Place Name
This follows the line of what was Church Path, running from Upper Richmond Road to St Mary’s the Church, taking a bird’s eye view it is very clearly running in a diagonal line with the old Church Path at both ends. This was an important and well established route, hence the foot bridge across the railway continuing the line. Until development Church Avenue was agricultural land, from South Worple Way to Thornton Road it was part of Short Furlong, a parcel of land of Mortlake Common. Charles Hailstone in Alleyways of Mortlake and East Sheen writes: “Until the making of Church Avenue it ran between hedges and fences and under trees across Gibson’s Field, lighted by gas and with a stile at each end. Edward Gibson until 1879 lived in Portbello Cottage, put up by him, a solidly built house with prominent white stone quoins which made it a landmark along the railway side. As Portman House it survived on the north-east corner of Church Avenue with South Worple Way until replaced by Firmston House in 1964.” This street began to be developed in 1907 when local builders Charles Ellis & Co built 18 houses.
