Place Name
This was laid out over the grounds of Spencer House, which itself was named after the last lords of the manor of Wimbledon alias Mortlake. The medieval manor stretched over 7,000 acres, including not only Wimbledon and Mortlake, but Roehampton, Putney, and East Sheen also. The manor was bought by Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, a year after the death of her husband, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, for £15,000. When she died in 1744 it passed to her heir, the 10-year-old John, Viscount Spencer, soon to be made the 1st Earl Spencer. The Spencers – like the previous lords of the manor, the Cecils, built their manor house in Wimbledon but were recorded as still owning a workshop and yard to the value of £35 in Mortlake in a survey from 1811. The connections with Mortlake remained and in 1860 the then Earl Spencer gave a piece of land known as the King’s Arms Field to local people for their perpetual use and enjoyment – today is known as Mortlake Green. Spencer House was occupied for many years by the Reeves family who were copyhold or customary tenants of the manor. Frederick Reeves was chairman of Audit Board, between 1826 and 1843. The estate was put up for sale in three lots by auction on June 9, 1898. This road was laid out over the site of the estate’s extensive gardens in 1907, the same year that the house was knocked down.
