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Roehampton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Roehampton is a place in south London, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies between Putney to the east, Barnes to the north, Richmond Park to the west and Kingston to the south. It is 6.3 miles (10.1 km) south west of Charing Cross.
Entrance to Richmond Park, the largest of the Royal Parks, is via Roehampton Gate, next to the golf course, riding stables and cycle hire.
Roehampton is home to a number of well known institutions: Roehampton University has 8000 students housed in 4 Colleges; the new Queen Mary Hospital with its renowned amputee rehabilitation centre opened in 2006 is a teaching centre for medical students based at St George's Medical School in Tooting; Kingston University has one of its campuses in Roehampton Vale; South Thames College is also based here. It has long been a major centre for teacher - training, being the site of two constituent Colleges (Digby Stuart College and Froebel College) of the former federal Roehampton Institute of Higher Education (now Roehampton University), as well as South-East England's only lecturer-training college (Garnett College) which eventually relocated and became part of the University of Greenwich.
Apart from education other notable institutions based here include: The Priory Clinic; the Bank of England Sports Centre; Rosslyn Park Rugby Club; and Roehampton Club. The new headquarters of the Lawn Tennis Association opens in 2007. Roehampton has long been an exclusive London address. During the 18th century a number of aristocrats built summer villas set in parkland around Richmond Park and Putney Heath. Of these, Parkstead House, Downshire House, Grove House and Mount Clare are now all part of the Roehampton University campus.
Roehampton is also home to the Alton Estate, one of the largest council estates (public housing) in the UK, which runs along the edge of Richmond Park. The estate is renowned for its mix of low and high rise modernist architecture, with West Alton ((1959) inspired by the work of French architect Le Corbusier. The estate was used as a location for the futuristic film Fahrenheit 451 (1966). The estate is now part of a regeneration scheme with a number of Government initiatives such as SureStart helping to tackle issues of social exclusion.
In contrast, much of the old village of Roehampton still remains; this is a very affluent area, dominated by large detached houses. An old watering trough for Victorian carriages at the junction of Medfield Street and Roehampton Lane still remains.
Famous residents have included two Prime Ministers, William Pitt the Younger and the Earl of Derby; William Harvey, who discovered the principles of blood circulation; Gerard Manley Hopkins; Sean Connery.