Battersea
Battersea is a large district in southwest
History
Battersea is mentioned in the few surviving
The settlement appears in the
The present church, which was completed in 1777, hosted the marriage of William Blake and Catherine née Boucher in 1782. Benedict Arnold, his wife Peggy Shippen, and their daughter were buried in its crypt.
Battersea Park, a 200-acre (0.81 km2) northern rectangle by the Thames, was landscaped and founded for public use in 1858.[2] Amenities and leisure buildings have been added to it since.
Until 1889, the parish of Battersea was recognised as part of Surrey, after which the newly formed County of London came into being and took over administration of the area.
Agriculture
Before the
Industry
Industry in the area was concentrated to the northwest just outside the Battersea-Wandsworth boundary, at the confluence of the River Thames and the
Along the Thames, a number of large and, in their field, pre-eminent firms grew; notably the
In 1929, construction started on Battersea Power Station, being completed in 1939. From the late 18th century to comparatively recent times,[as of?] Battersea was established as an industrial area with all of the issues associated with pollution and poor housing affecting it.[citation needed]
Industry declined and moved away from the area in the 1970s, and local government sought to address chronic post-war housing problems with large scale clearances and the establishment of planned housing. Some decades after the end of large scale local industry,[when?] resurgent demand among magnates and high income earners for parkside and riverside property close to planned Underground links has led to significant construction, [citation needed] Factories have been demolished and replaced with modern apartment buildings. Some of the council owned properties have been sold off and several traditional working men's pubs have become more fashionable bistros. Battersea neighbourhoods close to the railway have some of the most deprived local authority housing in the Borough of Wandsworth, in an area which saw condemned slums after their erection in the Victoria era.[5]
Railway age
Battersea was radically altered by the coming of railways. The London and Southampton Railway Company engineered their railway line from east to west through Battersea, in 1838, terminating at the original Nine Elms railway station[6] at the north east tip of the area. Over the next 22 years five other lines were built, which continue to carry all of the trains to and from London's Waterloo and Victoria termini. An interchange station was built in 1863 towards the north west of the area, at a junction of the railway. Taking the name of a fashionable village a mile and more away, the station was named 'Clapham Junction':[7] a campaign to rename it "Battersea Junction" fizzled out as late as the early twentieth century.
During the latter decades of the nineteenth century Battersea had developed into a major town railway centre with two locomotive works at Nine Elms and Longhedge and three important motive power depots (Nine Elms, Stewarts Lane and Battersea) all in an initial pocket of north Battersea. The effect was precipitate: a population of 6,000 people in 1840 was increased to 168,000 by 1910; and save for the green spaces of Battersea Park, Clapham Common, Wandsworth Common and some smaller isolated pockets, all other farmland was built over, with, from north to south, industrial buildings and vast railway sheds and sidings (much of which remain), slum housing for workers, especially north of the main east–west railway, and gradually more genteel residential terraced housing further south.
The railway station encouraged the government to site its buildings in the area surrounding
Social housing estates
Battersea has a long and varied history of social housing, and the completion of the Shaftesbury Park Estate in 1877 was one of the earliest in London or the UK. Additionally, the development of the Latchmere Estate in 1903 was notable both for John Burns' involvement and for being the first estate directly built by a council's own workforce and therefore the first true "council estate". Indeed, both of these earlier estates have since been recognised as conservation areas due to their historical and architectural significance and are protected from redevelopment.[8][9]
Battersea also has a large area of mid-20th century public housing estates, almost all located north of the main railway lines and spanning from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east.[10]
There are four particularly large estates. The
Other smaller estates include: York Road (see
Governance
The tradition of local government in England was based in part of
After 1540
The Survey of London identified the period of Frederick's tenure with the development of the Vestry in Battersea; absent a competent lord of the manor, this local secular and ecclesiastical government took it upon itself to establish a workhouse in 1733, and met monthly from 1742.[13]
The period of Spencer ownership of the manor saw important land ownership changes introduced to the area. The family had many estates, such as at Althorp in Northamptonshire and Wiseton in Nottinghamshire. Locally, their interests were concentrated on Wimbledon. During their tenure, large tracts of land were sold, notably around 1761, and from 1835 to 1838, leading to the development of a plurality of smaller estates, which had implications for the later development of the area.[13]
The scope of governance throughout this period was relatively slight. Lords of the manor were responsible for church appointments and maintenance of the fabric of the church; for drainage, and for the direction of the duties of the manor's tenants. From time to time work was done under manorial direction on the Thames foreshore; and a Spencer was responsible for the construction of first local bridge across the Thames, Battersea Bridge from 1771 to 1772. And albeit Battersea saw some slow change over the first seven centuries of the second millennium, it was not until a later period that an imperative for greater local government arose.[13]
The vestry of Battersea continued to increase in importance from 1742, notably concerning itself with Poor Law administration and drainage. Responsibility for the latter was removed from the vestry in 1855 with the establishment of Metropolitan Boards of Work under the Metropolis Management Act 1855; a Metropolitan Board concerned itself with cross-London drainage and sewerage, whilst a local Wandsworth Metropolitan Board assumed responsibility for minor sewers and the connection of houses to sewerage systems. It was during the tenure of the Wandsworth board that much of Battersea was developed; but such was the pace of development in Battersea that by 1887 it had a population sufficient to win the case for renewed local autonomy under the Metropolis Management (Battersea and Westminster) Act of 1887. The Battersea vestry continued through to 1899, when it became the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea as a result of the London Government Act 1899.[13]
The Metropolitan Borough of Battersea was in 1965 combined with the neighbouring Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth to form the London Borough of Wandsworth. The former Battersea Town Hall, opened in 1893, is now the Battersea Arts Centre.
In the period from 1880 onwards, Battersea was known as a centre of radical politics in the United Kingdom. John Burns founded a branch of the Social Democratic Federation, Britain's first organised socialist political party, in the borough and after the turmoil of dock strikes affecting the populace of north Battersea, was elected to represent the borough in the newly formed London County Council. In 1892, he expanded his role, being elected to Parliament for Battersea North as one of the first Independent Labour Party members of Parliament.
Battersea's radical reputation gave rise to the Brown Dog affair, when in 1904 the National Anti-Vivisection Society sought permission to erect a drinking fountain celebrating the life of a dog killed by vivisection. The fountain, forming a plinth for the statue of a brown dog, was installed in the Latchmere Recreation Ground, became a cause célèbre, fought over in riots and battles between medical students and the local populace until its removal in 1910.
The borough elected the first black mayor
Battersea is currently divided into five Wandsworth wards. The Member of Parliament for the Battersea constituency since 8 June 2017 has been Labour MP Marsha de Cordova.
Geography
Battersea is on the curved south bank of the River Thames.[15]
Riverside
Battersea's northern limit is thus the
.Other boundaries
Battersea at one end of its riverside has a western corner at a point 350 metres east northeast of
Neighbouring districts
To the east are
Two large neighbourhoods within the larger Battersea are:
- Clapham Junction (the central and most commercial part of Battersea),[16]
- Nine Elms (to the north-east, east of Battersea Park)
Crime
Some parts of Battersea have become known for drug-dealing. The
Demography
As of 2011[update], Battersea had a population of 73,345.[18] The district was 52.2% of White British origin,[19] as against an average for Wandsworth of 53.3%.
Landmarks
Within the bounds of modern Battersea are (from east to west):
- New Covent Garden Market, a major fruit and vegetable wholesale market, resited from Covent Garden in 1974. (Also considered by many to be in Nine Elms).
- Battersea Power Station, an iconic edifice designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, built between 1929 and 1939 (featured, with flying pig, on the sleeve art of Pink Floyd's album Animals). Since 2021, the power station's disused shell has housed a mass entertainments and commercial complex, with dedicated transport links provided by Battersea Power Station tube station, which terminates an extension of the Northern line from Kennington via Nine Elms tube station.[20]
- Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs[14]
- Battersea Park, a 200-acre green space laid out by Sir James Pennethorne between 1846 and 1864 and opened in 1858, and home to a zoo and the London Peace Pagoda.
- Shaftesbury Park Estate, conservation area consisting of over a thousand Victorian houses preserved in their original style.
- Town Hall
- Northcote Road, a bustling and famous local shopping street with its own market at the centre of the so-called Nappy Valley.
- Clapham Junction railway station, by at least one measure – passenger interchanges[21]— the busiest station in the United Kingdom and named after the neighbouring town of Clapham although it lies in the geographic heart of Battersea, SW11.
- Arding & Hobbs building, completed in 1912, occupied by TK Maxx and Debenhams until the latter's dissolution in June 2021. As of December 2022, the Grade II listed building was undergoing renovation back to its 1920s glory by its owner, the commercial property specialists W.RE, which held extensive consultation with local people in 2020.
- Large 24-hour Asda supermarket, adjacent to Clapham Junction station.
- 92 St John's Hill, Grade II listed building.
- St Mary's Church, Battersea. Benedict Arnold is buried here. Four stained glass windows celebrate Arnold, William Blake, William Curtis and J. M. W. Turner.
- Sir Walter St John's School, now Thomas's day school, was founded in 1700. Parts of the present building date back to 1859.
- Royal Academy of Dance, containing several studios and associated with the University of Surrey.
- The London Heliport, London's busiest heliport, sited on the Thames a half-mile north of Clapham Junction station.
- Price's Candles on York Road, was the largest manufacturers of candles in the UK; now it has been converted into office space from which Hanne & Co Solicitors firm operates.[citation needed]
- Newton Preparatory School, in an Edwardian building (with modern extension) formerly occupied by Clapham College, Notre Dame School and Raywood Street School.
- Winstanley Estate, Battersea.
Transport
National Rail
Battersea is served by three National Rail stations:
Battersea Park
Battersea Park is served by some
Trains northbound terminate at London Victoria, which is the next stop along the line. Southbound, Southern's "metro" services run to Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Common, and Balham. After Balham, trains head towards Croydon, Epsom, London Bridge, and Sutton, amongst other destinations.
The
Clapham Junction
The largest railway station in Battersea is Clapham Junction, to the southwest of the district. The station is a busy interchange, and it serves destinations across London, the South, and South West England. Train operators from Clapham Junction include:
- London Overground, which operates trains northbound towards Stratford, calling at major destinations such as Shepherd's Bush, Willesden Junction, Camden Road, and Hackney Central. London Overground also runs trains eastbound towards Dalston, passing through Clapham, Denmark Hill, Peckham, Canada Water, and Whitechapel along the way.
- Southern, which principally operates northbound services towards London Victoria. Southbound services run to destinations such as Balham, Brighton, Croydon, Epsom, and Gatwick Airport (). Southern also operates a service towards Milton Keynes from East Croydon. North of Clapham Junction, the services calls at Shepherd's Bush, Wembley Central, Watford Junction, and Hemel Hempstead, amongst other destinations.
- South Western Railway, which runs services towards London Waterloo and Vauxhall northbound. Major destinations to the southwest include Wimbledon, Richmond, Kingston upon Thames, Reading, Guildford, Southampton, Bournemouth, and Salisbury.
In terms of the number of train movements, Clapham Junction is Europe's busiest railway station. It opened on 21 May 1838.[25]
Queenstown Road (Battersea)
Queenstown Road (Battersea) is served by some South Western Railway trains. Northbound, most trains call at Vauxhall en route to London Waterloo. Southbound passengers can travel towards Richmond, Twickenham, Hounslow, and Windsor & Eton direct.[26]
London Underground
As part of Northern line extension to Battersea, Battersea is connected to the London Underground network at Battersea Power Station tube station in September 2021.[28]
Bus
Cycling
Cycling infrastructure in Battersea is provided by the London Borough of Wandsworth and Transport for London (TfL).[29]
- Cycle Superhighway 8 passes through Battersea. The route runs unbroken from Wandsworth Town to Millbank, which is near the Palace of Westminster. It is a signposted route, and runs through the district largely along A3205/Battersea Park Road. To the east, however, the route turns northwards (along A3216/Queenstown Road), leaving Battersea over Chelsea Bridge.[30]
- A cycle lane links Battersea to Vauxhall along A3205/Nine Elms Lane.
In popular culture
Battersea features in the books of
Michael Flanders, half of the 1960s comedy duo Flanders and Swann, often made fun of Donald Swann for living in Battersea. Morrissey mentions Battersea in his song "You're the One for Me, Fatty". Babyshambles recorded the song "Bollywood to Battersea" for a 2005 charity album Help!: A Day in the Life. Hooverphonic recorded the song "Battersea" for the 1999 album Blue Wonder Power Milk.
Battersea is the setting for
Battersea Power Station is featured on the cover of the Pink Floyd album Animals.
A number of race courses in the
Prominent people
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2020) |
The following people have lived, or currently live, in Battersea:
- Ben Adams – musician from the group a1
- Adele – singer-songwriter
- James Aldridge – writer and journalist
- Lionel Barber
- Jane Moore – journalist, Loose Women panellist.
- L. S. Bevington – anarchist poet and essayist, was born and grew up in a Quaker family on St Johns Hill
- Ronnie Biggs – criminal who took part in the Great Train Robbery
- Johnny Briggs – actor, best known for playing Mike Baldwin in Coronation Street[31]
- Ada Buisson – author and novelist
- Kathleen Byron – actress
- Emma Chambers – actress, known for her role as 'Alice' in The Vicar of Dibley
- G. K. Chesterton – writer
- Adrian Chiles – television presenter
- Noël Coward – dramatist, actor and cabaret artist[32]
- Brian Cox – physicist, host of science shows for the BBC
- Colin Douglas – stage and television actor
- Nell Dunn – playwright
- Howard Eastman – boxer
- Craig Eastmond – footballer
- Hero Fiennes-Tiffin– model and actor
- Edwin Flavell (Royal Air Force officer)– pilot of the first British aircraft to drop a live atomic bomb
- Kray Twins, born in Sheepcote Lane
- Bob Geldof – singer and songwriter[33]
- Pixie Geldof – socialite and model
- Graham Greene – writer, playwright, critic
- Rich Hall – comedian
- Reginald Hammond – first-class cricketer and Royal Navy officer
- Pamela Hansford Johnson – writer
- Ainsley Harriott – chef
- Harry Hill – comedian
- Ada Florence Kinton – artist and Salvation Army officer
- Derek Laud – political lobbyist and Big Brother contestant
- Simon Le Bon – musician
- Cho Changin Harry Potter films
- Monie Love – mc and radio personality
- Kate Maberly – actress
- Terry Manning – music producer
- Noel McKoy – singer and songwriter
- Buster Merryfield – actor, best known as Uncle Albert in Only Fools and Horses
- Dannii Minogue – musician[34]
- Seán O'Casey – writer
- John O'Farrell – writer[35]
- William Page – historian and general editor of the Victoria County History
- Rick Parfitt – singer with Status Quo
- Polly Paulusma – musician
- Mervyn Peake – author[36]
- Rupert Penry-Jones – actor
- Gordon Ramsay – chef
- Joely Richardson – actress
- J.K. Rowling – author[37]
- Greg Rusedski – tennis player
- John Scott – sociologist and Fellow of the British Academy
- Peter Serafinowicz – comedian
- George Shearing – pianist
- Ed Sheeran – musician
- Timothy Spall – actor[38]
- Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
- Donald Swann – musician (of Flanders and Swann)
- Gabriel Thomson – stars in My Family
- Baroness Trumpington – member of the House of Lords
- Paul Joseph Watson – YouTube personality and radio host
- Arthur Webb (co-operator) – Building Society Movement
- William Wilberforce – prominent campaigner against the slave trade
- Edward Adrian Wilson– English physician, polar explorer, natural historian, painter and ornithologist
See also
References
- ^ Domesday Book for Surrey Archived 30 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Battersea Park – Battersea Park Battersea London SW11 4NJ". Tipped. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
- ^ 'Battersea', The Environs of London: volume 1: County of Surrey (1792), pp. 26–48.
- ^ a b c H.E. Malden, ed. (1912). "Parishes: Battersea with Penge". A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
- ^ Booth's Poverty Map London School of Economics archive. Retrieved 4 November 2014
- ^ "Image of nine elms station, london, 1838-1848. by Science & Society Picture Library". www.scienceandsociety.co.uk.
- ^ "Why is Clapham Junction not in Clapham?". Your Local Guardian. 24 September 2015.
- ^ "Latchmere Estate Conservation Area" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Shaftsebury Park Estate Conservation Area".
- ^ Battersea Profile Archived 29 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine, from Wandsworth Primary Care Trust, citing Census 2001
- ^ Mark Blunden (20 February 2014). "London housing estate where So Solid Crew formed set for demolition". London Evening Standard.
- ^ "Mayor names London's first Housing Zones – Clapham Junction to Battersea Riverside zone". Archived from the original on 25 October 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9780300196160. Archived(PDF) from the original on 26 April 2019.
- ^ ISBN 0-7862-8517-6)
- ^ Map Victoria County History, London, H.E. Malden (Ed), 1911
- ^ Is Clapham Junction in Clapham or Battersea? Your Local Guardian 23 September 2015
- ^ 'Battersea', Special report: Class B for Battersea (2007), pp.1.
- ^ "Battersea – Hidden London".
- ^ Good Stuff IT Services. "Wandsworth". UK Census Data.
- ^ "Northern line extension". tfl.gov.uk.
- ^ Delta Rail, 2008–09 station usage report Archived 4 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Office of the Rail Regulation website
- ^ London's Disused Stations Volume 6 by J.E.Connor
- ^ Chronology of Londons Railways by H.V.Borley
- ISBN 0-7134-1389-1.
- ISBN 0-85361-174-2
- ^ "Network map | South Western Railway". www.southwesternrailway.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- ^ Paton, James (20 September 2021). "London Bets $1.5 Billion Tube Extension Will Spur Jobs, Business". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
- ^ "Buses from Battersea Park" (PDF). Transport for London (TfL). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "Cycle". Transport for London. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "Coronation Street star Johnny Briggs dies aged 85". BBC News. 28 February 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
- ^ "Noël Coward, Dramatist, actor and cabaret artist - Twickenham Museum". www.twickenham-museum.org.uk.
- ^ Gordon, Bryony (3 May 2011). "Bob Geldof: 'My children think I'm a tiresome loser'". Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "Dannii Minogue keeping baby Ethan in Melbourne". Express.co.uk. 5 September 2011.
- ^ ""Rebels don't make jokes about how excellent it is to have bishops in the House of Lords": An interview with John O'Farrell". The Croydon Citizen.
- ^ "Literary Review – Fergus Fleming on Mervyn Peake". literaryreview.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013.
- ^ Name of Asda store rekindles the 'Clapham or Battersea' row – London Evening Standard. Standard.co.uk (29 October 2010). Retrieved on 24 August 2013.
- ^ Gritten, David (18 October 2014). "Timothy Spall: 'Turner had a god-given genius'". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
Further reading
- Patrick Loobey, Battersea Past. Historical Publications Ltd., 2002. ISBN 0-948667-76-1.
- Peter Mason, The Brown Dog Affair. Two Sevens Publishing, 1997. ISBN 0-9529854-0-3.
- Martin Knight, Battersea Girl. Mainstream Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1-84596-150-1.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 531. .
- Wandsworth Council
- Battersea.co.uk - Battersea Information