The road that now bears this name and constitutes that part of the South Circular which bisects Dulwich from east to west, marks the northern boundary of the old Common land on which local tenants of the manor were permitted to graze their livestock, and forage for firewood and branches for fencing and building. In 1606 the Common (including the woods) extended over 300 acres. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1805 to enclose the Common, as a result of which the two remaining copyholders were allocated between them one-sixteenth of the Common (or paid off instead), and the College took the residue. It proceeded to enclose the Common that same year.
