Place Name
Gap Lodge, was a small servant’s house that stood at what is now the junction of Leopold Road and Kenilworth Avenue. It was demolished in 1910. The lodge was once the gatekeeper’s residence for the eastern entrance to Wimbledon Park House, located halfway along the perimeter of the Park Estate. As such, it was a reference to the gap in the perimeter planting where the main carriageway to the main house entered the estate. This is consistent with the famous gardener Capability Brown’s approach to landscaping, which was to encircle parks he worked on, including at Wimbledon, with dense woodland to frame the views and to conceal the carriage drive. Brown was engaged by the house’s owners, the Spencer family from 1764.
