Place Name
This is a literal reference to the barns that used to be here on the western side of the parish of Merton from at least the late 13thCentury. The area is mentioned in the records of 1290 as Westberne and Westbarnes in 1538. It came from the Old English words west and bere-ærn. According to the Merton Historical Society the owner of Blue House Farm Charles Blake “rerouted West Barnes Lane in the 1880s. The old road was to the north of the present West Barnes Lane and Blakes Lane, and had marked the boundary between Blaldenys and the Westfields, later the boundary between Blagdon and Blue House Farms. Along the new line of West Barnes Lane Charles Blake built Dudley Lodge (demolished in 1924) and Ivy House (demolished in 1970 to make way for Dodge City DIY centre). He also built West Barnes Terrace, by the railway crossing opposite West Barnes Farm, around 1884, and Blue House Cottages by the bridge over the Beverley Brook, presumably for his farm workers.”
