Lesbian Feminist Commune
Putney Bridge Road was home to a lesbian feminist commune in the early 1970s, forming part of a wider network of women’s liberation households across south London. Around seven women lived here at different times, sharing rent, childcare, political organising and domestic labour, creating a home that was also a site of activism and mutual support.
The residents formed an international mix, including women from the UK, Canada, South Africa and Switzerland. One of those who lived here was Lindsay River, later a well-known lesbian feminist activist and campaigner for older LGBTQ+ people. She recalled the kitchen as a central social and political space, where housemates gathered to talk, organise and read aloud from feminist texts such as Monique Wittig’s Les Guérillères.
For many who passed through, the house offered a place to come out, live differently and experiment with new forms of intimacy and solidarity at a moment when few public spaces were welcoming to openly lesbian lives. Communes like this allowed women to imagine alternatives to conventional family structures, rooted in shared responsibility, care and political commitment.
Although the commune left little physical trace, its story reflects how queer history is often made in ordinary domestic spaces rather than visible venues — in shared kitchens and living rooms, where friendships, politics and everyday survival were closely intertwined.
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