Wimbledon, London Spencers attempted to get parliamentary permission to enclose the common as a new park with a house and gardens and to sell part for building. Following an enquiry, permission was refused and a board of conservators was established in 1871 to take ownership of the common and preserve it in its natural condition. Transport links improved further with railway lines to Croydon (Wimbledon and Croydon Railway, opened in 1855) and Tooting (Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway, opened in 1868). The District Railway (now the London Underground District line) extended its service over new tracks from Putney in 1889. In the
Upminster Hall owned by the Branfil family from 1685 until it was bought by Major Godfrey Pike in 1921. It became the clubhouse of Upminster Golf Club in 1927 It has been listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England since January 1955. Upminster Hall Upminster Hall is a historic house in Upminster, London, England. It is now the clubhouse of the Upminster Golf Club. King Harold II gave the manor of Upminster Hall to the abbotts of Waltham Abbey in around the year 1050. The present house, which dates from circa 1500, remained in the ownership of the abbey