Inventory Site Record

Linden Lodge School for the Blind is in the grounds of North House, a private residence designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Robert Wilson Black, its garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. The house later became Linden Lodge School in the late 1940s, taking the name from its sister school on Wandsworth Common, which itself eventually relocated here in 1964 to create the single site school of today. In 2006 the original house was refurbished, the Jekyll garden restored and a new residential building erected. The school gardens now consist of a number of areas, including a Sensory Garden and Woodland Walk, designed to support its work as a specialist regional centre for children with visual impairment. In 2006 Sprunt Architects extensively refurbished the Lutyens house, designed a new residential building for the students in the grounds and restored the original Gertrude Jekyll garden.

Previous / Other name:

North House

Site location:

61 Princes Way, Southfields

Postcode:

SW19 6JB

What 3 Words:

belly.count.inch

Type of site:

Institutional Grounds;, Private Garden

Borough:

Wandsworth

Open to public?

By appointment only

Opening times:

private but has opened for OGSW
Has taken part in Open Garden Squares Weekend 2 times, most recently in 2019.

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Has opened for OGSW (2017)

Public transport:

Tube: Southfields. Bus: 39

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/10/2017

Last minor changes:

14/07/2022

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.lindenlodge.wandsworth.sch.uk

North House and its accompanying lodge were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Robert Wilson Black, an estate agent and local hotelier. The Arts and Crafts style house was completed in 1933/34.

Linden Lodge School was one of two residential schools for blind children established by the London School Board in 1902. It takes its name from Linden Lodge, a house built in 1876 on Wandsworth Common as the private home of retired headmistress, Marjory Peddle. After her death in 1879 the house was purchased by the School for the Indigent Blind. When that institution moved away Linden Lodge was taken over by the London School Board and opened in December 1902 for the education of around 50 visually impaired boys between 13-16 years old, most of whom were boarders. A similar establishment for visually impaired girls had already opened in June 1902 as Elm Court School, West Norwood. Both schools were evacuated during WWII and although the boys were able to return to l,inden Lodge, Elm Court School had suffered bomb damage and a new school for girls was needed. Eventually the girls school moved to North House in Wimbledon, which from 1949 became co-educational although it was still split between the two school sites. The original Linden Lodge site closed in 1964 when a purpose-built school was built in the grounds of North House. In 2006 Sprunt Architects extensively refurbished the Lutyens house, designed a new residential building for the students in the grounds and restored the original Gertrude Jekyll garden next to the house.

The school grounds are designed to support its work as a specialist regional centre for children aged from 2 to 19 with visual impairment, including those who are multi-disabled and visually impaired. The Pat Fox Woodland Walk pays homage to Gertrude Jekyll's designs for the grounds, and a Sensory Garden provides interactive features and sculptural elements, with a sensory pathway that has sound and tactile stations, as well as sculptures featuring mirrors and water. .

Sources consulted:

OGSW booklet 2017; Wikipedia entry for Linden Lodge School: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linden_Lodge_School;

Grid ref:

TQ242731 (524283,173150)

Size in hectares:

Site ownership:

Linden Lodge School

Site management:

Linden Lodge School Board of Governors

Date(s):

1934

Designer(s):

Gertrude Jekyll (1930s garden to original house)

Listed structures:

Local List: North House

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None

Linden Lodge School, restored Jekyll garden, June 2017. Photograph Sally Williams

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