Sir Cuthbert Edgar Peek, 2nd Baronet (30 January 1855 – 6 July 1901) was an astronomer and meteorologist, and took part in activities of several learned societies.
83-537: Peek was born at Wimbledon, London on 30 Jan. 1855, the only child of Sir Henry William Peek, 1st Baronet , of Wimbledon House, Wimbledon, Surrey, a partner in the firm of Messrs. Peek Brothers & Co., colonial merchants, of East Cheap, and MP for East Surrey from 1868 to 1884. His mother was Margaret Maria, second daughter of William Edgar of Eagle House, Clapham Common. Cuthbert, after education at Eton College , entered Pembroke College, Cambridge , in 1876 and graduated BA in 1880, proceeding MA in 1884. A Freemason, he
166-575: A 'Privilege Card' which provides discounts and benefits within the town centre. The UK's leading car-sharing company Zipcar has its UK headquarters in Wimbledon. Other notable organisations with head offices in Wimbledon include CIPD , Ipsotek, United Response , the Communication Workers Union (United Kingdom) and, until 2022, Lidl . The Wimbledon Times (formerly Wimbledon Guardian ) provides local news in print and online. In
249-521: A King's plate." However, he gives no further details and does not say how successful horse racing was or how long it lasted. Charing Cross Charing Cross ( / ˈ tʃ ær ɪ ŋ / CHARR -ing ) is a junction in Westminster , London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London " and became the point from which distances from London are measured . Clockwise from north,
332-671: A building named Golden Cross House. The railway station opened in 1864, fronted on the Strand with the Charing Cross Hotel. In 1865, a replacement cross was commissioned from E. M. Barry by the South Eastern Railway as the centrepiece of the station forecourt. It is not a replica, being of an ornate Victorian Gothic design based on George Gilbert Scott 's Oxford Martyrs' Memorial (1838). The Cross rises 70 feet (21 m) in three main stages on an octagonal plan, surmounted by
415-541: A challenge cup and an annual prize to be shot for by members of the Cambridge University Volunteer Corps. Peek died in Brighton on 6 July 1901 of "congestion of the brain", and was buried at Rousdon. In 1884 he married Augusta Louisa Brodrick, eldest daughter of William Brodrick, 8th Viscount Midleton . She survived him with two sons and four daughters. Their elder son Wilfrid (1884–1927) succeeded to
498-626: A commonly agreed central datum point , various points were used for this purpose. John Ogilby 's Britannia of 1675, of which editions and derivations continued to be published throughout the 18th century, used the "Standard" (a former conduit head) in Cornhill ; while John Cary 's New Itinerary of 1798 used the General Post Office in Lombard Street . The milestones on the main turnpike roads were mostly measured from their terminus which
581-521: A figure which has remained reasonably stable since. Wimbledon is covered by several wards in the London Borough of Merton, making it difficult to produce statistics for the town as a whole. The largest ethnic groups (up to 10%) in the wards according to the 2011 census are: At the time the Domesday Book was compiled (around 1086), Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake. From 1328 to 1536,
664-408: A high plinth, situated roughly where the medieval monumental cross (the 'Charing Cross') had previously stood for 353 years (since its construction in 1294) until destroyed in 1647 by the revolutionary government of Oliver Cromwell . The famously beheaded King, appearing ascendant, is the work of French sculptor Hubert Le Sueur . Charing Cross is marked on contemporary maps as the road junction around
747-472: A hotel, a theatre , and a music hall (which had lain beneath the arches of the railway station). Charing Cross Road , the main route from the north (which became the east side of Trafalgar Square), was named after the railway station, itself a major destination for traffic, rather than after the original cross. By the late 18th century, the Charing Cross district was increasingly coming to be perceived as
830-533: A man to destroy it; however he instead hid it and brought it back to the new King, Charles II (Charles I's son), and his Parliament who had the statue erected here in 1675. A prominent pillory , where malefactors were publicly flogged, stood alongside for centuries. About 200 yards to the east was the Hungerford Market , established at the end of the 16th century; and to the north was the King's Mews , or Royal Mews,
913-610: A manor of Wimbledon was recorded as belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury . The manor of Wimbledon changed hands many times during its history. Wimbledon was an Ancient Parish from the medieval period, later being re-organised as the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon within the county of Surrey . In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 abolished the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon, Merton and Morden Urban District and
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#1733085038466996-406: A meteorological station of the second order, and in the same year he set up there an astronomical observatory to contain the 6.4 inch Merz telescope and a transit instrument with other accessories. With the aid of his assistant Charles Grover, he began a systematic observation of the variation of brightness of long-period variable stars , by Argelander 's method, and on a plan consistent with that of
1079-467: A monument to resemble the one lost under Cromwell's low church Britain took place in 1864 in Britain's main era of medieval revivalism. The next year the memorial was completed and Cardinal Wiseman died, having been appointed the first Archbishop of Westminster in 1850, with many Anglican churches also having restored or re-created their medieval ornamentations by the end of the century. By this time England
1162-480: A small observatory in the grounds of his father's house at Wimbledon, where he observed with a 3-inch equatorially mounted telescope. In 1882 Peek spent six weeks at his own expense at Jimbour, Queensland , for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus across the sun's disc in December 1882 . There, with his principal instrument, an equatorially mounted Merz telescope of 6.4 inches, he observed, in days preceding
1245-506: A spire and cross. The shields in the panels of the first stage are copied from the Eleanor Crosses and bear the arms of England, Castile , Leon and Ponthieu ; above the 2nd parapet are eight statues of Queen Eleanor. The Cross was designated a Grade II* monument on 5 February 1970. The month before, the bronze equestrian statue of Charles, on a pedestal of carved Portland stone, was given Grade I listed protection. The rebuilding of
1328-493: A stable rural population coexisting with nobility and wealthy merchants from the city. In the 18th century the Dog and Fox public house became a stop on the stagecoach run from London to Portsmouth , then in 1838 the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened a station to the southeast of the village at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill. The location of the station shifted the focus of
1411-572: Is 7 miles (11.3 km) south-west of Charing Cross . The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It is considered an affluent suburb with its grand Victorian houses, modern housing and low-rise apartments. The residential area splits into two sections: the village and the town, with the village near the common centred on the High Street, being part of
1494-466: Is a reimagining of the medieval cross, on a larger scale, more ornate, and not on the original site. It was designed by the architect E. M. Barry and carved by Thomas Earp of Lambeth out of Portland stone , Mansfield stone (a fine sandstone) and Aberdeen granite ; and it stands 222 yards (203 metres) to the north-east of the original cross, focal to the station forecourt, facing the Strand . Since 1675
1577-513: Is home to the Wimbledon Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre , and contains Wimbledon Common , one of the largest areas of common land in London. The residential and retail area is split into two sections known as the "village" and the "town", with the High Street being the rebuilding of the original medieval village, and the "town" having first developed gradually after the building of
1660-455: Is marked on modern maps as a road junction, and was used in street numbering for the section of Whitehall between Great Scotland Yard and Trafalgar Square. Since 1 January 1931 this segment has more logically and officially become the northern end of Whitehall. At some time between 1232 and 1236, the Chapel and Hospital of St Mary Rounceval was founded at Charing. It occupied land at the corner of
1743-683: Is now approved by the British Horse Society and the Association of British Riding Schools. It offers horse-riding lessons and hacks on Wimbledon Common and in Richmond Park. In 1792 the Rev. Daniel Lysons published The Environs of London: being a historical account of the towns, villages, and hamlets, within twelve miles of that capital in which he wrote: "In the early part of the present century there were annual races upon this common, which had then
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#17330850384661826-465: The Dog and Fox made the journey to London routine, although not without the risk of being held-up by highwaymen , such as Jerry Abershawe on the Portsmouth Road. The stagecoach horses would be stabled at the rear of the pub in what are now named Wimbledon Village Stables. The 1735 manor house burnt down in the 1780s and was replaced in 1801 by Wimbledon Park House, built by the second Earl . At
1909-602: The Harvard College Observatory . Annual reports were sent to the Royal Astronomical Society , which Peek joined in 1884, and short sets of observations were occasionally published in pamphlet form. The complete series of the observations of 22 stars extending over sixteen years were collected at Peek's request by Professor Herbert Hall Turner of Oxford and published by him after Peek's death in Memoirs of
1992-509: The Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common , the second-largest in London, is thought to have been constructed. The original nucleus of Wimbledon was at the top of the hill close to the common – the area now known locally as "the village". The village is referred to as "Wimbedounyng" in a charter signed by King Edgar the Peaceful in 967. The name Wimbledon means "Wynnman's hill", with
2075-640: The Municipal Borough of Mitcham , creating instead the London Borough of Merton. Initially, the new administrative centre was at Wimbledon Town Hall, but it moved to the 14-storey Crown House in Morden in the early 1990s. It is now in the Parliamentary constituency of Wimbledon , and since 2005 has been represented by the Conservative MP Stephen Hammond . Since 2005, the north and west of
2158-519: The Tower Garrison and surrendered. The Eleanor Cross was pulled down, by order of Parliament, in 1647, at the time of the English Civil War , becoming the subject of a popular Royalist ballad : Methinks the common-council shou'd Of it have taken pity, 'Cause, good old cross, it always stood So firmly in the city. Since crosses you so much disdain, Faith, if I were you, For fear
2241-638: The Worshipful Company of Girdlers and a director of the British East India Company built Eagle House as a home at an easy distance from London. The Cecil family retained the manor for fifty years, before it was bought by Charles I in 1638 for his Queen, Henrietta Maria . Following the King's execution in 1649, the manor passed rapidly among various parliamentarian owners, including the Leeds Member of Parliament (MP) Adam Baynes and
2324-518: The civil war general John Lambert ; Lambert drafted the Instrument of Government , the founding document of the Protectorate , at Wimbledon. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, it was returned to Henrietta Maria (now as mother of the new King, Charles II ). The Dowager Queen sold the manor in 1661 to George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol , who employed John Evelyn to improve and update
2407-568: The "centre" of the metropolis (supplanting the traditional heartland of the City to the east). From the early 19th century, legislation applicable only to the London metropolis used Charing Cross as a central point to define its geographical scope. Its later use in legislation waned in favour of providing a schedule of local government areas and became mostly obsolete with the creation of Greater London in 1965. Road distances from London continue to be measured from Charing Cross. Prior to its selection as
2490-583: The 'Whitehall' thoroughfare. Erect a rich and stately carved cross, Whereon her statue shall with glory shine; And henceforth see you call it Charing Cross. The name of the lost hamlet, Charing, is derived from the Old English word cierring , a river bend, in this case, referring to a bend in the Thames . A debunked folk etymology claimed the name is a corruption of chère reine ("dear queen" in French), but
2573-511: The 'alien' houses. The priory fell into a long decline from lack of money and arguments regarding the collection of tithes with the parish church of St Martin-in-the-Fields . In 1541, religious artefacts were removed to St Margaret's , and the chapel was adapted as a private house; its almshouse were sequestered to the Royal Palace. In 1608–09, the Earl of Northampton built Northumberland House on
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2656-527: The 1820s employed a young Joseph Paxton as one of his gardeners, but in the 1840s the Spencer family sold the park off as building land. A period of residential development began with large detached houses in the north of the park. In 1864, the Spencers attempted to get parliamentary permission to enclose the common as a new park with a house and gardens and to sell part for building. Following an enquiry, permission
2739-520: The 1870s, at the bottom of the hill on land between the railway line and Worple Road, the All-England Croquet Club had begun to hold its annual championships. But the popularity of croquet was waning as the new sport of lawn tennis began to spread, and after initially setting aside just one of its lawns for tennis, the club decided to hold its first Lawn Tennis Championship in July 1877 . By 1922,
2822-516: The 1930s, residential expansion had peaked in Wimbledon and the new focus for local growth had moved to neighbouring Morden , which had remained rural until the arrival of the Underground at Morden station in 1926. Wimbledon station was rebuilt by the Southern Railway with a simple Portland stone facade for the opening of a new railway branch line from Wimbledon to Sutton in 1930. In 1931,
2905-648: The City. Some of these structures were later moved or destroyed, but reference to them persisted as if they still remained in place. An exaggerated but well-meaning criticism was that "all the Books of Roads ... published, differ in the Situation of Mile Stones, and instead of being a Guide to the Traveller, serve only to confound him". William Camden speculated in 1586 that Roman roads in Britain had been measured from London Stone ,
2988-530: The Estate's accounts of 1236–37. Stables on the current site, behind the Dog & Fox pub in the High Street, were founded in 1915 by William Kirkpatrick and named Hilcote Stables; William's daughter Jean took over on his retirement and continued to visit the stables until her death in 2005. From 1969 Hilcote Stables were leased to Colin Crawford, and when they came up for sale in 1980 renamed Wimbledon Village Stables. It
3071-560: The King should rule again, I'd pull down Tiburn too. At the Restoration (1660 or shortly after) eight of the regicides were executed here, including the notable Fifth Monarchist , Colonel Thomas Harrison . A statue of Charles I was, likewise in Charles II's reign, erected on the site. This had been made in 1633 by Hubert Le Sueur , in the reign of Charles I, but in 1649 Parliament ordered
3154-566: The Royal Astronomical Society (volume 55). The introduction to the volume contains a section written by Peek in 1896 explaining his astronomical methods. With similar system regular observations were made with his meteorological instruments, and these were collected and published in annual volumes. On his father's death on 26 August 1898, Peek succeeded to the baronetcy and to the estates that his father had bought in Surrey and Devon. He
3237-515: The arch – crash – knock – children look round – mother's head off – sandwich in her hand – no mouth to put it in – head of family off." The story echoes an accident of 11 April 1800, when the Chatham and Rochester coach was emerging from the gateway of the Golden Cross, and "a young woman, sitting on the top, threw her head back, to prevent her striking against the beam; but there being so much luggage on
3320-556: The baronetcy. Attribution Wimbledon, London Wimbledon ( / ˈ w ɪ m b əl d ə n / ) is a district and town of south-west London, England, 7.0 miles (11.3 km) southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross ; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton . Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimbledon Town and Dundonald, Hillside, Wandle, Village, Raynes Park and Wimbledon Park. It
3403-413: The borough council, to house some of those who had lost their homes. During the 1970s and 1980s, Wimbledon town centre struggled to compete commercially with more developed centres at Kingston and Sutton . Part of the problem was the shortage of locations for large anchor stores to attract customers. After some years in which the council seemed unable to find a solution, The Centre Court shopping centre
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3486-595: The borough have been represented in Westminster by Paul Kohler , a Liberal Democrat MP. The east and south of the Borough are represented by Siobhain McDonagh , a Labour MP. In 2012 the businesses in Wimbledon voted to introduce a Business Improvement District. "Love Wimbledon" was formed in April 2012, funded and managed by the business community to promote and enhance the town centre. Those who work within Wimbledon can apply for
3569-447: The city. Renewed upheaval came in 1838, when the opening of the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) brought a station to the south-east of the village, at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill. The location of the station shifted the focus of the town's subsequent growth away from the original village centre. For several years Wimbledon Park was leased to the Duke of Somerset , who briefly in
3652-454: The company meant it was never finished. The next owner was Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough , who increased the land belonging to the manor and completed the construction of a house to replace Jansen's unfinished effort in 1735. On her death in 1744, the property passed to her grandson, John Spencer, and subsequently to the first Earl Spencer . The village continued to grow and the 18th-century introduction of stagecoach services from
3735-638: The council built a new red brick and Portland stone Town Hall next to the station, on the corner of Queen's Road and Wimbledon Bridge. The architects were Bradshaw Gass & Hope . Damage to housing stock in Wimbledon and other parts of London during World War II led to a final major building phase when many earlier Victorian houses with large grounds in Wimbledon Park were sub-divided into flats or demolished and replaced with apartment blocks. Other parts of Wimbledon Park, which had previously escaped being built upon, saw local authority estates constructed by
3818-565: The early 20th century, as was recognised in 1905, when the urban district was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon , with the power to select a mayor. By 1910, Wimbledon had established the beginnings of the Wimbledon School of Art at the Gladstone Road Technical Institute and acquired its first cinema and the theatre. Unusually, the facilities at its opening included Victorian-style Turkish baths . By
3901-591: The east side of Whitehall ). A variant from the hazy Middle English orthography of the late fourteenth century is Cherryngescrouche . The stone cross was the work of the medieval sculptor, Alexander of Abingdon . It was destroyed in 1647 on the orders of the purely Parliamentarian phase of the Long Parliament or Oliver Cromwell himself in the Civil War . A 70 ft (21 m)-high stone sculpture in front of Charing Cross railway station , erected in 1865,
3984-570: The eastern portion of the property. In June 1874, the duke's property at Charing Cross was purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works for the formation of Northumberland Avenue. The frontage of the Rounceval property caused the narrowing at the end of the Whitehall entry to Charing Cross, and formed the section of Whitehall formerly known as Charing Cross, until road widening in the 1930s caused
4067-482: The final element of the name being the Celtic "dun" (hill). The name is shown on J. Cary's 1786 map of the London area as "Wimbleton", and the current spelling appears to have been settled on relatively recently in the early 19th century, the last in a long line of variations. At the time the Domesday Book was compiled (around 1086), Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake , and so was not recorded. The ownership of
4150-496: The hamlet of Charing, Westminster , which later gave way to government property; a little of the Strand; and Trafalgar Square. The cross in its various historical forms has also lent its name to its locality, including Charing Cross Station . On the forecourt of this terminus station stands the ornate Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross , a taller emulation of the original, and built to mark the station's opening in 1864. A bronze equestrian statue of Charles I , erected in 1675, stands on
4233-581: The landscape in accordance with the latest fashions, including grottos and fountains. After his death in 1677, the manor was sold again to the Lord High Treasurer , Thomas Osborne , Earl of Danby . The Osborne family sold the manor to Sir Theodore Janssen in 1712. Janssen, a director of the South Sea Company , began a new house to replace the one built by the Cecils, but the spectacular collapse of
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#17330850384664316-423: The latter, the dangers to public safety of the quite low archway to access the inn's coaching yard were memorably pointed out by Mr Jingle : "Heads, heads – take care of your heads", cried the loquacious stranger as they came out under the low archway which in those days formed the entrance to the coachyard. "Terrible place – dangerous work – other day – five children – mother – tall lady, eating sandwiches – forgot
4399-417: The manor of Wimbledon changed hands many times during its history. The manor was held by the church until 1398 when Thomas Arundel , Archbishop of Canterbury fell out of favour with Richard II and was exiled. The manor was confiscated and became crown property. The manor remained crown property until the reign of Henry VIII when it was granted briefly to Thomas Cromwell , Earl of Essex , until Cromwell
4482-466: The modern Whitehall and into the centre of Northumberland Avenue , running down to a wharf by the river. It was an Augustinian house, tied to a mother house at Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees . The house and lands were seized for the king in 1379, under a statute "for the forfeiture of the lands of schismatic aliens". Protracted legal action returned some rights to the prior, but in 1414, Henry V suppressed
4565-441: The mother of the writer Frederick Marryat . Their association with the area is recorded in the names of nearby Calonne and Marryat roads. Directly south of the common, the early 18th-century Warren House ( Cannizaro House from 1841) was home to a series of grand residents. The first decades of the 19th century were relatively quiet for Wimbledon, with a stable rural population coexisting alongside nobility and wealthy merchants from
4648-568: The name pre-dates Queen Eleanor's death by at least a hundred years. The suffix "Cross" refers to the Eleanor cross made during 1291–94 by order of King Edward I as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile . This place latter comprised little more than wayside cottages serving the Royal Mews in the northern area of Trafalgar Square , and built specifically for the Palace of Whitehall (much of
4731-428: The name was derived from the hamlet of Charing ('Riverbend') that occupied the area of this important road junction in the middle ages, together with the grand Eleanor cross that once marked the site. The medieval monumental cross, the Charing Cross (1294–1647), was the largest and most ornate instance of a chain of medieval Eleanor crosses running from Lincoln to this location. It was a landmark for many centuries of
4814-469: The original medieval village, and now a prime residential area of London commanding high prices, and the "town" being part of the modern development, centred on The Broadway, since the building of the railway station in 1838. The majority of the adult population of around 68,200 adults belong to the ABC1 social group. The population grew from around 1,000 at the start of the 19th century to around 55,000 in 1911,
4897-426: The popularity of tennis had grown to the extent that the club's small ground could no longer cope with the numbers of spectators and the renamed All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved to new grounds close to Wimbledon Park. Wimbledon historian Richard Milward recounts how King George V opened the new courts. "He (the king) gave three blows on a gong, the tarpaulins were removed, the first match started – and
4980-512: The property until 1574 when she gave the manor house (but not the manor) to Christopher Hatton , who sold it in the same year to Sir Thomas Cecil , Earl of Exeter . The lands of the manor were given to the Cecil family in 1588 and a new manor house, Wimbledon Palace , was constructed and gardens laid out in the formal Elizabethan style. Wimbledon's proximity to the capital was beginning to attract other wealthy families. In 1613 Robert Bell, Master of
5063-541: The railway station in 1838. Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common is thought to have been constructed. In 1086 when the Domesday Book was compiled, Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake . The ownership of the manor of Wimbledon changed between various wealthy families many times during its history, and the area also attracted other wealthy families who built large houses such as Eagle House, Wimbledon Manor House and Warren House . The village developed with
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#17330850384665146-400: The rain came down." The club's old grounds continue to be used as the sports ground for Wimbledon High School . Wimbledon Village Stables is the oldest recorded riding stables in England. The late Richard Milward MA, a local historian, researched the background of horses in Wimbledon over the years and found that the first recorded stables belonged to the Lord of the Manor, and are detailed in
5229-532: The rebuilding of St Mary's Church in 1849 and the construction of Christ Church (1859) and Trinity Church (1862). Street names reflect events: Denmark Road, Denmark Avenue and the Alexandra pub on Wimbledon Hill mark the marriage of Edward, Prince of Wales , to Princess Alexandra of Denmark . The change of character of Wimbledon from village to small town was recognised under the Local Government Act 1894 , which formed Wimbledon Urban District with an elected council . Wimbledon's population continued to grow in
5312-418: The rebuilding of the south side of the street which created a wide thoroughfare. In 1554, Charing Cross was the site of the final battle of Wyatt's Rebellion . This was an attempt by Thomas Wyatt and others to overthrow Queen Mary I of England , soon after her accession to the throne, and replace her with Lady Jane Grey . Wyatt's army had come from Kent, and with London Bridge barred to them, had crossed
5395-517: The river by what was then the next bridge upstream, at Hampton Court . Their circuitous route brought them down St Martin's Lane to Whitehall. The palace was defended by 1000 men under Sir John Gage at Charing Cross; they retreated within Whitehall after firing their shot, causing consternation within, thinking the force had changed sides. The rebels – themselves fearful of artillery on the higher ground around St James's – did not press their attack and marched on to Ludgate , where they were met by
5478-439: The roads from the centre towards neighbouring Putney, Merton Park and Raynes Park . Transport links improved further with railway lines to Croydon (Wimbledon and Croydon Railway, opened in 1855) and Tooting (Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway, opened in 1868). The District Railway (now the London Underground District line ) extended its service over new tracks from Putney in 1889. The commercial and civic development of
5561-401: The roof of the coach as to hinder her laying herself sufficiently back, it caught her face, and tore the flesh in a dreadful manner." The inn and its yard, pillory, and what remained of the Royal Mews, made way for Trafalgar Square, and a new Golden Cross Hotel was built in the 1830s on the triangular block fronted by South Africa House . A nod to this is made by some offices on the Strand, in
5644-404: The routes that meet at Charing Cross are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road ; the Strand leading to the City ; Northumberland Avenue leading to the Thames Embankment ; Whitehall leading to Parliament Square ; The Mall leading to Admiralty Arch and Buckingham Palace ; and two short roads leading to Pall Mall . Historically,
5727-456: The site of the cross has been occupied by a statue of Charles I , the king beheaded during the Cromwellian era, mounted on a horse. The site is recognised by modern convention as the centre of London for determining distances (whether geodesically or by road network) in preference to other measurement points (such as St Paul's Cathedral which remains the root of the English and Welsh part of the Great Britain road numbering scheme ). Charing Cross
5810-412: The stables for the Palace of Whitehall and thus the King's own presence at the Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster). The whole area of the broad pavements of what was a three-way main junction with private (stables) turn-off was a popular place of street entertainment. Samuel Pepys records in his diaries visiting the taverns and watching the entertainments and executions that were held there. This
5893-401: The statue's traffic island, though it is also a thoroughfare in postal addresses: Drummonds Bank , on the corner with The Mall, retains the address 49 Charing Cross and 1-4 Charing Cross continues to exist. The name previously applied to the whole stretch of road between Great Scotland Yard and Trafalgar Square, but since 1 January 1931 most of this section of road has been designated part of
5976-414: The time the manor estate included Wimbledon Common (as a heath ) and the enclosed parkland around the manor house. Its area corresponded to the modern Wimbledon Park . The house stood east of St Mary's church . Wimbledon House, a separate residence close to the village at the south end of Parkside (near Peek Crescent), was home in the 1790s to the exiled French statesman Vicomte de Calonne , and later to
6059-399: The town also accelerated. Ely's department store opened in 1876 and shops began to stretch along Broadway towards Merton. Wimbledon built its first police station in 1870. Cultural developments included a Literary Institute by the early 1860s and the opening of Wimbledon Library in 1887. The religious needs of the growing population led to an Anglican church-building programme, starting with
6142-493: The town's subsequent growth away from the original village centre. Wimbledon was a municipal borough in the county of Surrey from 1905 to 1965, when it became part of the London Borough of Merton as part of the creation of Greater London . Wimbledon has established minority groups ; among the prominent ones being British Asians (mainly British Pakistanis and British Sri Lankans ), British Ghanaians , Poles and Irish people . Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least
6225-546: The transit, double stars and star-clusters, paying special attention to the nebula round η Argus , one of the wonders of the Southern sky, which he described in a memoir. Observations of the transit were prevented by cloud. Peek made extensive travels in Australia and New Zealand, bringing back with him many curious objects to add to his father's collection at Rousdon , Devon. In 1884 he established, on his father's estate at Rousdon,
6308-653: Was combined with the south of the mews when Trafalgar Square was built on the site in 1832, the rest of the stable yard becoming the National Gallery primarily. A major London coaching inn, the "Golden Cross" – first mentioned in 1643 – faced this junction. From here, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, coaches linked variously terminuses of: Dover , Brighton , Bath , Bristol, Cambridge , Holyhead and York . The inn features in Sketches by Boz , David Copperfield and The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens . In
6391-673: Was developed on land next to the station, providing a much-needed focus, and opened in 1990. The shopping centre incorporated the old town hall building. A new portico, in keeping with the old work, was designed by Sir George Grenfell-Baines , who had worked on the original designs over fifty years before. Wimbledon lies in the south-west area of London, three miles (4.8 km) south of Wandsworth , two miles (3.2 km) south-west of Tooting , three miles west of Mitcham , four miles (6.4 km) north of Sutton and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Kingston upon Thames , in Greater London . It
6474-685: Was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1890, was honorary secretary of the Anthropological Society of London , and often served on the council or as a vice-president of the Royal Meteorological Society between 1884 and his death. He endowed the Royal Geographical Society , of whose council he was a member, with a medal for the advancement of geographical knowledge. Interested in shooting, he presented
6557-400: Was executed in 1540 and the land was again confiscated. The manor was next held by Henry VIII's last wife and widow Catherine Parr until her death in 1548 when it again reverted to the monarch. In the 1550s, Henry's daughter, Mary I , granted the manor to Cardinal Reginald Pole who held it until his death in 1558 when it once again become royal property. Mary's sister, Elizabeth I held
6640-457: Was initiated into Isaac Newton University Lodge while a student at Cambridge. After leaving Cambridge he went through a course of astronomy and surveying, and put his knowledge to practical use in two journeys, made in 1881, into unfrequented parts of Iceland , where he took regular observations of latitude and longitude and dip of the magnetic needle (cf. his account, Geographical Society Journal , 1882, pages 129-140). On his return he set up
6723-617: Was peripheral to the free-passage urban, London roads. Ten of these are notable: Hyde Park Corner , Whitechapel Church , the southern end of London Bridge , the east end of Westminster Bridge , Shoreditch Church , Tyburn Turnpike (Marble Arch), Holborn Bars , St Giles's Pound , Hicks Hall (as to the Great North Road ), and the Stones' End in The Borough . Some roads into Surrey and Sussex were measured from St Mary-le-Bow church in
6806-470: Was refused and a board of conservators was established in 1871 to take ownership of the common and preserve it in its natural condition. In the second half of the century, Wimbledon experienced a very rapid expansion of its population. From under 2,700 residents recorded in the 1851 census, the population grew by a minimum of 60 per cent each decade up to 1901, to increase fifteen-fold in fifty years. Large numbers of villas and terraced houses were built along
6889-513: Was the epicentre of the Gothic Revival . It was intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of "High Church" or Anglo-Catholic self-belief (and by the Catholic convert Augustus Welby Pugin ) concerned by the growth of religious nonconformism. The cross, having been revived, gave its name to a railway station , a tube station , a police station, a hospital ,
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