We have now arrived at Walham Green, once a small village standing in the fields. It has been variously spelt. In a map of 1686 by Lea it is Wollam, and in 1706 Wallam; in a 1720 map (Seale) it is Wallom, and in Rocque of 1754 Wallam again. Before 1686 it was Wandon and Wansdon, according to Crofton Croker, and Lysons derives it from Wendon, either because the traveller had to wend his way through it to Fulham, or because the drainage from higher grounds wandered through it to the river. The Church of St. John is situated at Walham[Pg 47] Green. It has a high square tower with corner pinnacles, and is partly covered with ivy. It is built of stone, and the total cost was about £9,680. It was consecrated on August 14, 1828, and restored in 1892-93. The schools in connection with it, built in 1894, stand in the Dawes Road opposite. Passing eastward on the Fulham Road, we come to the Walham Green Station of the District Railway. Just opposite is the Town Hall, a square building of brick with stone frontage, ornamentally decorated with carving. It was built in 1891. Further on, on the opposite side, is the Wesleyan Chapel at Walham Green, opened in April, 1892. The buildings are of brick, with stone dressings. In the Moore Park Road, which branches off the Fulham Road near the boundary, stands St. Jamess Church, an ugly brick building with no spire or tower, which was consecrated on June 28, 1867, and the apse was built out at the east end about a dozen years later. There is a row of stained-glass windows low down across the west end. Going back to Walham Green proper, we find a double row of almshouses, shut off from the Vanston Place Road by iron gates. These are the almshouses of the Butchers Charitable Institution, which was founded on October 16, 1828. The almshouses themselves were begun at Walham Green in 1840. The object is described in the report as for affording relief to decayed or[Pg 48] distressed master butchers, master pork-butchers, cattle and meat commission salesmen, their widows and orphans.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 10:29:32 +0000
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