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. 
