Earlsfield | |
---|---|
Garratt Lane, Earlsfield | |
Location within Greater London | |
Population | 15,448 (Earlsfield ward 2011) [1] |
OS grid reference | TQ265735 |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | SW18 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Earlsfield is an area within the London Borough of Wandsworth, London, England. It is a typical south London suburb and comprises mostly residential Victorian terraced houses [2] with a high street of shops, bars, and restaurants between Garratt Lane, Allfarthing Lane, and Burntwood Lane. The population of Earlsfield at the 2001 Census was 12,903, [3] increasing to 15,448 at the 2011 Census.
Earlsfield railway station provides access to central London (three stops to London Waterloo (Clapham Junction, Vauxhall, Waterloo) in 12 minutes) and other areas in South London (Victoria - changing at Clapham Junction, Wimbledon one stop). The station's redevelopment was completed in April 2013. [4]
In medieval times, the area now known as Earlsfield was the northern part of the manor and hamlet of Garrat (also spelt Garratt, Garrett or Garret) in the parish of Wandsworth and notorious in the 18th century for the Garrat mock elections. By then the area was already industrialised with numerous mills along the River Wandle and in the early 19th century London's first railway, the horse-drawn Surrey Iron Railway, ran along Garratt Lane. This was followed in 1838 by the opening of the London and South Western Railway which originally passed through without stopping. Later in the century, suburban development began to creep across from Wandsworth Common.
In April 1884, the L&SWR opened Earlsfield station on Garratt Lane, prompting further development. The station was named after a nearby residence, Earlsfield, now demolished. This was owned by the Davis family, who also owned the land required for the station, and one of the conditions of sale was that the station would be named after their house. [5] [6]
The area was once a working-class suburb of Wandsworth and as such much of the property is medium-sized terraced housing, though several new developments have been or are being developed, notably the Olympian Homes development between the station and library. The area now houses young families attracted by the affordability of the area in comparison to its northern, western and eastern neighbours, Clapham, Wandsworth, Battersea and Putney, contributing to the wider area's nickname of Nappy Valley. [7]
Earlsfield Library has on display a range of historic photographs of the area.[ citation needed ]
Between 1853 and 1864, the area in the south of Earlsfield, Summerstown, was the site of the Copenhagen Running Grounds, a major venue for pedestrianism. [8]
Haldane Place, near the Wandle, was the site of the main manufacturing base for Airfix between 1939 and 1981.
The River Wandle flows roughly parallel to Garratt Lane through the area, and has been the subject of a major, council-funded clean-up operation, though it has been subjected to several pollution incidents in the past few years. [9] There is some light industry located between the high street and the river.
The main shopping street – Garratt Lane – includes estate agents, cafes and restaurants, pubs, bars and hairdressers. The stretch of Earlsfield just to the south of the station includes chains and an increasing number of independent cafes, delicatessen, butchers and public houses including The Earlsfield situated in the old railway station house have opened in recent years.[ when? ]
Garratt Lane is home to cross-cultural theatre company Tara Arts and its venue Tara Theatre. Opened in 2007 (and refurbished in 2016), the space hosts local and national companies as well as staging its own productions.[ citation needed ]
There are two churches in the centre - Earlsfield Baptist church (opened in 1900 [10] ) on Magdalen Road and St Andrew's, Earlsfield (Church of England, built in two stages between 1888 and 1902 [11] ) on the corner of Garratt Lane and Waynflete Street, with St Gregory's (Catholic) and St John the Divine (CoE) further down Garratt Lane towards Wandsworth.
Balham is an area in south-west London, England. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as Belgeham.
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.
Clapham is a district in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
Wandsworth Town is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth 4.2 miles (6.8 km) southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
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.
The Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was a Metropolitan borough under the London County Council, from 1900 to 1965.
The A24 is a major road in England that runs for 53.2 miles (85.6 km) from Clapham in south-west London to Worthing on the English Channel in West Sussex via the suburbs of south-west London, as well as through the counties of Surrey and West Sussex.
Southfields is a district of inner London located within the London Borough of Wandsworth, England, 5.6 miles (9 km) south-west of Charing Cross. Southfields is mainly residential, historically a part of Wandsworth itself, and is divided between the SW18 and SW19 postcode areas.
Battersea is a constituency in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It has been represented since 2017 by Marsha de Cordova of the Labour Party.
Tooting is a constituency created in 1974 in Greater London. It is represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2016 by Dr. Rosena Allin-Khan, a member of the Labour Party.
The A217 is a road in London and Surrey in England. It runs north–south. It runs from Kings Road in Fulham, London, crosses the Thames at Wandsworth Bridge, then passes through Wandsworth, Earlsfield, Summerstown, Tooting, Mitcham, Rosehill and Sutton Common in Sutton, then Cheam. Then, widened as a dual carriageway, comes Belmont, a suburban district built on a slope rising southward. On the North Downs in Surrey the road then skirts past Banstead and through its late 19th century offspring villages particularly Burgh Heath and Kingswood, Surrey. It then crosses the M25 motorway at Junction 8, then, returning to single carriageways, passes through the castle town of Reigate. It then cuts through the green buffer farmland of two rural villages and terminates at the road network at Gatwick Airport's northern perimeter.
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.
Battersea South was a parliamentary constituency, originally in the County of London and later in Greater London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
The A3036 is an A road in London, England, running from Waterloo to Wandsworth.
Wandsworth was the name of a borough constituency created in 1885, abolished in 1918, covering the vast bulk of today's London Borough of Wandsworth in South London but excluding Battersea. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.
Summerstown is a district of south-west London located on the boundary between the London Borough of Wandsworth and the London Borough of Merton. It is an area on the north eastern edge of Wimbledon, south of Earlsfield, west of Tooting and north of Collier's Wood. The district is bisected by the A217 and bordered by the River Wandle.
Garratt Lane is a long street in the London Borough of Wandsworth, part of the A217 road. It connects Wandsworth High Street to Tooting Broadway and is approximately 4 kilometres long, arguably making it the longest street in the UK. It passes through the Earlsfield and Summerstown neighbourhoods which were fields of Wandsworth before their development in the late 19th century.
The Leather Bottle is a pub at 538 Garratt Lane, Earlsfield, London SW17.
The Winstanley and York Road Estate comprises two large estates of predominantly public housing apartments in Battersea, London, adjacent to Clapham Junction railway station, although some have since passed into private ownership.