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 By the early 13th Century local maps showed that the area
had been named and, although the spelling was unusual, the intention was there!
In 1588 Sir Thomas Cecil really put Wimbledon on the map by having the road
from London improved and building a manor house on a steep hill north-east of
the church. (Today Home Park Road goes straight through the site.) The house
itself was a landmark with terraces and courtyards, a great hall with wings and
a chapel. Both Queen Elizabeth 1 and James 1 & VI were entertained here on
several occasions.
This
transformed the village from a relative backwater into one of the social
centres of Elizabethan and Stuart England. It changed the lives of many of the
local inhabitants who were required to provision and repair the house or were
needed as servants or gardeners. Above all it brought the place into contact
with the wider world - Government officials, city merchants and the like, who
soon realized that Wimbledon was the ideal country retreat yet was just a short
horse- ride from the City. As such it soon became the home of three leading
families - the Cecils, the Churchills and the Spencers.
In 1638 the
Manor was sold to the Crown for £16,789.00 and Queen Henrietta Maria
lived here for a time; it then passed through several hands until being bought
by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Other residents were also attracted to the
area such as the Duke & Duchess of Cannizaro, Pitt the Younger and his
friends, Dundas and Wilberforce.
The coming of
the railway in 1838 was the next major transformation and Wimbledon expanded
rapidly, with the Victorian professional classes buying or building large
houses with pleasant gardens. Naturally servants, gardeners and shopkeepers
were required and in the 1850s street after street of terraced houses were
built to house them all.
 The next 50 years saw the
town growing slowly, but it was not until 1902, with tramlines being laid, that
the next serious expansion took place. People began to flock to the area and
masses of small, relatively cheap houses were built. The first tram finally ran
in May 1907 and the children at the local Primary School were given the morning
off to watch 'an historic event.'
The town
was now of a size where organic growth - of business, of shops and of houses -
took place naturally and today this bustling community offers the best of all
worlds.
Poets
& Prizefighters
A few hundred
years ago the Church was the centre of village life ~ along with the Pubs where
many vestry meetings often finished up!. And both of these much loved
establishments have seen the growth of Wimbledon over the years, from a small
scattered hamlet on the brow of the bill to the village and town that is
Wimbledon today.
Many of the
pubs have gone but they all have stories to tell ... the Bald Faced Stag was a
hideout for highwaymen in the 1790s and the favoured spot for prizefights. An
Irishwoman haunts the cellars of the Crooked Billet and the Hand in Hand also
has a ghost, who was seen by one of the staff as recently as 1985. In the 1840s
the Victorian poet Leight Hunt doubtless satisfied the Muse by seeking
inspiration in the Rose & Crown.
 A different kind of fame
attaches to the Fox & Grapes which was used from 1868 for the next 20 years
as changing rooms by what later became Wimbledon Football Club who went on to
win the FA Cup at Wembley in 1988.
And the oldest
pub in the Village? That honour goes to the Dog & Fox, although the name
only dates to the 18th Century. (In the survey of 1617 it was known as 'The
Sign of my Lords Arms, an Inn by Wimbledon Pound').
 Pistols for two... breakfast for one
Duels often
took place on the Common and amongst those involved were the Duke of York
(1789), Sir Francis Burdelt (1807) and the Marquis of Londonderry (1839). The
most famous, however, was that between a Captain Tuckett and James Brudenell,
Earl of Cardigan and Colonel of the 14th Hussars - the smartest Regiment in the
British Army. (Cardigan is known to history as the commanding offt'cer at the
charge of the Light Brigade). The duel caused an uproar in polite society and
brought duelling into disrepute, thereby changing the law.
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