Fulham House
Fulham House, Fulham High Street 2021
In stark contrast to Putney High Street, a hive of bustling activity, Fulham High Street feels more like a back road which has been taken over by numerous bus routes. Yet, at number 87 is one of Fulham’s oldest houses with a rich history.
Its foundations and the cellar likely date from the 14th century during the reign of Edward III when it was known as Passors, after the family which lived in it, (a passor was a ferryman). Its three-acre field would have reached the river before this was embanked.
Sir Thomas Whyte
In the Tudor period the house belonged to two London Lord Mayors of London. In 1536 to Ralph Warren, a wool merchant by trade, knighted in 1528 by King Henry VIII. It is likely the Pearl Sword (one of the five swords displayed at the Lord Mayor Show), might have been donated by him to the City of London.
The next Lord Mayor to own the house was Sir Thomas Whyte. Whyte was knighted by Queen Mary I, after supporting her during the attempt made by the Duke of Northumberland to install Lady Jane Grey on the throne in 1553. Whyte sat on the commission for her subsequent trial and as Lord Mayor issued orders to aldermen to demand that London dwellers adhere to the catholic faith. As a benefactor, he was the founder of St John’s College Oxford, the alma mater of one Tony Blair.
Sir Henry Williams (renamed himself Cromwell, like his famous Tudor uncle)
In the 16th century another knight owned the house, Sir Henry Williams (later Cromwell), nephew of Henry VIII’s former Lord Chancellor Thomas Cromwell, and grandfather of the future Lord Protector during the 1650s: Oliver Cromwell. It is believed young Oliver would have spent time in the house visiting his grandparents and surely must have visited again when his New Model Army was stationed in Putney and Fulham at the time the Putney Debates took place in St Mary’s Church in 1647.
In the early 1800s it was a favourite venue for a number of Dame Schools, the Fulham House School for Girls run by miss Fleming and then another school under the Loves, a trio of famously beautiful women known as the ‘three graces of Fulham’.
Following the civic route it was acquired by the War Office in 1904 and made a Territorial Army headquarters. During the Great War it was home to the 25th Cyclist Battalion which fought in Afghanistan in 1919. A memorial to the battalion can be found in All Saints Church. During WW2, when used as an air raid shelter, people claimed seeing Miss Fleming’s ghost, (rumours about the cellar being haunted by her had circulated since her death).
Fulham House has been used subsequently by a variety of military units to date. In the early 90s the Ministry of Defence considered demolishing it, but pressured by campaigning local residents they refurbished it instead. Besides being an Army Reserve Centre it is also the venue of the 239 Cadet Detachment, which is part of the Army Cadet Force. The Force trains about 41,000 cadets, most of them between the ages of 12-18.
Fulham House is a rather sturdy fortress-like building, but retains its Georgian character despite the many alterations. Now it is Grade II listed and a charming historical treasure among the banal architecture surrounding it. Like many other redeveloped historical buildings it is possible to hire its premises for corporate events and conferences.
25th Cyclist Battalion
