London’s Alleys: Dairy Walk, SW19

There’s a remarkable alley in Wimbledon that many people passing by will notice one distinctive feature, but you can only see the other by walking along it.

This is Dairy Walk, with a locally famous turnstile.

Although described as an ancient right of way, Dairy Walk doesn’t seem to exist on any maps until around the middle of the 19th century as a path around still developing Wimbledon

The alley passed through farmland until fairly recently, and while there were some large houses on the south side, the northern side was undeveloped right up to the late 1960s. Looking at OS map archives, it looks likely that the rows of houses that now fill the land to the north of the alley were built between 1969 and 1972. That was also likely when the alley was cut back, as part of the northern end was reused for a road, Marryat Place.

There’s a photo of Dairy Walk when it was still a path through undeveloped fields here (click on the view larger image link under the photo).

The alleyway continues on the other side of the road down an unnamed footpath that follows the original alignment. However, as the second half is no longer named and was also utterly overgrown during my visit, that’s where I stopped.

But back to the alley you can walk down, and you’re in for a delightful surprise.

That’s because this alley is also a “Garden of Delights” having been properly maintained by local resident, Barbara Dowling, and there’s a riot of impressive plants all the way down the alley.

I am no expert on plants (more of an expert in killing them), but even the most ignorant of plantopile can’t help but notice that the alley is lined with an array of plants that are not commonplace outside a well-maintained garden and certainly not the nettles and brambles you’d usually expect to find.

The planting also responds to the local area, with more sun-loving flowers and the like at the top of the alley, but as it descends into tree-covered shade, the flowers fade to ferns and evergreen shade lovers. There are also some decorative flourishes, such as wall plaques and even a small religious shrine to someone named Sophie.

The alley is also on a fairly steep slope, so there are a few gaps where you can get decent views of Battersea and Southwark.

It’s a delightful alley to wander down.

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Now, we get to the mystery — when did the turnstile appear?

Although a locally listed asset, it’s not a Historic England listed site.

It’s also odd that old maps do not show a post or turnstile at the alley’s entrance. However, as the famous saying goes, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Fortunately, after much hunting, I found one reference to a photo of the turnstile taken in 1914 and displayed at the Wimbledon Arts and Crafts Exhibition.

So we can say it’s probably at least 110 years old, but quite how old has proven irritatingly difficult to verify for certain. At least the alley looks very pretty to make up for it.