'Lost Nursery of Blooming Tooting' historic plaque

Aim

Raising awareness of the historical significance of Rollisson's 'Lost Nursery of Blooming Tooting' by putting up a blue plaque!

I'm Geoff of the Summerstown182 Community History project, based in south west London. We do Walks, Talks, Tours and like to put up plaques in our area to celebrate its outstanding history. Our extraordinary horticultural heritage was recognised four years ago when we put up a blue plaque commemorating 'The Daffodil King' and his contribution to the revival of one of this country's favourite flowers. 

Of equal importance was William Rollisson's Tooting Nursery. So little is known about this that we have called out project 'The Lost Nursery of Blooming Tooting'. It is truly time now to make this history more widely known. We will do this by placing a heritage plaque on a key location later this year and would very much like your support to help make this happen!

There is so much to love about our horticultural heritage on this stretch of the Wandle Valley! Enter a world of monks, missionaries and michaelmas daisies as we go in search of traces of 'The Lost Nursery of Blooming Tooting' on our brilliant guided walks! We take in much-loved Fishponds Field, Streatham Cemetery, Springfield and Aboyne estate. For almost a century this was the site of the acclaimed 'Tooting Nursery' established by the Rollisson family, whose telegraph cucumbers, Cape heaths and exotic orchids were renowned all over Europe. 

Many of the country's finest green-fingered growers and collectors mastered their art in these rich alluvial soils. In the middle decades of the nineteenth century, a green conveyor belt of its finest specimens went straight to Kew and the collection of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Some can still be seen, preserved for a century and a half in dusty catalogues in their Herbarium archive! As the population of the area exploded at the end of the nineteenth century, commuter homes were built on the site and now there is no trace or indication that the Tooting Nursery ever existed. 

Local people have been gripped by 'The Daffodil King' story and learning about what was there before these houses were built. Schools have become involved in gardening initiatives. A new generation of growers and planters will be further inspired by learning about the Tooting Nursery which is why we would like to identify it with a blue plaque!I've just written a blog post about it so if you want to find out more, please take a look!

Geoff Simmons runs Summerstown182 alongside his job as a graphic designer. This involves Guided Walks and Talks, working with schools and putting up plaques. Over the last ten years a trail of these have emerged along the Wandle Valley, shining a light on some of the lesser-known history in this area. They range from the youngest soldier to serve this country in the First World War to a ground-breaking plaque acknowledging Romany Gypsy and Traveller heritage in Wandsworth.

 'Planet Tooting' is an ongoing initiative championing the outstanding migrant contribution to our neighbourhood which resulted in a blue plaque on Tooting Market. Have a look on Geoff's blog for more details or follow @summerstown182 on twitter.

This project successfully funded on 15th May 2023