Place Name
Originally Durham Road. In 1923 a drainage application incorporating a Plan of Proposed Layout was submitted for The Queensmere Estate, Wimbledon Park, London, S.W. The drawing was signed by Harold E Moss, who described himself as Architect to the Estate. The layout showed 29 numbered plots; nine on Queensmere Road; seven on Bathgate Road, and 13 on Victoria Drive. The new name was chosen after a man-made lake built to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, which was achieved by damming a stream running through meadowland near Wimbledon windmill. Queensmere (also known as Queensmere pond or Queen’s Mere) soon became a popular attraction, both for boating and as a venue for paddling and swimming prior to the construction of Wimbledon Swimming Baths. As well as a reference to a well known local spot, the reference to royalty would have served two purposes helping to market the new development to the up-market clientele it was hoping to attract but also to avoid confusion with another Durham Road, not far away, near Cottenham Park.
