Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park.

History

Battersea is mentioned in the few surviving Anglo-Saxon geographical accounts as and later . As with many former parishes beside tidal flood plains the lowest land was reclaimed for agriculture by draining marshland and building culverts for streams. By the side of this was the Heathwall tide mill in the north-east with a very long mill pond regularly draining and filling to the south.

Battersea () appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 in Surrey within the hundred of Brixton () as a vast manor held by St Peter's Abbey, Westminster. Its Domesday assets were: 18 hides and 17 ploughlands of cultivated land; 7 mills worth £42 9s 8d per year, of meadow, woodland worth 50 hogs. It rendered (in total): £75 9s 8d. Price inflation was close to zero in the 11th and 12th centuries, so netting an annual income of £75 9s 8d would be .

St Mary's Church, completed in 1777, hosted the marriage of William Blake and Catherine Boucher in 1782. Benedict Arnold, his wife Peggy Shippen, and their daughter were buried in the crypt of the church.

Battersea Park, a northern rectangle by the Thames, was landscaped and founded for public use in 1858. Amenities and leisure buildings have been added to it since.

Until 1889, the parish of Battersea was part of the county of Surrey. In that year a new County of London came into being and the parish was made part of it.

Agriculture

Before the Industrial Revolution, much of the large parish was farmland, providing food for the City of London and surrounding population centres; and with particular specialisms, such as growing lavender on Lavender Hill (nowadays denoted by the road of the same name), asparagus (sold as "Battersea Bundles") or pig breeding on Pig Hill (later the site of the Shaftesbury Park Estate). At the end of the 18th century, above of land in the parish of Battersea were occupied by some 20 market gardeners, who rented from five to near each. Villages in the wider area: Wandsworth, Earlsfield (hamlet of Garratt), Tooting, Balham – were separated by fields; in common with other suburbs the wealthy of London and the traditional manor successors built their homes in Battersea and neighbouring areas.

Industry

thumb|right|upright|[[Battersea Power Station]]

Industry in the area was concentrated to the northwest just outside the Battersea-Wandsworth boundary, at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Wandle, which gave rise to the village of Wandsworth. This was settled from the 16th century by Protestant craftsmen – Huguenots – fleeing religious persecution in Europe, who planted lavender and gardens and established a range of industries such as mills, breweries and dyeing, bleaching and calico printing.

Railway age

right|thumb|Aftermath of a [[V-2 bombing at Battersea, 27 January 1945.]]

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 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': 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 Clapham Junction, where a cluster of new civic buildings including the town hall, library, police station, court and post office was developed along Lavender Hill in the 1880s and 1890s. The Arding & Hobbs department store, diagonally opposite the station, was the largest of its type at the time of its construction in 1885; and the streets near the station developed as a regional shopping district. The area was served by a vast music hallThe Grandopposite the station (nowadays serving as a nightclub and venue for smaller bands) as well as a large theatre next to the town hall (the Shakespeare Theatre, later redeveloped following bomb damage). All this building around the station shifted the focus of the area southwards, and marginalised Battersea High Street (the main street of the original village) into no more than an extension of Falcon Road.

Social housing estates

thumb|Doddington and Rollo Estate.

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.

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.

There are four particularly large estates. The Winstanley Estate, perhaps being the most renowned of them all, is known as being the birthplace to the garage collective So Solid Crew. Winstanley is close to Clapham Junction railway station in the northern perimeter of Battersea, and is currently being considered for comprehensive redevelopment as one of the London Mayor's new Housing Zones. Further north towards Chelsea is the Surrey Lane Estate, and on Battersea Park Road is the Doddington and Rollo Estate. East, toward Vauxhall, is the Patmore Estate which is in close proximity to the Battersea Power Station.

Other smaller estates include: York Road (see Winstanley Estate), Ashley Crescent, Badric Court, Carey Gardens, Chatham Road, Ethelburga, Falcon Road, Gideon Road, Honeywell Road, Kambala, Peabody, Robertson Street, Savona, Somerset, Wilditch and Wynter Street.

World War I: The Battersea Battalion

On the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You'. But the flood of volunteers overwhelmed the ability of the Army to absorb them, and units began to be raised by local initiative rather than at regimental depots, often from men from particular localities or backgrounds who wished to serve together: these were known as 'Pals battalions'. The 'Pals' phenomenon quickly spread across the country, as local recruiting committees offered complete units. Encouraged by this response, Kitchener approached the 28 Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, and the 'Great Metropolitan Recruiting Campaign' went ahead in April 1915, with each mayor asked to raise a unit of local men.

One such unit was raised on 3 June 1915 by the Mayor and Borough of Battersea as the 10th (Service) Battalion, Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) (Battersea). (Although Battersea was by then in the County of London, the Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) was still the Regular Army regiment covering South London, while the London Regiment, including the 23rd Battalion based at Clapham Junction, consisted entirely of part-time soldiers of the Territorial Force (TF).)

The Battersea Battalion served alongside Pals battalions from Lambeth (11th Queens), Bermondsey (12th East Surreys) and Lewisham (10th West Kents) in 41st Division on the Western Front, including the battles of the Somme, Messines, and Ypres, on the Italian Front, and then back in the west against the German spring offensive and in the final victorious Hundred Days Offensive. The Battersea Battalion was kept up to strength with dismounted cavalrymen from the Surrey Yeomanry (TF), based at Clapham Park. After the Armistice it took part in the Occupation of the Rhineland and was finally disbanded in 1920.

After 1540 the Crown assumed ownership of the manor, and let it on short leases to a succession of individuals, until in about 1590 it came into the hands of the St. John family of Lydiard Tregoze in Wiltshire, who later became the St John Baronets of Lydiard Tregoze and ultimately the Viscounts Bolingbroke. Bolingbrokes exercised control of the manor for some 173 years, showing varying levels of interest and competence in running the estate's affairs, until in 1763 the disastrously dissolute Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke sold the manor to help to settle his many debts. Battersea now passed into the Spencer family - John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer being related to Frederick's wife.

Riverside

Battersea's northern limit is thus the Tideway, the Thames below Teddington. Battersea's riverside is just over long. Immediately to the west is Wandsworth Town. To the north-east are Vauxhall and then Lambeth, including Waterloo.

Other boundaries

Battersea at one end of its riverside has a western corner at a point 350 metres east northeast of Wandsworth Bridge, and Battersea tapers SSE to almost a point, roughly from Battersea's northeastern corner – but from the western corner.

Neighbouring districts

To the east are South Lambeth and Stockwell; to the south is Balham; to the southeast is Clapham; and to the west is Wandsworth Town, south of which is Wandsworth.

Two large neighbourhoods within the larger Battersea are:

  • Clapham Junction (the central and most commercial part of Battersea),
  • Nine Elms (to the north-east, east of Battersea Park)

Crime

Some parts of Battersea have become known for drug-dealing. The Winstanley and York Road council estates have developed a reputation for such offences and were included in a zero-tolerance "drug exclusion zone" in 2007.

Demography

, Battersea had a population of 73,345. The district was 52.2% of White British origin, as against an average for Wandsworth of 53.3%.

Landmarks

thumb|right|230px|Battersea Dogs home (with gasworks alongside)

thumb|230px|Clapham Junction station, Battersea

thumb|230px|Large Asda supermarket next to and visible from Clapham Junction Railway Station

thumb|230px|London Heliport, Battersea

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.
  • Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, formerly Battersea Dogs Home and prior to that the Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs, established in Holloway in 1860 and moved to Battersea in 1871. It is the United Kingdom's most famous refuge for stray dogs. Also the main location for ITV 1's Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs
  • 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.
  • Battersea Arts Centre, in the former Battersea 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— 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 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.
  • Newton Preparatory School, in an Edwardian building (with modern extension) formerly occupied by Clapham College, Notre Dame School and Raywood Street School.
  • Falconbrook Primary School, resides in a large Victorian building, situated in the Winstanley Estate, Battersea.

Transport

National Rail

Battersea is served by three National Rail stations: Battersea Park, Clapham Junction, and Queenstown Road (Battersea). All three stations are in London fare zone 2.

Battersea Park

Battersea Park is served by some Southern trains.

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 first station to carry the name "Battersea Park" was opened by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) as "Battersea" on 1 October 1860 and was located at the southern end of what is now Grosvenor Bridge. It closed on 1 November 1870. The LB&SCR opened another station on a high-level line on 1 May 1867 called Battersea Park. Another station existed closed to the current station called Battersea Park Road railway station by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1867 and closed in 1916.

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.

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.

Queenstown Road opened up the line on 1 November 1877 by the London and South Western Railway, as Queen's Road (Battersea). British Rail renamed the station to Queenstown Road (Battersea) on 12 May 1980.

Bus

London Bus routes 44, 137, 156, 211, 344, 436, 19, 35, 37, 39, 219, 77, 87, 49, 170, 295, G1 319, 345 and 452 serve the Battersea area during the daytime. Night buses N19, N31, N87 N137 and N44, as well as the 35. 37, 295, 344 and 345 route, run overnight.

Cycling

Cycling infrastructure in Battersea is provided by the London Borough of Wandsworth and Transport for London (TfL).

  • 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.
  • A cycle lane links Battersea to Vauxhall along A3205/Nine Elms Lane.

Battersea features in the books of Michael de Larrabeiti, who was born and brought up in the area: A Rose Beyond the Thames recounts the working-class Battersea of the 1940s and 1950s; The Borrible Trilogy presents a fictional Battersea, home to fantasy creatures known as the Borribles. The station makes a brief appearance in The Beatles' second film, Help!, in 1965. It also appears in the 1969 film Battle of Britain, in the movie as in real life used as a navigational landmark by the attacking Luftwaffe bombers. The Optimists of Nine Elms, a 1973 film starring Peter Sellers, is set in Battersea.

Battersea is also the setting for Penelope Fitzgerald's 1979 Booker Prize–winning novel, Offshore. Kitty Neale's Nobody's Girl is set in a fictional café and the surrounding Battersea High Street Market. Nell Dunn's 1963 novel Up the Junction (later adapted for both television and cinema) depicts contemporary life in the industrial slums of Battersea near Clapham Junction. Battersea provides the backdrop for the real world scenes in the audio book and app series Rockford's Rock Opera.

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 Joan Aiken's Black Hearts in Battersea, the second published volume in the Wolves Chronicles.

Battersea Power Station is featured on the cover of the Pink Floyd album Animals.

Battersea is the location of the titular character's disappearance into the labyrinth in Susanna Clarke's 2020 novel Piranesi.

Prominent people

The following people have lived, or currently live, in Battersea:

  • Ben Adamsmusician from the group a1
  • Adelesinger-songwriter
  • James Aldridgewriter and journalist
  • Lionel Barber
  • L. S. Bevingtonanarchist poet and essayist, was born and grew up in a Quaker family on St Johns Hill
  • Ronnie Biggscriminal who took part in the Great Train Robbery
  • Johnny Briggsactor, best known for playing Mike Baldwin in Coronation Street
  • Ada Buissonauthor and novelist
  • Kathleen Byronactress
  • Emma Chambersactress, known for her role as "Alice" in The Vicar of Dibley
  • G. K. Chestertonwriter
  • Adrian Chilestelevision presenter
  • Noël Cowarddramatist, actor and cabaret artist
  • Brian Coxphysicist, host of science shows for the BBC
  • Colin Douglasstage and television actor
  • Nell Dunnplaywright
  • Howard Eastmanboxer
  • Craig Eastmondfootballer
  • Hero Fiennes-Tiffinmodel and actor
  • Edwin Flavell (Royal Air Force officer)pilot of the first British aircraft to drop a live atomic bomb
  • Freddie Foremancriminal and associate of the Kray Twins, born in Sheepcote Lane
  • Bob Geldofsinger and songwriter
  • Pixie Geldofsocialite and model
  • Graham Greenewriter, playwright, critic
  • Rich Hallcomedian
  • Reginald Hammondfirst-class cricketer and Royal Navy officer
  • Pamela Hansford Johnsonwriter
  • Ainsley Harriottchef
  • Lauran Hibberdmusician
  • Harry Hillcomedian
  • Ada Florence Kintonartist and Salvation Army officer
  • Derek Laudpolitical lobbyist and Big Brother contestant
  • Simon Le Bonmusician
  • Katie Leungactress, best known for playing Cho Chang in Harry Potter films
  • Monie Lovemc and radio personality
  • Kate Maberlyactress
  • Terry Manningmusic producer
  • Noel McKoysinger and songwriter
  • Buster Merryfieldactor, best known as Uncle Albert in Only Fools and Horses
  • Dannii Minoguemusician
  • Jane Moorejournalist, Loose Women panellist.
  • Seán O'Caseywriter
  • John O'Farrellwriter
  • William Pagehistorian and general editor of the Victoria County History
  • Polly Paulusmamusician
  • Mervyn Peakeauthor
  • Rupert Penry-Jonesactor
  • Gordon Ramsaychef
  • Joely Richardsonactress
  • J.K. Rowlingauthor
  • Greg Rusedskitennis player
  • John Scottsociologist and Fellow of the British Academy
  • Peter Serafinowiczcomedian
  • George Shearingpianist
  • Ed Sheeranmusician
  • Timothy Spallactor
  • Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
  • Donald Swannmusician (of Flanders and Swann)
  • Gabriel Thomsonstars in My Family
  • Baroness Trumpingtonmember of the House of Lords
  • Paul Joseph WatsonYouTube personality and radio host
  • Arthur Webb (co-operator)Building Society Movement
  • William Wilberforceprominent campaigner against the slave trade
  • Edward Adrian WilsonEnglish physician, polar explorer, natural historian, painter and ornithologist

See also

  • Nappy Valley
  • Seax of Beagnoth

References

Further reading

  • Martin Knight (2006). Battersea Girl. Mainstream Publishing. .
  • Patrick Loobey (2002). Battersea Past. Historical Publications Ltd.. .
  • Peter Mason (1997). The Brown Dog Affair. Two Sevens Publishing. .
  • Wandsworth Council
  • Battersea.co.uk - Battersea Information