Facts about Putney
Putney History
Putney is an ancient parish which covered 9.11 square kilometers and was until 1889 in the Hundred of Brixton in the county of Surrey. Its area has been reduced by the loss of Roehampton to the south-west, an offshoot hamlet that conserved more of its own clustered historic core.
In 1855 the parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works and was grouped into the Wandsworth District. In 1889 the area was removed from Surrey and became part of the County of London. The Wandsworth District became the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth in 1900. Since 1965 Putney has formed part of the London Borough of Wandsworth in Greater London.
General Info
Putney is a district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is centered 4.9 miles southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centers in Greater London. Since the second half of the 19th century, Putney has been one of the most significant centers for rowing in the United Kingdom. There were two historic reasons for this.
First, increasing numbers of steam-powered boats made leisure rowing on the Thames in central London unpleasant if not impossible. There was much less commercial traffic on the river at Putney ensuring more suitable water for rowing. The river was also cleaner at Putney.
