Description

This area once formed part of the Wimbledon Park estate and the grounds of the Manor House was to the east of Arthur Road. Remnants of the C18th 'Capability' Brown landscape that can be found near Arthur Road are now located in a later C19th housing development, and consist of the ha-ha of Brown's landscape, a surviving retaining wall, and an Artesian well built by Earl Spencer in 1798 in order to raise water for his house. There are surviving walls and doors to the churchyard of St Mary's Church in Church Road; and a short surviving section of wall, with door to the south of Stag Lodge.

Practical Information

Site location Arthur Road
Postcode SW19 7DL
What3Words ///blocks.margin.cheek
Type of Site Garden Feature Remnants
Borough Merton
Open to Public No
Opening Times private properties
Public Transport Rail: Wimbledon Park
Research Updated 21 March 2025
Last Updated 18 October 2026

Full description

This area once formed part of the Wimbledon Park estate and the grounds of the Manor House was to the east of Arthur Road. Remnants of the C18th 'Capability' Brown landscape that can be found near Arthur Road are now located in later C19th housing development, and consist of the ha-ha of Brown's landscape, a surviving retaining wall, walls and doors to the churchyard of St Mary's Church in Church Road; and a short surviving section of wall, with door to the south of Stag Lodge, former gatehouse to Earl Spencer's estate.

John Spencer, who became the first Earl Spencer, had inherited Marlborough Manor House and the 500 acre parkland in 1764 by which time the formal gardens laid out by the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough in the 1730s were neglected. Spencer acquired more land for the estate, almost doubling its extent, including enclosure of Wandsworth West Common in 1782 and part of Wimbledon Common. Capability Brown was first contracted by Earl Spencer in 1765-66, and again from 1779-83 (when both men died) and over these 20 years he transformed the landscape, including building a dam in order to create the lake in the centre of the parkland. His works included replacing the formal gardens; felling most of the existing avenues of trees and hedgerows to plant new clumps of trees; planting a perimeter woodland belt with carriage drives laid out through the woodland. An Artesian well built by the Spencers in 1798 in order to raise water for the manor house was in use until 1816; it was later restored in 1970 as a private residence. Having run up significant debts, John, the 3rd Earl and Frederick, the 4th Earl sold the estate in 1843 and 1846 to John Augustus Beaumont, a wealthy developer, who began building fine villas here from 1865 on the north and west of the estate. Stag Lodge was built for Beaumont in 1846 as the new entrance to the estate. The seated stag was removed during WWII for safety but was subsequently lost and the stag on the building is a replica, erected in 1988. It was the inspiration for an artwork at Wimbledon Station in 2012.

Further Information

Grid Reference TQ248716
Site Ownership private
Dates c.1770
Designers Capability Brown
Listed Structures LBII: Stag Lodge including Flanking Walls and Corner Piers (no. 1 Arthur Road); Artesian Well (No. 19 Arthur Road)
On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens No
Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 No
Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 No
Local Authority Merton
In Conservation Area Yes
Conservation Area Name Wimbledon North
Tree Preservation Order No
Nature Conservation Area No
Green Belt No
Metropolitan Open Land No
Special Policy Area Yes - Archaeological Priority Zone

Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.

Nearby parks and gardens

  • Merton
  • 0.2 miles away

St Mary's Churchyard, including Church Field

The medieval parish church of St Mary Wimbledon has been rebuilt several times over the years, and the earliest record of a church here is in the Domesday Book of 1086. The churchyard is on sloping ground and was extended in 1862 when an adjacent tithe barn was dismantled. The enclosing wall dates from C18th or earlier, and the tombs date from the early C18th and include several large monuments such as that of Gerard de Visme (d.1797), a Portland stone pyramid, and those of the Marryat and Spencer families. Now closed to burials apart from those in existing family plots, the churchyard has a Garden of Remembrance for cremated ashes. Near the entrance to the church is a stuccoed early C19th lodge with seated stag that formerly belonged to Wimbledon Park House. Adjacent to the churchyard to the west is Church Field, which was purchased by the church in 1956.
  • Merton
  • 0.4 miles away

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

The All England Croquet Club was founded in 1868; in 1875 the new game of lawn tennis was added to its activities and the first Lawn Tennis Championships were held in 1877 on the Club's old grounds in Worple Road, and the Club's name changed to The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club. The Club moved to the present grounds in 1922, which was formerly part of the C18th estate of Wimbledon House, landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown for Earl Spencer in 1765.
  • Merton
  • 0.5 miles away

Gap Road Cemetery

Wimbledon Cemetery, also known as Gap Road Cemetery, was established here in 1876 by Wimbledon Burial Board. The 20-acre cemetery had a number of extensions over the years; the first between 1919 and 1939 to the north, with a further extension to the west of this post 1939; and a further strip added to the east of the original site; the old cemetery boundary is marked by trees. It retains the two original cemetery chapels and has a more recent mortuary chapel, entrance lodge, a number of fine memorials, and war memorial.