The park occupies marshland reclaimed from the Thames and land formerly used for market gardens. The park is Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[2]
History
Battersea Common Fields shown on a map published in 1830Battersea Park shown on a map published in 1852
Prior to 1846, the area now covered by the park was known as Battersea fields, a popular spot for duelling. On 21 March 1829, the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea met on Battersea fields to settle a matter of honour.[3] When it came time to fire, the duke aimed his duelling pistol wide and Winchilsea fired his into the air. Winchilsea later wrote the duke a groveling apology.
Separated from the river by a narrow raised causeway, the fields consisted of low, fertile marshes intersected by streams and ditches with the chief crops being carrots, melons, lavender (all the way up to Lavender Hill) and the famous 'Battersea Bunches' of asparagus.
Running along the riverside from the fields were industrial concerns and wharves, including a pottery, copper works, lime kiln, chemical works, and, increasingly, railways. The site of Battersea Power Station was partly occupied by the famously bawdy Red House Tavern, patronised by Charles Dickens. Access was via the rickety wooden Battersea Bridge or by ferry from the Chelsea bank.
In 1845, spurred partly by the local vicar and partly by Thomas Cubitt, the builder and developer, whose yards were across the river in the still marshy and undeveloped area of Pimlico, a bill was submitted to Parliament to form a royal park of 320 acres. The Battersea Park Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 38) was passed in 1846 and £200,000 was promised for the purchase of the land. The Commission for Improving the Metropolis acquired 320 acres of Battersea fields, of which 198 acres became Battersea Park, opened in 1858, and the remainder was let on building leases.
The park was laid out by Sir James Pennethorne between 1846 and 1864, although the park which was opened in 1858[4] varied somewhat from Pennethorne's vision.
The park's success depended on the successful completion of the Chelsea Bridge, declared open in 1858 by Queen Victoria. In her honour, the road alongside the eastern edge of the park was called Victoria Road, linked to Queens Road by Victoria Circus (now Queen's Circus). Victoria Road and Queens Road later became Queenstown Road.[5] Prince of Wales Road (now Prince of Wales Drive) was laid out along the southern boundary and Albert Bridge Road constructed along the western side. The park came under the management of the newly formed London County Council in 1889.[2]
The park hosted the first exhibition football game played under the rules of the recently formed Football Association on 9 January 1864. The members of the teams were chosen by the President of the FA (A. Pember) and the Secretary (E. C. Morley) and included many well-known footballers of the day.
From the 1860s, the park was home to the leading amateur football team Wanderers F.C., winners of the first FA Cup, in 1872. The park also hosted the historic London v Sheffield football match in March 1866.
During both wars, anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons were installed to help protect London from enemy air raids. Shelters were dug, part of the park was turned over to allotments for much needed vegetables and a pig farm was also set up. Maintenance of the park was reduced as the war effort took priority.[7]
On 16 September 1978, Battersea Park hosted a big punk rock concert featuring The Stranglers and several guests, among them Peter Gabriel and The Skids.[8][9] "The Stranglers booked some strippers to up the show's visual aspect," recalled photographer Barry Plummer. "But some of the lads in the audience got a bit carried away and also stripped completely naked. Eventually the police were called and took down all of the young ladies' particulars."[10]
British artist Marion Coutts recreated Battersea, along with Regent's and Hyde Park as a set of asymmetrical ping-pong tables for her interactive installation Fresh Air (1998–2001).[11]
The 1996 film 101 Dalmatians was filmed at Battersea Park; it stands in for St James Park.[12]
The Festival Gardens
The Festival GardensThe Guinness Clock
In 1951 the northern parts of the park were transformed into the "Pleasure Gardens" as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations. As well as a new water-garden and fountains, new features included a "Tree-Walk", which consisted of a series of raised wooden walkways linked by tree house-like platforms suspended between the branches of a number of trees.
Another part of the transformation was the addition of Battersea Funfair, with roller coasters, swings, roundabouts and other attractions.
The funfair's leading attraction was the roller coaster ride, known as The Big Dipper, which opened in 1951. It was of wooden construction and suffered a major fire in 1970. It was closed after five children were killed and 13 injured in the Battersea Park funfair disaster on 30 May 1972 when one of the trains became detached from the haulage rope, rolling back to the station (the anti-rollback mechanism having failed) and colliding with the other train.[13][14]
After the closure, the "Jetstream" ride was sold to Trusthouse Forte, the then owners of Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester. A night scene at the funfair, which was ghostly and empty, featured in the opening title scene for the 1960s television series Journey to the Unknown. The site of the funfair was levelled and became a site for travelling fairs and exhibitions, and is the site of Battersea Evolution,[15] formerly the Battersea Park Events Arena, which hosts exhibitions, conferences and Christmas parties.[16]
Current features in the park
The bandstand in Battersea Park
The park is home to a small children's zoo, a boating lake, a bandstand, and all-weather outdoor sporting facilities including tennis courts, a running track and football pitches. Four West London hockey teams use the all-weather Astroturf pitches, including the Wanderers Hockey Club.[17]
In the centre of the park is Pump House Gallery, which is housed in a four-storey Grade II listed Victorian tower. It is owned by Wandsworth Council.[18]
On the western side there are two cricket pitches, home to the King's Road Cricket & Social Club. The club, whose members wear distinctive orange caps, can be seen playing on Saturdays and Sundays.[citation needed]
The park is the site of the London Peace Pagoda, erected in 1985. A Buddhist monk looks after the pagoda on a daily basis.[19] A replica of the bronze statue of a dog that was the focal point of the historic vivisection-related Brown Dog affair was erected here in 1985. It was moved in 1994 to the Woodland Walk, near the Old English Garden.[20]
The Winter Garden, next to Albert Bridge Road, was commissioned by the Friends of Battersea Park and designed by Dan Pearson Studios. It was opened by Mayor Boris Johnson on 3 March 2011,[22] at which he unveiled a plaque designed by Steve Bunn of the RCA Sculpture School.[23]
In 1871, James Robert Pulham constructed "Waterfalls, Rocky stream, [and a] Cave for shady seat on the peninsula and in other parts of the Park"[24] in his patented anthropic rock Pulhamite.[25] It was the first example of this unique rock landscape in a London Park.[26] The waterfalls have not been running into the lake since the 1980s due to natural degradation and difficulties with providing energy to the pumps.
In 2011, a sculpture commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, After 9/11, was unveiled by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.[27]
In 2012, the park hosted one of the seven national Foodies Festivals[28] on 17–19 August.[29] Masterclasses were performed by chefs such as Levi Roots and Ed Baines, with burlesque shows, restaurant tents, city beaches and pop-up cinemas.[29]
Battersea Park Nature Area
Battersea Park Nature Areas
A narrow strip along the eastern edge of the park and two smaller nearby areas have been designated the Battersea Park Nature Areas Local Nature Reserve, with an area of three hectares. They have a variety of woodland bird species including blackcap and bullfinch. There are 20 species of butterfly and several of stag beetle. Other invertebrate species include the hoverfly Volucella zonaria.[30][31][32]
Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross it also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the 200-acre (0.81 km2) Battersea Park.
Wandsworth is a London borough in South West London, England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities are Battersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth Town.
Victoria Park is a park in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England.
Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is 220 acres of green space, with three ponds and a Victorian bandstand. It is overlooked by large Georgian and Victorian mansions and nearby Clapham Old Town.
Chelsea Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames in west London, connecting Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank, and split between the City of Westminster, the London Borough of Wandsworth and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. There have been two Chelsea Bridges, on the site of what was an ancient ford.
Sir James Pennethorne was a British architect and planner, particularly associated with buildings and parks in central London.
Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies on the River Thames, with Battersea to the west, South Lambeth to the south and Vauxhall to the east. Across the Thames is Pimlico.
Wandsworth Common is a public common in Wandsworth, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, south London. It is 69.43 hectares and is maintained and regulated by Wandsworth Council. It is also a Ward of the London Borough of Wandsworth. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 15,247.
Green space in central London consists of five of the capital's eight Royal Parks, supplemented by a number of small garden squares scattered throughout the city centre. Open space in the rest of the region is dominated by the remaining three Royal Parks and many other parks and open spaces of a range of sizes, run mainly by the local London boroughs, although other owners include the National Trust and the City of London Corporation.
The inner London borough of Wandsworth contains some 670 hectares of green space in the form of parks, commons, allotments and cemeteries, which is the largest amount for an Inner London borough. Central London borders some of the borough's boundary with the Thames the closest park to which is Battersea Park.
The A3036 is an A road in London, England, running from Waterloo to Wandsworth.
Sydenham Hill Wood is a ten-hectare wood on the northern slopes of the Norwood Ridge in the London Borough of Southwark. It is designated as a Local Nature Reserve and Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. With the adjacent Dulwich Wood, Sydenham Hill Wood is the largest extant tract of the ancient Great North Wood. The two woods are formed from coppices known as Lapsewood, Old Ambrook Hill Wood and Peckarmans Wood after the relocation of The Crystal Palace in 1854 and the creation of the high level line in 1865.
Pulhamite was a patented anthropic rock material invented by James Pulham (1820–1898) of the firm James Pulham and Son of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. It was widely used for rock gardens and grottos.
James Pulham and Son was a firm of Victorian landscape gardeners and terracotta manufacturers which exhibited and won medals at London's Great Exhibition of 1851 and 1862 International Exhibition.
The Shaftesbury Park Estate, commonly known as The Shaftesbury Estate, is a residential estate in Battersea in South London, England. It lies north of Lavender Hill and Clapham Common and east of Clapham Junction railway station.
Worth Park is in Pound Hill, Crawley. The park covers eight hectares and includes formal gardens, and a lake area.
The Battersea Park funfair disaster happened in Battersea Park, London, on 30 May 1972; five children died and thirteen others were injured when a wooden roller coaster train came off its tracks. A report on the roller coaster after the crash found 51 faults on the ride. The ride manager and engineer were subsequently tried for and acquitted of manslaughter.
Latchmere Recreation Ground or Latchmere Park is a public open space with a children's playground in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located approximately 300 metres (330 yd) south of the far larger Battersea Park and the River Thames beyond. It is bounded by Burns Road to the south and Reform Street to the east and north. The former Latchmere School site, converted to housing in 1996, forms the eastern boundary.
Pump House Gallery is an art gallery in Battersea Park, London. It is both located in and owned and managed by the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is a former pump house for the adjacent boating lake, and is the only Grade II listed building in the park.
↑ Hitching, Claude (June 2012). Rock Landscapes – Victorian Rock Gardens, Follies and Ornaments: The Pulham Legacy. ACC Publishing Group. p.79. ISBN9781445602516.
↑ Hitching, Claude (June 2012). Rock Landscapes – Victorian Rock Gardens, Follies and Ornaments: The Pulham Legacy. ACC Publishing Group. p.79. ISBN9781445602516.
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Battersea Park, Queenstown Road (Battersea) 
