There's an intriguing little plaque on the wall overlooking a disused garage in Raynes Park, that has been teasing me for the last few weeks. Every time I came round the corner of
Worple Road I could see it high up on the wall on the one-way part of the road. Too far away to read and (thanks to a very solid plywood fence) too difficult to photograph without a telephoto lens. As luck would have it though, one day last week I had a step-ladder in the back of the car so stopped, shimmied up like some desperate paparazzi and took the photo below.
Well lets be honest, even on top of a ladder at full zoom it's pretty poor, but undaunted I managed to manoeuvre myself into a slightly 'closer' position by scaling the barricades. This produced a much clearer image that I was able to trim to size and finally satisfy my curiosity.
The whole of this flank wall is the property of W. L. Peters 1909
Is it a bit of a let down? I'm not sure really. I suppose that such a marker was always the most likely reason but it does seem a bit on the boring side. That said it could be that Mr Peters is well known to local historians as a major player in the early years of Raynes Park or it might be that he just owned the shop next door but either way it's good to know that his plaque and message has been left alone and even the pebble-dashers didn't obscure it.
Not quite the same story for the second boundary marker I spotted that afternoon which is not only older and more weathered but also seems to have been relocated at some time in its history. This one was on
Kingston Road and again was up fairly high - not the best place for an inscription
Not only that but it was quite obvious that the stone was not made for the space available as it stuck out of the end . Having a closer look also shows some new pointing, as well as revealing the fact that this was a Wimbledon/Merton parish boundary marker from what looks like 1866
Sadly most of the inscription is illegible and I presume the original building has long since gone. I've no doubt that it it also used to be situated at a much lower level but at least it's still there doing its job and providing me with a mild diversion at the same time...!
Well lets be honest, even on top of a ladder at full zoom it's pretty poor, but undaunted I managed to manoeuvre myself into a slightly 'closer' position by scaling the barricades. This produced a much clearer image that I was able to trim to size and finally satisfy my curiosity.
Not only that but it was quite obvious that the stone was not made for the space available as it stuck out of the end . Having a closer look also shows some new pointing, as well as revealing the fact that this was a Wimbledon/Merton parish boundary marker from what looks like 1866
Sadly most of the inscription is illegible and I presume the original building has long since gone. I've no doubt that it it also used to be situated at a much lower level but at least it's still there doing its job and providing me with a mild diversion at the same time...!
4 comments:
I love that first inscription: it's the way the grumpiness comes through! Some kind of neighbour dispute, perhaps.
Great spotting. I'm gonna check out the Kingston Road boundary stone myself and get a snap. Cheers Faded
Hi Caroline - Grumpiness is a good description and a sort of "Get 'orf my land!" attitude. Seems to have worked though. As for spotting the boundary stone I'm slightly ashamed to admit to the number of times I've been down that road and never noticed it!
That boundary stone is on my flat! Well mine is the ground floor flat. There is another boundary stone on the back of the property, which is less weathered, probably because of its sheltered position opposite the railway wall. I will see if I took a photo when I lived there - I rent it out now so will repost when it's next vacant. The stone at the back clearly states 1866, and I think it has the name of someone - Richard? It has something similar stated about the parish boundary. The level of the stone is similar to that at the front, and it's in the middle of the brickwork this time. I think it's more of a grey colour. I'd be interested to know what the property used to be - I think it must have been a shop, but sadly any other features have been long stripped out, and you can see for yourself the delightful pebble dashing.
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