refer to the large number of rooks that still inhabit the area. Location Roehampton is centred about 6.3 miles (roughly 10 km) south-west of Charing Cross. It occupies high land, with Barnes to the north, Putney and Putney Heath to the east, and Richmond Park and Richmond Park Golf Course to the west. To the south is Roehampton Vale, that straddles the A3, with Wimbledon Common and Putney Vale beyond. History Roehampton was originally a small village – with only 14 houses during the reign of Henry VII – with the area largely forest and heath. The population gradually increased in the 18th and 19th centuries as it became a favoured residential outlying suburb for summer villas and larger houses set in parkland, following the opening of Putney Bridge in 1729. Several of the original houses survive.