Borough in London, England
Wandsworth
Wandsworth gave its name to a river that was actually named after it, and has a church at each end of Putney Bridge, a famous power station and Britain's best-known dogs' home.
Key information
- County
- Greater London
- Nation
- England
- Population
- about 327,500 (2021 Census)
- Area
- about 13 square miles (34 square km)
- Known for
- Battersea Power Station, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, the Boat Race start at Putney, Tooting Bec Lido
- Famous people
- Thomas Cromwell, Edward Gibbon, Sadiq Khan
About Wandsworth
The river that was named after the town
Here's a nice reversal: the River Wandle didn't give Wandsworth its name. It was the other way round. The town was recorded in the Middle Ages as a worth, an enclosure, belonging to someone called Waendel, and the river's name was later back-formed from it. The Wandle was one of the hardest-working rivers in England. Its fast, clean water drove dozens of mills producing everything from flour to snuff and paper, and it left the area with a long industrial streak. After 1685, Huguenot refugees fleeing France settled in Wandsworth and brought skills in hat-making and dyeing. Later came Young's Brewery by the river, where beer was brewed until 2006. The company's ram mascot is still a local symbol.
Four chimneys and a runaway pig
Battersea Power Station is the borough's showpiece. Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the man behind the red telephone box, it began generating electricity in the 1930s and closed in 1983. For decades it stood empty, a vast brick cathedral with no purpose. The cover photograph for Pink Floyd's album Animals was taken in December 1976, with a giant inflatable pig floating between the chimneys. The album came out in January 1977. The pig broke free of its moorings during the shoot and drifted up into the flight path of Heathrow. The power station reopened in 2022 as shops, homes and offices, and the Northern line extension to Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms opened in 2021. Nearby Nine Elms is also home to New Covent Garden Market, which moved there in 1974, and the US Embassy, which opened in 2018.
Britain's most famous dogs' home
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home began in 1860 as the Temporary Home for Lost and Starving Dogs, founded by Mary Tealby in Holloway. It moved to Battersea in 1871 and has been there ever since. It has taken in generations of strays and unwanted pets, and its name is known across the country. Many Londoners have a story about someone who picked up their dog there. Battersea Park, laid out in the 1850s, sits nearby. It hosted the 1951 Festival of Britain pleasure gardens, and today it has a Peace Pagoda beside the Thames.
Putney: debates, rowers and a bridge with two churches
Every spring, the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race starts at Putney, as rowers surge off towards Mortlake. The towpath fills with crowds, and the pubs along the river fill faster. Putney Bridge has a quirk: it is said to be the only bridge in Britain with a church at each end, St Mary's on the Putney side and All Saints on the other. St Mary's has a bigger claim to fame. In autumn 1647, in the middle of the Civil War, officers and soldiers of Cromwell's army met in the church for the Putney Debates. They argued about who should have a vote and how England should be governed, ideas that echo through later arguments about democracy. Putney also produced Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief minister, who was born there around 1485, and the historian Edward Gibbon, born in 1737.
Tooting, Balham and a very large swimming pool
Tooting Bec Lido is the sort of place that gets people talking. Opened in 1906, it is 100 yards long, which makes it one of the largest freshwater outdoor pools in England. It is unheated, and the South London Swimming Club has braved it year-round, including at Christmas. Sadiq Khan grew up on the Henry Prince Estate in Earlsfield, within Wandsworth, and later represented Tooting as its MP. Balham is famous for its Underground station and for Peter Sellers's spoken comedy sketch about it, "Balham, Gateway to the South". Clapham Junction, actually in Battersea, is one of the busiest railway stations in Europe by train movements. It is a good example of the borough's knack for being a crossroads.
Prisons, politics and the Wandsworth way
Wandsworth Prison, opened in 1851, is one of the largest prisons in Britain, and Oscar Wilde was held there in 1895 before being moved on to Reading. The borough was also a political curiosity. From 1978 to 2022 Wandsworth Council was run by the Conservatives and became known for some of the lowest council tax in the country, a model that Margaret Thatcher's government admired. In 2022 Labour won control, ending that long run. On the green side, the borough also takes in Wandsworth Common, Putney Heath and the 1950s Alton Estate in Roehampton, an influential piece of modernist housing.