Prior to construction of the reservoir it was meadowland by the riverside, known as Westmead or Lotmead, as it was divided into 'lots' of land. It formed a parish exclave of Putney, surrounded by the parish of Barnes. It was also known as Putney detached.[4] The land was purchased by the West Middlesex Waterworks Company and the reservoir was built in 1838. Putney became part of the County of London in 1889 which caused the detached part to become a county exclave surrounded by Surrey. The London Government Act 1899 made provision for this and Putney detached was transferred to the parish of Barnes on 1 April 1901.[5]
The reservoir was decommissioned in 1960.[6] Developers proposed to build housing and a shopping centre on the site, but this was strongly opposed by local residents. They suggested that it should become a nature reserve instead, and their proposal was accepted.[7]Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council purchased the area from Thames Water in 1970 and in 1990 it was designated a local nature reserve.[6]
^ ab"Leg o'Mutton". Greenspace Information for Greater London. 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
^Taylor, Pamela (2010). "Domesday Mortlake". In Lewis, C. P. (ed.). Anglo-Norman Studies XXXII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2009. ISBN9781843835639.
^Michael, William; Will, John; Scholefield, Joshua (1911). Michael & Will on the Law Relating to Gas and Water. Butterworth & Company. In 1901 part of Putney, without houses or population, was added to Barnes civil parish under London Government Act 1899
^Holloway, Sally (March–April 2006). "Saving the Leg o' Mutton". Barnes in Common. Churches Together in Barnes. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
