Place Name
Takes its name from a former property, one of a number of large country villas that were built at the end of 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries following the break up of the extensive Wimbledon Park estate. This was one of the earlier villas, featuring on maps from around 1865. The house was undoubtedly named after the town in the Lake District, Cumbria, to highlight the area’s then rural aspect. It was laid out as part of the Wimbledon Park Estate between the 1930s and 1950s by Wandsworth Borough Council. As for the name Ambleside, it is thought to originate from Old Norse – Á-mel-sǽtr meaning the river sandbank and summer pasture. Located at the head of Windermere, it was once an important Roman settlement, with remains of a Roman fort, Galava, built around AD79 to guard the route between Roman outposts.
