Place Name
Thought to be a reference to Castello di Vincigliata, an Italian medieval castle on a rocky hill to the east of Fiesole in Tuscany. In the mid-19thCentury the building, which had fallen into a ruinous state, was acquired by John Temple Leader and entirely reconstructed in the feudal style. Leader owned land in this part of Putney and, despite developing other parts of his Putney estate, retained this area in either leased out grazing or pasture attached to his and other large houses in the area. But the land began to be developed soon after he died in 1903, this street was laid out just two years later in 1905. Meanwhile the Castello was to have an interesting new lease of life. Between 1941 and 1943 it served as a small prisoner-of-war camp housing high-ranking British and Commonwealth officers, including Major-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, who was employed by the Italian government in the Armistice negotiations with the Allies in 1943.
