Totterdown Estate - Green Plaque site

About Totterdown Estate - Green Plaque site

Built by the London County Council during the late 1900s, the LCC architects were influenced by the Garden City and Arts & Crafts movements and favoured the idea of cottage estates.

The plans were for 1,244 cottages in four different classes ranging from First Class, with five rooms, to Fourth Class, which consisted of a separate ground floor and first floor flat, each with three rooms.

On completion 1,261 cottages were built, the additional units created by reducing the number of higher class cottages.

A Royal visit in 1903

The buildings are two storey cottages with a variety of special features which give groups of cottages a distinctive identity which contributes to the estate's character. 

The chief architect, W.E.Riley, sought to make the estate as attractive as possible by insisting that mature trees on the site should be kept wherever possible, by varying the designs of cottages, by providing wide roads, and by giving each cottage a front as well as a back garden.

Street trees are a significant feature and front gardens have hedges. 

Location: 16 Ruislip Street, SW17.

Unveiled: 10 December 2010.

Contact

Send details of a suggestion for a Green Plaque to the panel.

Email: wandsworth.libraries@gll.org