PROJECT ONE Alton Estate 2020-21
This page shows the documentation of my practice in the Alton Estate in Roehampton, South West London. The estate was built in the 1960s on the edge of Richmond Park. A regeneration has been proposed by Wandsworth Council since the early 2000s and the area has become very contested due to opposition from residents towards development plans that would change the nature of the estate.
Through my practice with residents I look at how narratives of home have been manifested through the ‘bricks and mortar’ of the estate and the way in which the identity of residents is attached to their own homes.
PHOTO SET ONE
PHOTO SET TWO
PHOTO SET THREE
HERE IS HOME MAP
This map shows the route of the virtual walk taken with 'D', a resident of the Alton Estate. As the walk unfolded I made notes about places that were mentioned in conversation, and 'D' later sent photos to illustrate the walk.
VIRTUAL WALK
1. A new multi-activity games area which has appeared since the lockdowns.
2. The old Alton youth club nestled among the trees like a Swiss chalet; it’s been empty for 15 years but hasn’t been knocked down.
3. The house on Bessborough Road looks a bit like a ship; D had heard a story that it was built by a former captain and that there was a view from there to Portsmouth.
4. Ringwood Gardens, one of many name connections to Hampshire.
5. Pocklington Court has now been demolished to make way for private housing but was located just behind this block. It was a community for blind /visually impaired people. Pocklington Court was the same height as the surrounding blocks so from the estate you could see into Richmond Park - the new blocks are twice the height so residents have had the view removed.
6. Redwoods was a commune in the 1960s.
7. Alton Lodge, a 19th century villa. The architects of the Alton Estate apparently took the lead from the name of the lodge to name the rest of the estate. Internet searches revealed Dr Thomas Hake of Alton Lodge was a cousin of General Gordon of Khartoum and a friend of Dante Gabriel Rosetti. The poet and painter stayed at Alton Lodge in 1872 while recovering from a mental collapse.
8. Ibsley Gardens, D's student accommodation when they first moved to the Alton Estate 20 years ago.
9. The cut through by the Manresa Clubroom, where many community activities happen.
10. Gerald Manley Hopkins blue plaque - he studied as a novice at Manresa House.
11. Harbridge Avenue, treelined behind the empty shops of Danebury Avenue.
12. The Alton Activity Centre, another site for community activity.
13. 'The Bull' by Robert Clatworthy, sits on the edge of Bull Green.
14. Downshire Fields, where dogs and barbecues are not allowed. D was fined £500 when their leashed dog strayed on to the grass.
15. 'The Watchers' by Lynn Chadwick, sit behind a university building, with a fence between them and the estate.
16. Deep in the green here on Minstead Gardens is a mausoleum, un-signposted and fenced off.
‘Yeah, and I think like, a swathe of my relationship with the estate was where the only purpose has been to get to work and come back. In the last year I've learned a lot more about it. I mean, in some ways, I think I was quite scared, scared of this side of the state. Because there's definitely stereotypes and myths and misconceptions that perpetuate about a space. And this, this looks very different, it has a very different feel. It's much more built up. There's more traffic, there's more, you know, this much more happening. So even if I was walking up to the university, I was kind of cutting out this section of the estate and going up Roehampton Lane, past the posh houses and quite scared to previously to come onto the estate, because it did feel a bit unknown. But I've really, really got to know it and last year, and feel quite happy now to walk freely around on it.’
D, project participant, 2021