London Borough of Wandsworth

History

Until 1889, the current area of Wandsworth was part of the county of Surrey. In 1855 the Wandsworth District of the Metropolis was formed comprising the parishes of Battersea (excluding Penge), Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting Graveney and Wandsworth. Battersea was removed from the district in 1888. In 1900 the remaining district became the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth and Battersea became the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea. The London Borough of Wandsworth was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but excluding Clapham and most of Streatham which were transferred to the London Borough of Lambeth.

Geography

The borough borders the London Borough of Lambeth to the east, the London Borough of Merton and the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames to the south, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames to the west and to the north (across the River Thames) three boroughs, namely the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Wandsworth has a population of 306,995. In 2001 78% of the population was White, 9.6% Black and 6.9% South Asian.

Landmarks

Clapham Junction railway station is in Battersea, rather than Clapham in the borough. There are many new or refurbished buildings along the borough's prosperous riverside including the large Chelsea Bridge Wharf. The Peace Pagoda, one of many such international Pagodas is in Battersea Park, a sprawling rectangle often hosting circuses beside the Thames. The London Heliport, London's main and busiest heliport is just beyond Battersea Park and south of this is New Covent Garden Market. In terms of size South Thames College, Southside Shopping Centre, Wandsworth and The Exchange Shopping Centre, Putney are among the largest secular structures.

Secular architecturally most highly listed buildings include the Battersea Arts Centre (formerly town hall), Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, Wandsworth Town Hall, and particularly the interiors of the large Gala Bingo Club, Tooting, the former Granada Theatre, St John's Hill, Clapham Junction by Theodore Komisarjevsky and in terms of ornate mansions a cluster of five large stone and brick buildings mostly converted to diverse public uses in and around Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton at grade II* or above. In Old Battersea two fine masonry mansions survived The Blitz, Old Battersea House and Downshire House — both hold rare Grade II* status.

Mayor

The first Mayor of Wandsworth was John Lidiard, elected by the first Wandsworth Borough Council in November 1900. Lidiard's initials are highlighted in the diamonds in the centre of the Mayor's chain of office. The second Mayor was Sir William Lancaster.

The current Mayor is Cllr Richard Field.

Armorial bearings

The Armorial bearings retain many of the features of the arms of the former Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth.

The fess, or crossing, of the shield is chequered blue and gold representing the arms of William de Warren, created first Earl of Surrey by William Rufus. Each gold square bears a teardrop representing the tears of the French Huguenots, many of whom settled in Wandsworth from 1685.

The ship at the top may refer to the Wendels, a tribe of sea-raiders from the Continent who supposedly gave their name to the district, for Wendelsworth was an early variation of Wandsworth. The four shields and oars on the ship represent the four parishes of Battersea, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth.

The dove to the left is taken from the former Battersea coat of arms and the black dragon to the right was taken from the former Wandsworth arms and also refers to London, being similar to the City of London coat of arms.

Wandsworth London Borough Council

Wandsworth is administered by 60 councillors, 3 apiece from 20 wards. Since the 2014 election, 41 of these councillors are Conservative and 19 are Labour. The Conservatives have had an overall majority on the council since 1978 and provide all nine members of the Cabinet, the Leader of which is Cllr Ravi Govindia.

Westminster Parliament

The borough contains three parliamentary constituencies:

Bridges

Five bridges join Wandsworth to the three London Boroughs on the north side of the Thames (from downstream following the river up):

There are also a number of bridges crossing the River Wandle which runs through the centre of Wandsworth town and divides the borough in two.

National Rail Stations

Tube Stations

National Rail services are operated from London Waterloo by South West Trains to Earlsfield, Putney, Queenstown Road (Battersea), Wandsworth Town and the borough's largest station, Clapham Junction. This last station is also served from London Victoria by Southern as are Balham, Battersea Park and Wandsworth Common.

London Overground services mainly serve Clapham Junction, which is the southern terminus for the West London Line that has services to Stratford via Shepherd's Bush, though some trains terminate at the West London Line's northern terminus at Willesden Junction. The western terminus for the East London Line also is at Clapham Junction that has services to Highbury and Islington via Denmark Hill. There is also a limited 1 train a day parliamentary train service that instead of terminating at Clapham Junction, it instead terminates at Battersea Park.

London Underground services are provided on the District line to East Putney and Southfields and on the Northern line to Balham, Clapham South, Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway.

Travel to work

In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were (of all residents aged 16–74):

Education

Wandsworth has the notable Elliott School, a specialist Language College, and former school of Pierce Brosnan. In 1842 Whitelands College was founded in Chelsea by the Church of England, and heavily under the influence of John Ruskin. In 1930/1931 the college relocated to West Hill (Wandsworth Borough) and occupied an enormous purpose-built site, with buildings designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. These buildings, now listed, were one of the Borough's largest educational sites until 2005 when the College, again moved, this time to a site in Roehampton, where it is now a constituent College of Roehampton University. The borough has other schools such as Graveney School, Southfields Academy, St. John Paul II and Ashcroft Technology Academy.

Religion

The dominant religion of the borough is Christianity, although the area is also home to a number of other religious communities. The community is home to a number of Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus.

According to the 2001 Census, approximately 29% of Wandsworth identified as being non-religious, or chose not to state their faith.

Parks and open spaces

Wandsworth has responsibility for three Metropolitan Open Spaces:

These three large green spaces together with a range of smaller parks and playgrounds (such as Wandsworth Park) were patrolled by Wandsworth Council's own parks police known as the Wandsworth Parks Police until the end of March 2012. From April 2012 the Parks Police team of 23 officers has been replaced by a team of 12 Metropolitan Police Officers, known as the Safer Parks Team (SPT).

Also within the borough's boundaries are Putney Heath and part of Putney Lower Common, which are managed as part of Wimbledon Common, and the west side of Clapham Common, which is managed by the London Borough of Lambeth.

Theatres

Localities

Postcode areas

SW4 (part), SW8 (part), SW11 (all), SW12 (part), SW15 (part), SW16 (part), SW17 (part), SW18 (all), SW19 (part)