Description
Linden Lodge School for the Blind is in the grounds of North House, a private residence designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Robert Wilson Black, its garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. The house later became Linden Lodge School in the late 1940s, taking the name from its sister school on Wandsworth Common, which itself eventually relocated here in 1964 to create the single site school of today. In 2006 the original house was refurbished, the Jekyll garden restored and a new residential building erected. The school gardens now consist of a number of areas, including a Sensory Garden and Woodland Walk, designed to support its work as a specialist regional centre for children with visual impairment. In 2006 Sprunt Architects extensively refurbished the Lutyens house, designed a new residential building for the students in the grounds and restored the original Gertrude Jekyll garden.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | North House |
|---|---|
| Site location | 61 Princes Way, Southfields |
| Postcode | SW19 6JB |
| What3Words | ///belly.count.inch |
| Type of Site | Institutional Grounds; |
| Borough | Wandsworth |
| Open to Public | By appointment only |
| Opening Times | private but has opened for London Open Gardens |
| Events | Has opened for OGSW (2017) |
| Public Transport | Tube: Southfields. Bus: 39 |
| Research Updated | 1 October 2017 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
North House and its accompanying lodge were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Robert Wilson Black, an estate agent and local hotelier. The Arts and Crafts style house was completed in 1933/34.
Linden Lodge School was one of two residential schools for blind children established by the London School Board in 1902. It takes its name from Linden Lodge, a house built in 1876 on Wandsworth Common as the private home of retired headmistress, Marjory Peddle. After her death in 1879 the house was purchased by the School for the Indigent Blind. When that institution moved away Linden Lodge was taken over by the London School Board and opened in December 1902 for the education of around 50 visually impaired boys between 13-16 years old, most of whom were boarders. A similar establishment for visually impaired girls had already opened in June 1902 as Elm Court School, West Norwood. Both schools were evacuated during WWII and although the boys were able to return to l,inden Lodge, Elm Court School had suffered bomb damage and a new school for girls was needed. Eventually the girls school moved to North House in Wimbledon, which from 1949 became co-educational although it was still split between the two school sites. The original Linden Lodge site closed in 1964 when a purpose-built school was built in the grounds of North House. In 2006 Sprunt Architects extensively refurbished the Lutyens house, designed a new residential building for the students in the grounds and restored the original Gertrude Jekyll garden next to the house.
The school grounds are designed to support its work as a specialist regional centre for children aged from 2 to 19 with visual impairment, including those who are multi-disabled and visually impaired. The Pat Fox Woodland Walk pays homage to Gertrude Jekyll's designs for the grounds, and a Sensory Garden provides interactive features and sculptural elements, with a sensory pathway that has sound and tactile stations, as well as sculptures featuring mirrors and water. .
Linden Lodge School was one of two residential schools for blind children established by the London School Board in 1902. It takes its name from Linden Lodge, a house built in 1876 on Wandsworth Common as the private home of retired headmistress, Marjory Peddle. After her death in 1879 the house was purchased by the School for the Indigent Blind. When that institution moved away Linden Lodge was taken over by the London School Board and opened in December 1902 for the education of around 50 visually impaired boys between 13-16 years old, most of whom were boarders. A similar establishment for visually impaired girls had already opened in June 1902 as Elm Court School, West Norwood. Both schools were evacuated during WWII and although the boys were able to return to l,inden Lodge, Elm Court School had suffered bomb damage and a new school for girls was needed. Eventually the girls school moved to North House in Wimbledon, which from 1949 became co-educational although it was still split between the two school sites. The original Linden Lodge site closed in 1964 when a purpose-built school was built in the grounds of North House. In 2006 Sprunt Architects extensively refurbished the Lutyens house, designed a new residential building for the students in the grounds and restored the original Gertrude Jekyll garden next to the house.
The school grounds are designed to support its work as a specialist regional centre for children aged from 2 to 19 with visual impairment, including those who are multi-disabled and visually impaired. The Pat Fox Woodland Walk pays homage to Gertrude Jekyll's designs for the grounds, and a Sensory Garden provides interactive features and sculptural elements, with a sensory pathway that has sound and tactile stations, as well as sculptures featuring mirrors and water. .
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ242731 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Linden Lodge School |
| Site Management | Linden Lodge School Board of Governors |
| Dates | 1934 |
| Designers | Gertrude Jekyll (1930s garden to original house) |
| Listed Structures | Local List: North House |
| 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 | Wandsworth |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
The municipal park is a remnant of the C18th landscape park that Capability Brown laid out for Earl Spencer of Wimbledon House, an estate that dated from the C16th, once owned by Queen Henrietta Maria and later by the Duchess of Marlborough. The estate was broken up from the late C19th, and in 1914 Wimbledon Borough Council purchased the northern part of the parkland and opened Wimbledon Park. Land to the west was purchased for Wimbledon Golf Course and in c.1930 the All England Lawn Tennis Club was established to the west. The lake is a survivor from the earlier landscape and is one of the largest in London.
The municipal park is a remnant of the C18th landscape park that Capability Brown laid out for Earl Spencer of Wimbledon House, an estate that dated from the C16th, once owned by Queen Henrietta Maria and later by the Duchess of Marlborough. The estate was broken up from the late C19th, and in 1914 Wimbledon Borough Council purchased the northern part of the parkland and opened Wimbledon Park. Land to the west was purchased for Wimbledon Golf Course and in c.1930 the All England Lawn Tennis Club was established to the west. The lake is a survivor from the earlier landscape and is one of the largest in London.
Victoria Drive Open Space is a landscaped open space and garden at the rear of Fairlawns (q.v.), a large mansion now converted for private residential use. The gardens were once part of the original grounds, as marked on OS maps of the 1890s, which shows the pond that remains in the gardens. A small built structure may be a relic of the earlier estate.. The gardens are part of the Ackroyden (west) housing estate, that includes Oatlands Court to the north of the garden.
Fairlawn was built in 1853, a fine villa with substantial gardens designed by Robert Marnock. After WWII the house was acquired by the LCC and in the early 1950s became a home for the blind and later for the elderly. In 1980 the GLC, who had taken over from the LCC, relinquished the house and it fell into disrepair. In 1984 Hiram Walker International purchased the site and restored the house, but later vacated and the house has since been adapted as apartments and renamed Fairlawns. Today the original gardens are severely truncated and the lower area is now part of Windlesham Grove Estate.