COMMONS & OPEN SPACES 211 



life of the vast city magnetised me, and I felt it under 

 the calm oaks." 



The most remote of London open spaces in this 

 direction is Streatham, to the south-east of Tooting, 

 close to Norwood, and on the very extremity of the 

 County of London. Much smaller than the other 

 commons, it possesses attractions of its own. It is 

 less spoilt by modern buildings than any of these once 

 country villages, but ominous boards foretell the rapid 

 advance of the red-brick villa. The houses which 

 now overlook the upper part are substantial, in the 

 solid, simple style of the eighteenth century. In those 

 days Streatham possessed a mineral spring, and for a 

 few years people flocked to drink at it. But long 

 before the end of the eighteenth century other more 

 fashionable watering-places had supplanted it, and in 

 1792 Streatham is described as "once frequented for 

 its medicinal waters." The spring was in the grounds 

 afterwards belonging to a house called the Rookery, 

 and near the house called Wellfield, on the southern 

 side of the Common. The waters were said to be so 

 strong that three glasses of Streatham were equivalent 

 to nine of Epsom. Although so near London, the 

 journey to the springs presented some dangers, as this 

 was one of the most noted localities for footpads and 

 highwaymen. The woods of Norwood, which came 

 close to the Common, afforded covert and an easy means 

 of escape. This road from London, which went on 

 to Croydon and Brighton, had such a bad reputation 

 that the risk of an adventure must have counterbalanced 

 some of the health-giving properties to any nervous 

 invalid ! The lower part of the Common, near the 

 road, is flat and open, and not particularly inviting. 



