Putney

Thomas Cromwell was born here, probably in 1485. A blacksmith's son, he grew up in the then-village before working at Lambeth Palace, where (in the books, at least) his uncle John was a cook:

"Where he grew up, in the streets near the quays, Putney Heath was at his back, a place to go missing. He spent long days there, running with his brethren, boys as rough as himself: all of them in flight from their fathers, from their belts and fists, and from the education they were threatened with if they ever stood still. But London pulled him to her urban gut."

Cromwell then travels to Europe to learn his trade, and spends most of his time trying to ignore Putney's influence. But he admits to himself in Wolf Hall: "It's worth anything, to be reacquainted with the Putney imagination".

Mantel unveiled a blue plaque at 3 Brewhouse Lane last October to commemorate him as Putney's most historic export.