Centred around the main street of Lower Richmond Road, this well-to-do Putney neighbourhood is situated right on the bank of the Thames in the southwestern borough of Wandsworth. Pretty and peaceful, Putney is characterised by a relaxed atmosphere and is filled with riverside pubs, good restaurants, and a variety of entertainment options. For example, the Putney Art Market, which is held on the embankment on the first Sunday of every month, offers everything from oil paintings to jewellery from both emerging and established designers and artisans. There is also a wealth of outdoor entertainment options with Wandsworth Park, WWT London Wetland Centre, and Putney Heath all nearby. Housing in the neighbourhood is varied with a little bit of everything, from Victorian cottages to big Edwardian mansions and from period conversion flats to purpose-built mansion flats. Affluent residents are drawn to this area because of its combination of urban amenities and rural lifestyle, plenty of well-rated state and private schools, a wide choice of commuter routes into central London, as well as plenty to do on the weekends.

The Church of St. Mary, which is located in this neighbourhood, played an important role in England’s history. During the English Civil War, between the Royalists of Charles I and the Parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell, a series of meetings about a new constitution for England, known as the Putney Debates, took place at the church in 1647. The meetings were organised by members of Cromwell’s New Model Army, which had set up its headquarters in Putney, and included a number of members of the Levellers, a political movement advocating popular sovereignty, extended suffrage and religious tolerance. A manifesto was proposed entitled An Agreement of the People, and included ideas such as sovereignty for English citizens, Parliamentary seats distributed according to population rather than property ownership, religion freedom, equality before the law, conscription abolished, and parliamentary elections held every year. While the ideas proved greatly influential, including inspiring much of the language of the United States Declaration of Independence, Oliver Cromwell would later have some of the leaders of these meetings executed.

The Half Moon is one of the city’s longest running live music venues. Open since the 1960s, it entertains guests with live mysic every night. Very famous bands have played here over the years, including The Rolling Stones and The Who.

In 1795, early women’s advocate and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft threw herself off Putney Bridge after finding out her partner was having an affair. Luckily passing boatmen pulled her out of the river and were able to resuscitate her. She went on to marry philosopher William Godwin and had a daughter, Mary Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein in 1818.

One of the downsides of this neighbourhood is that it is only serviced by the District line or the South Western Railway, which both have frequent service problems and delays. Depending on where one needs to get to in London, this could be a bit problematic.

The local council has designated a number of existing office blocks around East Putney station as an area for redevelopment and refurbishment. The borough wish to offer new modern office space, new housing, some of which will be affordable, new retail/restaurant space, and an improved public realm. An example of such redevelopment is Thackeray Developments’ ‘The Assembly Rooms’ project, which was completed in 2020, a new office development of 24,500 sq ft in a refurbished Victorian building that was once a cinema. Also in nearby Wandsworth, there are plans to repurpose a now closed Homebase and redevelop the site to a complex of three buildings ranging from 7 to 15 storeys with basement to provide 343 residential units, 597 sq.m. of retail units, 1647 sq.m. of studio space and offices, as well as community uses. The development would also feature playspace, landscaping and public realm improvements (including contribution toward the new entrance to Wandsworth Town Station).