Jerry's Hill on Putney Heath, near the Curling Pond, is said to be the place at which Jeremiah Abershawe was hung, but not hanged. Abershawe, who according to tradition lived in Coombe Wood but spent most of his time in a local tavern, was the chief highwayman on this section of Portsmouth Road. The Inn referred to was the "Bald-faced Stag", also known as the "Half-way House", situated near the junction of Stag Land and Kingston Road. There are various accounts of his capture and execution but it appears that he was hanged on Kennington Common and his body was afterwards brought to hang in chains from a gibbet bear the site of his old exploits, presumably as a warning to others.
This is another spot, close to the Common, which has been associated, incorrectly, with highwaymen. Perhaps the name Tibbet suggested a corruption of the word "gibbet" but in fact the name related to a Tibbet or Thibet who was the gatekeeper of Lord Spencer's Wimbledon Park Estate. The Manor House itself was near St Mary's Church, Wimbledon but stood in a park of more than 800 acres which extended to Tibbet's Corner. Parkside is so called because it ran along the boundary between this parkland and the Common.
A horse-drawn tramway was installed on the Common in 1864 by the National Rifle Association. It ran from the Pound at Wimbledon Village to the Windmill along the rear of the firing points. The cars were long side cars in which the passengers sat back to back with sufficient room for the fare-collecting conductor to pass between the passengers. The installation cost no more than £404 and proved to be very profitable over the years. It was only a temporary construction an was taken up after the annual NRA events each year. It was 1877 before the Association experimented with a steam engine and, the experiment proving successful, the Council purchased it in 1878.
In 1845, another railway which was built on the Common was Prosser's experimental railway. This ran from Thatched Cottage to the Windmill, with a large turning circle beyond, of which the outline is still reflected in some of the footpaths. The train ran on wooden rails using wheels without flanges. The wheels were located on the rails and given directional stability by smaller "guide wheels" running against the inside faces of the track.
The Commons narrowly escaped the encroachment of a public railway when plans were drawn up in 1881 to link Kingston and London, via Putney. By 1880 the District Line had reached Putney Bridge, on the north bank of the Thames and was poised to extend further south. The London and South Western Railway was also interested in expanding in this area. In 1881 a Bill was submitted for the formation of the Guildford, Kingston and London Railway with a route which would cross the Thames at Putney, proceed up Putney Hill to Tibbet's Corner and then cut across Wimbledon Common to Kingston, Surbiton, Cobham and Guildford. The Act which was passed later in 1881 provided for a line extending only as far as Kingston, to be used jointly by the LSWR and the District Railway. Work began on the new line but the District Railway soon ran into financial difficulties and eventually settled for a new route from Putney, through Southfields and Wimbledon park to Wimbledon.