London Borough of Wandsworth | |
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 Coat of arms .png){kind=logo} Council logo | |
| Motto: We Serve | |
 Wandsworth shown withinGreater London | |
| Coordinates:51°27′26.3″N0°11′41.5″W / 51.457306°N 0.194861°W /51.457306; -0.194861 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | London |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Created | 1 April 1965 |
| Admin HQ | Wandsworth |
| Government | |
| • Type | London borough council |
| • Body | Wandsworth London Borough Council |
| • London Assembly | Leonie Cooper (Labour) AM forMerton and Wandsworth |
| • MPs | Fleur Anderson (Labour) Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour) Marsha de Cordova (Labour) |
| Area | |
• Total | 13.23 sq mi (34.26 km2) |
| • Rank | 273rd(of 296) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 337,655 |
| • Rank | 32nd(of 296) |
| • Density | 25,530/sq mi (9,856/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| Postcodes | |
| Area code | 020 |
| ISO 3166 code | GB-WND |
| ONS code | 00BJ |
| GSS code | E09000032 |
| Police | Metropolitan Police |
| Website | www |
Wandsworth (/ˈwɒndzwɜːrθ/ ⓘ) is aLondon borough inSouth West London, England. It forms part ofInner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities areBattersea,Balham,Putney,Tooting andWandsworth Town.
The borough borders theLondon Borough of Lambeth to the east, theLondon Borough of Merton and theRoyal Borough of Kingston upon Thames to the south, theLondon Borough of Richmond upon Thames to the west, and to the north (across theRiver Thames) three boroughs, namely theLondon Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, theRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and theCity of Westminster. The local authority isWandsworth London Borough Council.
The area of the modern borough was historically part of the county ofSurrey. From 1856 the area was governed by theMetropolitan Board of Works, which was established to provide services across themetropolis of London.[1] In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made theCounty of London. From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised variousparish vestries and district boards. One such district was theWandsworth District, containing the six parishes ofBattersea,[a]Clapham,Putney,Streatham,Tooting Graveney andWandsworth.[1] In 1888 Battersea was removed from the district to be governed by its ownvestry. In 1900 the lower tier was reorganised intometropolitan boroughs. The parish of Battersea became theMetropolitan Borough of Battersea and the Wandsworth District became theMetropolitan Borough of Wandsworth.[2]
The modern borough was created in 1965 under theLondon Government Act 1963. It covered the former borough of Battersea and the majority of the former borough of Wandsworth, but excluding the Clapham and Streatham areas, which went toLambeth.[3][4]
The borough includes the majorClapham Junction railway station, which despite the name is in Battersea not Clapham. There are many new or refurbished buildings along the borough's prosperous riverside including the large Chelsea Bridge Wharf. ThePeace Pagoda, one of many such international pagodas, is in Battersea Park, a sprawling rectangle often hosting circuses beside theThames. TheLondon Heliport, London's main and busiest heliport, is just beyond Battersea Park, and south of this isNew Covent Garden Market. In terms of size,South Thames College,Southside Shopping Centre,Wandsworth andThe Exchange Shopping Centre,Putney are among the largest secular structures.
The secular buildings most highly listed for their architecture include:Battersea Power Station, theBattersea Arts Centre (formerly town hall),Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability,Wandsworth Town Hall, as well as particularly the interiors of the largeGala Bingo Club, Tooting, the formerGranada Theatre, St John's Hill, Clapham Junction byTheodore Komisarjevsky, and in terms of ornate mansions a cluster of five large stone and brick buildings mostly converted to diverse public uses in and aroundQueen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton at grade II* or above.[5] In Old Battersea two fine masonry mansions survivedThe Blitz: Old Battersea House[6] and Downshire House[7]—both hold rare Grade II* status.
The local authority is Wandsworth Council, based atWandsworth Town Hall.
Since 2000, for elections to theLondon Assembly, the borough forms part of theMerton and Wandsworth constituency.
The borough contains three parliamentary constituencies:
According to the 2021 census, Wandsworth has a population of 327,506. In 2021, 67.8% of the population was white, 10.1% black and 11.6% Asian.
A 2017 study byTrust for London and theNew Policy Institute found that Wandsworth has the lowest rate of unemployment of any London borough. It also has the 2nd lowest rate of local employees who are low-paid.[8]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 12,087 | — |
| 1811 | 15,303 | +26.6% |
| 1821 | 17,779 | +16.2% |
| 1831 | 19,681 | +10.7% |
| 1841 | 23,959 | +21.7% |
| 1851 | 30,241 | +26.2% |
| 1861 | 74,569 | +146.6% |
| 1871 | 118,896 | +59.4% |
| 1881 | 163,224 | +37.3% |
| 1891 | 243,427 | +49.1% |
| 1901 | 306,090 | +25.7% |
| 1911 | 384,884 | +25.7% |
| 1921 | 394,964 | +2.6% |
| 1931 | 405,317 | +2.6% |
| 1941 | 375,040 | −7.5% |
| 1951 | 347,025 | −7.5% |
| 1961 | 323,064 | −6.9% |
| 1971 | 300,832 | −6.9% |
| 1981 | 252,242 | −16.2% |
| 1991 | 265,058 | +5.1% |
| 2001 | 260,383 | −1.8% |
| 2011 | 306,995 | +17.9% |
| Note:[9] | ||
| Ethnic Group | Year | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 estimations[10] | 1971 estimations[11] | 1981 estimations[12] | 1991 census[13] | 2001 census[14] | 2011 census[15] | 2021 census[16] | ||||||||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| White: Total | – | 93.8% | – | 89.1% | 200,184 | 81.2% | 201,821 | 80% | 202,978 | 78.0% | 219,216 | 71.4% | 222,090 | 67.8% |
| White:British | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 168,665 | 64.8% | 163,739 | 53.3% | 157,048 | 48.0% |
| White:Irish | – | 4.1% | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8,151 | 3.1% | 7,664 | 2.5% | 8,061 | 2.5% |
| White:Gypsy or Irish Traveller | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 163 | 0.1% | 120 | 0.0% |
| White: Roma | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,730 | 0.5% |
| White:Other | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 26,162 | 10.0% | 47,650 | 15.5% | 55,131 | 16.8% |
| Asian or Asian British: Total | – | 1.7% | – | – | – | – | 19,543 | 7.7% | 20,271 | 7.8% | 33,338 | 10.9% | 38,314 | 11.6% |
| Asian or Asian British:Indian | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7,700 | 7,412 | 2.8% | 8,642 | 2.8% | 9,599 | 2.9% | |
| Asian or Asian British:Pakistani | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4,198 | 5,449 | 2.1% | 9,718 | 3.2% | 12,249 | 3.7% | |
| Asian or Asian British:Bangladeshi | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,020 | 1,099 | 0.4% | 1,493 | 0.5% | 1,639 | 0.5% | |
| Asian or Asian British:Chinese | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,077 | 2,227 | 0.9% | 3,715 | 1.2% | 4,658 | 1.4% | |
| Asian or Asian British: Other Asian | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4,548 | 4,084 | 1.6% | 9,770 | 3.2% | 10,169 | 3.1% | |
| Black or Black British: Total | – | 4.5% | – | – | – | – | 26,815 | 10.6% | 25,066 | 9.6% | 32,756 | 10.7% | 33,062 | 10.1% |
| Black or Black British:African | – | 1% | – | – | – | – | 7,303 | 10,013 | 3.8% | 14,818 | 4.8% | 17,330 | 5.3% | |
| Black or Black British:Caribbean | – | 3.5% | – | – | – | – | 15,305 | 12,665 | 4.9% | 12,297 | 4.0% | 11,356 | 3.5% | |
| Black or Black British:Other Black | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4,207 | 2,388 | 0.9% | 5,641 | 1.8% | 4,376 | 1.3% | |
| Mixed or British Mixed: Total | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8,728 | 3.4% | 15,241 | 5.0% | 20,598 | 6.3% |
| Mixed: White and Black Caribbean | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,893 | 1.1% | 4,642 | 1.5% | 5,340 | 1.6% |
| Mixed: White and Black African | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,252 | 0.5% | 2,034 | 0.7% | 2,494 | 0.8% |
| Mixed: White and Asian | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,247 | 0.9% | 3,887 | 1.3% | 5,776 | 1.8% |
| Mixed: Other Mixed | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,336 | 0.9% | 4,678 | 1.5% | 6,988 | 2.1% |
| Other: Total | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4,246 | 1.7% | 3,337 | 1.3% | 6,444 | 2.1% | 13,442 | 4.1% |
| Other: Arab | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,350 | 0.8% | 3,860 | 1.2% |
| Other: Any other ethnic group | – | – | – | – | – | – | 4,246 | 1.7% | 3,337 | 1.3% | 4,094 | 1.3% | 9,582 | 2.9% |
| Ethnic minority: Total | – | 6.2% | – | 10.9% | 46,490 | 18.8% | 50,604 | 20% | 57,402 | 22.1% | 87,779 | 28.7% | 105,416 | 32.2% |
| Total | – | 100% | – | 100% | 246,674 | 100% | 252,425 | 100% | 260,380 | 100.00% | 306,995 | 100.00% | 327,506 | 100% |
Five bridges join Wandsworth to the three London Boroughs on the north side of the Thames (from downstream following the river up):
There are also a number of bridges crossing theRiver Wandle which runs through the centre of Wandsworth town and divides the borough in two.
National Rail services are operated fromLondon Waterloo bySouth Western Railway toEarlsfield,Putney,Queenstown Road (Battersea),Wandsworth Town and the borough's largest station,Clapham Junction. This last station is also served fromLondon Victoria bySouthern as areBalham,Battersea Park andWandsworth Common.
London Overground services mainly serveClapham Junction, which is the southern terminus for the West London Line that has services toStratford viaShepherd's Bush, though some trains terminate at the West London Line's northern terminus atWillesden Junction. The western terminus for the East London Line also is at Clapham Junction that has services toHighbury & Islington viaDenmark Hill. There is also a limited one train a dayparliamentary train service that terminates atBattersea Park instead of Clapham Junction.
London Underground services are provided on theDistrict line toEast Putney andSouthfields and on theNorthern line toBattersea Power Station,Balham,Clapham South,Tooting Bec andTooting Broadway.
Wandsworth London Borough Council andTransport for London (TfL) maintaincycling infrastructure in the Borough.
Cycle Superhighway 7 (CS7) is an unbroken, signpostedcycle route running through the southeastern portion of the Borough. The route runs along theA24 andA3 roads, throughTooting,Balham, andClapham. Northbound the route links the Borough directly to theCity of London viaKennington,Elephant and Castle, andSouthwark. Southbound, the route runs unbroken toColliers Wood.
Cycle Superhighway 8 (CS8) is an unbroken, signposted cycle route running through the northern edge of Wandsworth, throughBattersea. The route runs east–west along theA3205/Battersea Park Road, but the route leaves the Borough to the north overChelsea Bridge. The route begins in Wandsworth Town and runs toMillbank,City of Westminster, passingChelsea and theTate Britainen route.
Although CS8 leaves the Borough to the north, cycling infrastructure is provided along the entire A3205 route between Wandsworth Town andNine Elms. This means that there is a continuous, signposted cycle route - primarily along designatedcycle lanes - from Wandsworth Town and Battersea toVauxhall,Lambeth, and theSouth Bank.
Quietway 4 (Q4) runs fromClapham Common toEarlsfield in the Borough, throughWandsworth Common.[17]
The Wandle Trail is ashared-use trail for cyclists and pedestrians between Wandsworth Town andWaddon. The route is signposted and mainly traffic-free. It runs through Earlsfield, Colliers Wood,Morden,Mitcham, andCarshalton along the way.[18]
TheSantander Cycles bike-sharing system operates inPutney, Wandsworth Town, and Battersea.[17]
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were (of all residents aged 16–74):
Whitelands College was founded Chelsea in 1842 by theChurch of England, and heavily under the influence ofJohn Ruskin. In 1930/1931 the college relocated toWest Hill (Wandsworth Borough) and occupied an enormous purpose-built site, with buildings designed bySir Giles Gilbert Scott. These buildings, now listed, were one of the Borough's largest educational sites until 2005 when the college, again moved, this time to a site inRoehampton, where it is now a constituent College ofRoehampton University.
The borough's schools includeEmanuel School,Graveney School,Southfields Academy,Burntwood School,Ashcroft Technology Academy,Ernest Bevin Academy, Ark Bolingbroke Academy, Ark Putney Academy and Chestnut Grove Academy.
The dominant religion of the borough isChristianity, although the area is also home to a number of other religious communities. The community is home to a number ofSikhs,Jews,Muslims,Buddhists andHindus.[20]
According to the 2011 Census, approximately 35% of Wandsworth identified as beingnon-religious, or chose not to state their faith.[21]
The following shows the religious identity of residents residing in Wandsworth according to the 2001, 2011 and the 2021 censuses.
| Religion | 2001[22] | 2011[23] | 2021[24] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Holds religious beliefs | 185,515 | 71.2 | 200,138 | 65.2 | 185,457 | 56.6 |
| Christian | 160,946 | 61.8 | 162,590 | 53.0 | 139,656 | 42.6 |
| Muslim | 13,529 | 5.2 | 24,746 | 8.1 | 32,519 | 9.9 |
| Jewish | 1,691 | 0.6 | 1,617 | 0.5 | 1,756 | 0.5 |
| Hindu | 5,929 | 2.3 | 6,496 | 2.1 | 6,419 | 2.0 |
| Sikh | 651 | 0.3 | 832 | 0.3 | 967 | 0.3 |
| Buddhist | 1,843 | 0.7 | 2,574 | 0.8 | 2,275 | 0.7 |
| Other religion | 926 | 0.4 | 1,283 | 0.4 | 1,871 | 0.6 |
| No religion | 52,042 | 20.0 | 82,740 | 27.0 | 118,543 | 36.2 |
| Religion not stated | 22,823 | 8.8 | 24,117 | 7.8 | 23,500 | 7.2 |
| Total population | 260,380 | 100.0 | 306,995 | 100.0 | 327,500 | 100.0 |
Wandsworth has responsibility for three Metropolitan Open Spaces:
These three large green spaces together with a range of smaller parks and playgrounds (such asWandsworth Park) are patrolled by Wandsworth Council's own parks police known from 1984 to 2012 as theWandsworth Parks Police. From April 2012 the Parks Police team of 23 officers was replaced by a smaller Wandsworth Events Police Service (WEPS) working with a team of 12 Metropolitan Police Officers. This system was deemed unsuccessful, and in 2015 the WEPS was rebranded as Wandsworth Parks and Events Police (WPEP) and returned to full staffing levels of 33 police officers and support officers.[25][26]
Also within the borough's boundaries arePutney Heath and part of Putney Lower Common, which are managed as part ofWimbledon Common, and the west side ofClapham Common, which is managed by theLondon Borough of Lambeth.
The armorial bearings retain many of the features of the arms of the formerMetropolitan Borough of Battersea andMetropolitan Borough of Wandsworth.
The fess, or crossing, of the shield is chequered blue and gold representing the arms of William de Warren, created first Earl of Surrey byWilliam Rufus. Each gold square bears a teardrop representing the tears of the FrenchHuguenots, many of whom settled in Wandsworth from 1685.
The ship at the top may refer to the Wendels, a tribe of sea-raiders from the Continent who supposedly gave their name to the district, for Wendelsworth was an early variation of Wandsworth. The four shields and oars on the ship represent the four parishes of Battersea, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth.
The dove to the left is taken from the former Battersea coat of arms and the black dragon to the right was taken from the former Wandsworth arms and also refers to London, being similar to theCity of London coat of arms.
The Borough is informally twinned with the village ofVillers-Plouich, in Northern France. This association dates back to World War I, following the role played by theWandsworth Battalion in the liberation of Villers-Plouich in 1917, and again, following recapture, in 1918. Writing in the 'Wandsworth Borough News' in 1920, Robert H Harker, a Lieutenant in the Battalion, described the cemetery in the village as"an inseparable link between our great Borough and that village of Villers-Plouich, near the Somme".[28]
For his courage and determination during the hostilities,Corporal Edward Foster, of Tooting, was awarded both theVictoria Cross and theMédaille militaire.[29] A green heritage plaque was unveiled at his former home at Tooting in 2017,[30] and in 2018 a memorial in his name was established on the outskirts of Villers-Plouich.[31]
Following the end of the War the village was adopted by the thenMetropolitan Borough of Wandsworth under the British 'League of Help' scheme,[28] and funds were donated towards its reconstruction. A deputation from Wandsworth regularly visits to commemorate this connection, most recently in 2018.[32]
Wandsworth first established a twin town arrangement withSchiedam, in the Netherlands, in 1946.[33] A number of refugees from Schiedam who had lived for a time in Wandsworth during World War II hoped to maintain their connections with the London Borough during peacetime.[34] The twinning was organised within the scope of the Dutch-English Sports Plan.[33] In subsequent years multiple sporting fixtures between teams from the two areas were arranged including football,[35] swimming,[36] gymnastics,[37] korfball (Wandsworth has a korfball club, at Tooting)[38] and cricket (Schiedam is one of the strongholds for cricket in the Netherlands).[39]
For many years the wartime connections were acknowledged during annual Remembrance Day commemorations in the two municipalities, either through an exchange of wreaths or by sending a representative.[40] Within the context of both inter-business exchange and sporting fixtures, visits were also arranged by specific Wandsworth organisations such as Small Electric Motors[41] and theRediffusion factory,[42] as guests of their counterparts at Schiedam companies such as Wilton Personnel and Pieterman Glass.[43][44]
In 1970 a large delegation from Wandsworth visited Schiedam for celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the town's liberation.[45][46][47] Further sporting and cultural exchanges continued through to at least 1977.[48] However, in 1997, an article in the Dutch local press observed that the relationship with Wandsworth had lapsed.[49]
SW4 (part),SW8 (part),SW11 (all),SW12 (part),SW15 (part),SW16 (part),SW17 (part),SW18 (part),SW19 (part)
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