Borough of Wandsworth

This borough is located south of the River Thames and west of the centre of London.  Being situated close to the River Thames and the River Wandle, which feeds into the Thames, the area has been linked to the transport of goods through the centuries.  Roman and Anglo-Saxon influences remain. Wandsworth became a place for wealthy merchants when London became too crowded.  It was also a place for European immigrants to resettle when the winds of the Reformation swept Europe sending French Huguenots and Dutch metal workers to this area adding their fabric and metal trade skills to the local communities. In the 1800s, Wandsworth was at the forefront of industrialisation as it became the terminus for the world’s first public railway, The Surrey Iron Railway, bringing goods from the mills up the River Wandle down to the Thames and then into London.  This was only the beginning as the railways expanded and more factories opened along the Thames.  In just 50 years, the population in the Battersea area grew from 6,887 to 150,558.  In the midst of that population boom, Wandsworth Prison had its beginnings and is currently the largest prison in London and one of the largest in Europe. In the late 1800s due to exploitation in the factories, London workers in this area formed trades councils and became linked with the Labour movement and subsequently the Labour Party. During the First World War local areas were asked by the Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, to group together volunteer battalions from their specific areas.  Battalions from Wandworth and neighboring area Battersea were deployed to northern France and Belgium.  Not many returned.  After World War I, local councils were given government money to build new housing.  New hospitals and clinics were opened and the large Battersea Power Station was built along the Thames between 1929 and 1935 forming part of the National Grid. The 1940s and 1950s saw tremendous change in the borough.  Children were evacuated during the war and volunteers were organised to manage the air raids that were soon to come.  With the end of the war came the election of a new Labour government which ushered in the National Health Service.  Local councils continued the task of building new housing and redistributing the population. Low-rise flats and cottage estates gave way to high-rise blocks of flats that could house more people.  Families from Commonwealth countries also came to the Wandsworth area seeking a new life. Even though the factories have declined over the years, Wandsworth is still home for a new wave of immigrants that have come from India, Pakistan and East Africa as well as Eastern Europe.  It is one of the most expensive places to live in London and has the third most millionpound property sales in London.  Currently there are plans for a new US Embassy to be built in Wandsworth.

Prayer Requests for this Borough