In 1978, Colin and Judith bought a new site in Surrey, complete with a yard comprising over 30 boxes and some land, and gave up the lease on Hilcote.
It is ironic that, having declared for years that she wouldn’t sell the yard, Jean Kirkpatrick put the stables on the market in December 1979.
Soon five rival groups were bidding for Hilcote, including Merton Council, which was planning to build a multi storey car park there.
But the local authority lost out to a group headed by Walter Stevenson and Peter Strong, which carried out “a massive renovation” to replace the rotting wooden stalls and hay barns with prefabricated stalls, four new loose boxes, an office and a staff room.
WVS continues to be what is believed to be the oldest recorded riding stables in England. Richard Milward, a renowned 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 the estate’s accounts of 1236-37.
Wimbledon Village’s history precedes that and is referred to as Wimbedounyng in a charter signed by King Edgar the Peaceful in 967 and is shown on J Cary’s 1786 map of the London area as Wimbledon.
Today, the Village provides a good selection of bistros, restaurants, coffee shops and pubs and, during the fortnight of the Wimbledon tennis championships, the streets are crowded with visitors enjoying the facilities and the vibrant atmosphere.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club, where the iconic tennis tournament with which Wimbledon is most associated, is just a stone’s throw from the Village. During Wimbledon fortnight, traders in the Village celebrate the event by dressing their windows with a tennis theme.
But the Village’s prosperity and atmosphere is not just built on a once-a-year event. On the High Street and in Church Road, upmarket stores including LK Bennett, Max Mara, Cath Kidston, Joseph, Whistles and Reiss sit alongside independent specialists, such as Gardenia of London florists Wimbledon Books, Smiths Cycles and Mint Sauce as well as art galleries specialising in traditional and contemporary paintings.
Cannizarro House, part of the Hotel du Vin chain of luxury hotels, is a country house hotel standing in the 34 acres of Cannizaro Park and overlooking Wimbledon Common that provides four star accommodation and dining for those visiting Wimbledon for business or pleasure. In the Village High Street, the Rose & Crown and the Dog & Fox both offer accommodation in less formal gastro pub surroundings.
Restaurants and pubs around the Village and Common include The Lighthouse and The Fox & Grapes while The Crooked Billet and the Hand In Hand are both popular spots for locals to gather for leisurely drinks by the Common.
It is the Village’s location adjoining 1140 acres of open land with heath, woodland, streams and ponds that make up Wimbledon and Putney Commons which genuinely makes it the place where town and country meet.
The Commons are the largest expanse of heathland in the London area and are kept in as natural a state as possible. Although there are many footpaths, cycle paths and horse rides, there are also ponds, bogs, ditches and brambles.
In fact, the wettest areas such as Farm Bog contain bog mosses with other plants rare in London, such as bogbean, bulbous rush, oval sedge, star sedge, water horsetail, alder buckthorn, marsh pennywort and lesser skullcap. Others are lesser spearwort, yellow iris, reedmace, common reed, marsh thistle and gypsywort.
No visit to Wimbledon Common is complete without calling in at Wimbledon Windmill, which was built in 1817 to serve the local community. However, it only operated until 1864 when the machinery was removed and it was converted to residential accommodation. The sails are currently being restored to working order and the building houses a windmill museum, with exhibits on rural life and local history, plus a tearoom.
Houses bordering this semi-wooded expanse and luxury apartments with views across the Common command the highest prices in the area.
Wimbledon Village’s housing mix also includes Georgian and Victorian villas, artisan cottages, interwar semis, period terraces, 1960s town houses and retro-style flats. New developments tend to comprise small schemes or bespoke houses and apartment blocks, although the redevelopment of the former Atkinson Morley Hospital’s 25-acre site has seen 94 homes added to Wimbledon’s housing stock.
The Village is just a 15-minute walk from Wimbledon town centre, where excellent transport links – including direct access to the Tube network’s District Line, overground train services to Waterloo (20 minutes) and Blackfriars (30 minutes) plus the tramlink – can all be found.
Schools in Wimbledon have an enviable reputation. There are five primary schools rated Outstanding by Ofsted – West Wimbledon, Dundonald, Bishop Gilpin, Singlegate and St Marys, while other sought-after choices are Holy Trinity and Wimbledon Chase primary school.
For secondary education, the girls-only Ursuline High is rated Outstanding by Ofsted, while Willington, Ricards Lodge High School, which is also a girls’ school, and Wimbledon College – a boys’ Catholic School – are also well regarded.
For private education, many parents look to Wimbledon Girls High School in the town and King’s College School on the south side of Wimbledon Common.
