Highlights of the Heath
The part of the Commons known as Putney Heath sits either side of the A3, which split the habitat when it was constructed in the 1960s.
At the gateway to the Heath, situated North of this major road (on Putney Hill) is the Green Man pub, a historic landmark dating from 1700. It was the haunt of highwaymen such as the notorious Jerry Abbeshawe, and often a rendezvous for duellers, hence the saying ‘pistols for two, breakfast for one’. The Heath was a popular spot for pistols at dawn, with the most famous duel between former Prime minister William Pitt The Younger and M.P. George Tierney, a bloodless contest as both men were inexperienced shots.
Opposite the Green Man is The Pound – a historic cattle pound, once used for holding stray animals, reflecting the heath’s long-standing role as common land for grazing livestock.
Walking South along Putney Hill, the path passes Fairground Meadow, so called after the occasional fairs which used to visit, and the Putney Heath Reservoir – an engineering marvel of the 1850s, holding 57 million litres of water which supplies much of West London and the West End.
Tucked away just off Tibbets Corner is the Telegraph public house – another historic inn, named after the Admiralty Telegraph and built on the site of a station in the shutter telegraph chain which transmitted messages between London and Portsmouth during the Napoleonic wars. Behind the pub on Tibbets Corner is the Grade II-listed Obelisk, commemorating an experimental fireproof house designed by MP and inventor David Hartley.
Battles of a different kind take place on the neighbouring field, home to Roehampton Cricket Club, one of London’s oldest clubs which has played on this ground since 1859.
Heading West towards Roehampton, passing Crossroads Meadow, a small open green space now managed as a wildflower habitat to the Frying Pan, so-called for its shape, another open glade in a large shallow depression, believed to be either a bomb crater or a former gravel pit.
Scio Ride leads from the Frying Pan to the only pond on the Commons north of the A3 – Scio Pond, named after Scio House, which once stood nearby. The Gothic style mansion built by Eustratios Stephanos Ralli, founder of the Baltic Exchange, and named after the family's birthplace, the Greek city and island of Chios.
Leading through the woods, the ride leads to the Roehampton Underpass crossing the A3 – the link to the Southern part of Putney Heath, a mosaic of acid grassland, mixed woodland and heathland – one of London’s largest remaining heathland habitats and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation and Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Following the woodlands to the West, a path passes Curling Pond, the Common’s smallest pond, named for its historic use of winter curling matches, then Jerry’s Hill, marking the site where the body of highwayman Abbeshawe, finally executed for his nefarious activities, was hung on a wooden frame as a warning to other would-be highway robbers.
One unnatural feature of the Heath are the Alps, or Roehampton Hills, distinctive mounds created by the spoil from the construction of the A3 in the 1960s. They have evolved into valuable habitats supporting native species, as well as providing the Commons with a popular sledging slope!
As well as the smallest pond, the Heath is also home to the Commons’ largest body of water – Kingsmere Pond, situated just yards from the A3. The pond is screened from this major road by a belt of oak, willow and birch trees and its wildlife, including appears to be tolerant of the noise and pollution.
The path leading uphill passes by heathland before ending at Parkside and Seven Post Pond, a 19th century pond created by gravel extraction, later used for a time as a "water splash" by waggoners needing to expand the wooden wheels of their carts, which would contract during the summer months, to fit the iron rims properly. It is thought that its name comes from the seven posts that were placed through the pond, showing waggoners the best route through.
