WIMBLEDON AND PUTNEY COMMONS CONSERVATORS ARCHIVE
Author: Finding aid compiled by Simon Fenwick, 2008 – 2011Administrative History
In November 1864, John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, the Lord of the Manor of Wimbledon, called a meeting of local residents to outline a Bill he intended to present to Parliament for the enclosure of 700 acres of the common as a park, a further two acres as the garden to a new house to be built on the site of the windmill, and the sale of the remaining 300 or so acres of building land. The reasons he gave were that the land was ‘boggy' and ‘noxious mists arose from it' and ‘great nuisance was caused by gypsies' who camped on it. The money raised from the sale of the building land would pay for enclosure and improvements.
The majority of those present agreed to the proposal but the Bill was delayed by a Select Committee set up to inquire into the condition of open spaces around London. A Wimbledon Common Committee was later set up under the Chairmanship of Sir Henry Peek Bt., MP for Mid-Surrey, and in 1866 a suit of Chancery was commenced against Lord Spencer. After four years of litigation Earl Spencer came to terms with the residents and a new Bill was drawn up. This became the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act which received the Royal Assent in August 1871.
Under the Act Lord Spencer conveyed his interest in the Commons to a body of Conservators (five elected and three appointed) who were charged with the duty of keeping the Commons open, unenclosed and undeveloped and their natural aspect preserved. Lord Spencer and his descendants were to be compensated by a perpetual annuity of £1200, and a rate was to be levied on local residents, in accordance with a complicated scale, to keep up these payments and to maintain the Commons. The annuity was finally redeemed in 1968 by a lump sum payment from a redemption fund set up by the Conservators in 1957 with a borrowed £22,500.
The independence the Commons enjoys has enabled a strong resistance to be maintained against encroachment in any form.
History of the archive
The material in the archive has been arranged and listed in the repository.
The archive was found in a state of considerable confusion. It would appear that during the course of the history of the WPCC various members of staff devised different filing methods. Subsequently files had become disorganised and documents removed from them at random without being replaced. It is unclear therefore as to how much of any original order was preserved. In May 1973 the Clerk and Ranger wrote to a historical researcher, ‘The Conservators feel that up to now we have been casual with the records we keep and we have a responsibility to our successors to preserve in the future everything which is of interest regarding this unique area.'
Undoubtedly there have been depredations. Correspondence was often directly copied into the Conservators' minute books and original letters no doubt discarded. If the Clerk's statement of 1919 that ‘the total of letters and documents dealt with and dispatched [comes] to over 700' is to be accepted a great many records must subsequently have been lost - either accidentally or by intentional destruction. Records were also lost during World War II bombing. According to a letter to the Chief Land Register dated 2nd July 1950, ‘The Land Certificate…. together with other deeds and documents belonging to the Conservators suffered damage by blitzing at the Chancery Lane Safe Depository with the result that it bears an unwholesome stench, the plan and written matter on the deed being indecipherable.' A number of documents rescued from this time are still in a damaged state.
It was minuted in March 1996 that ‘much of the paperwork in the building known as the Archives is not catalogued in any order and there is also a considerable amount of paperwork that really is out of date and could be disposed of…. In some ways it would be a shame to lose these items forever as they will at some time be of historical interest.' The archives were transferred into new premises in 2008.
Scope and content
The majority of the archive consists of the administrative records of the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators.
Custodial history
The material remains with its creator.
Accrual and collection policy
The records of the Conservators will continue to be added to the archive.
The Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators, under certain circumstances, will consider collecting items of relevance to the Commons and to the Conservators.
Research potential
The archive could inform: the study of the history of attitudes towards conservation of open country in order to prevent development and despoliation; rights of public access to private land; history of Putney and Wimbledon; criminal and sexual behaviour and attitudes. Correspondents include the conservator Richardson Evans, the writer Ethel Mannin (1900 – 1984), and the lawyer and historian Edward Russell, 2nd Baron Russell of Liverpool (1895 – 1981).
System of arrangement
Archives have been listed up to 2000. Whenever possible apparent original files have been preserved; elsewhere they have been organised so as to keep or create subject coherence. However a large portion remains as ‘addenda'.
Series have been arranged as follows:
Files of correspondence, and other documentsAccess conditions
Access is by appointment only.
Copyright and reproduction
Copyright remains with the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators.
Copyright of correspondence and architectural drawings, etc, rests with the author or designer. Depending on the condition of the document, photocopies of material in the archive can be supplied for purposes of private study only (a charge will apply for this service). All items within the archive remain within the copyright of the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. It is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright for purposes other than research or private study.
Prior written permission must be obtained from the Conservators for reproduction or publication of material within the archive.
Documents: