Crooked Billet

Crooked Billet is a small corner of Wimbledon Common with a green, housing mainly in the form of houses, and two public houses. Contrasting with adjoining developed environs, it has maintained its core "identity as a semi-rural enclave". Formerly, it encompassed grazing land, cottages and farm buildings; surviving parts hark back to at least the 17th century. Currently, the public houses host various events, and the Wimbledon Morrismen perform there. A 1617 survey calls it "Shepherd's Hatch Gate" which refers to gates for grazing livestock. It is a small, rather obscure area on the southern edge of Wimbledon Common. One theory is that it is named after the Crooked Billet pub or ready to be…