| Wimbledon | |
|---|---|
 Wimbledon town centre | |
  Wimbledon Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 68,187 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | TQ239709 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SW18 (part), SW19 and SW20 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°25′25″N0°12′20″W / 51.4237°N 0.2056°W /51.4237; -0.2056 | |
Wimbledon (/ˈwɪmbəldən/) is a suburb of southwest London, England, 7.0 miles (11.3 km) southwest ofCharing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of theLondon Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,189 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimbledon Town and Dundonald, Hillside, Wandle, Village, Raynes Park and Wimbledon Park.[1]
It is home to theWimbledon Championships andNew Wimbledon Theatre, and containsWimbledon Common, one of the largest areas ofcommon land in London. The residential and retail area is split into two sections known as the "village" and the "town", with the High Street being the rebuilding of the original medieval village, and the "town" having first developed gradually after the building of the railway station in 1838.
Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least theIron Age when thehill fort on Wimbledon Common is thought to have been constructed. In 1086 when theDomesday Book was compiled, Wimbledon was part of the manor ofMortlake. The ownership of the manor of Wimbledon changed between various wealthy families many times during its history, and the area also attracted other wealthy families who built large houses such as Eagle House,Wimbledon Manor House andWarren House.
The village developed with a stable rural population coexisting with nobility and wealthy merchants from the city. In the 18th century theDog and Fox public house became a stop on thestagecoach run from London toPortsmouth, then in 1838 theLondon and South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened a station to the southeast of the village at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill. The location of the station shifted the focus of the town's subsequent growth away from the original village centre.
Wimbledon was amunicipal borough in the county of Surrey from 1905 to 1965,[2] when it became part of the London Borough of Merton as part of the creation ofGreater London.
Wimbledon has establishedminority groups; among the prominent ones beingBritish Asians (mainlyBritish Pakistanis andBritish Sri Lankans),British Ghanaians,Poles andIrish people.
Nearby major settlements includeMorden,Mitcham,Colliers Wood,Raynes Park,Roehampton,Southfields,Putney,Wimbledon Chase,Merton Park,New Malden andSouth Wimbledon.
Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least theIron Age when thehill fort onWimbledon Common, the second-largest in London,[3] is thought to have been constructed. The originalnucleus of Wimbledon was at the top of the hill close to the common – the area now known locally as "the village".
The village is referred to as "Wimbedounyng" in a charter signed byKing Edgar the Peaceful in 967. The name Wimbledon means "Wynnman's hill", with the final element of the name being the Celtic "dun" (hill).[4] The name is shown on J. Cary's 1786 map of the London area as "Wimbleton", and the current spelling appears to have been settled on relatively recently in the early 19th century, the last in a long line of variations.
At the time theDomesday Book was compiled (around 1086), Wimbledon was part of themanor ofMortlake, and so was not recorded.[5] The ownership of the manor of Wimbledon changed hands many times during its history. The manor was held by the church until 1398 whenThomas Arundel,Archbishop of Canterbury fell out of favour withRichard II and was exiled. The manor was confiscated and became crown property.
The manor remained crown property until the reign ofHenry VIII when it was granted briefly toThomas Cromwell,Earl of Essex, until Cromwell was executed in 1540 and the land was again confiscated. The manor was next held by Henry VIII's last wife and widowCatherine Parr until her death in 1548 when it again reverted to the monarch.
In the 1550s, Henry's daughter,Mary I, granted the manor toCardinalReginald Pole who held it until his death in 1558 when it once again become royal property. Mary's sister,Elizabeth I held the property until 1574 when she gave the manor house (but not the manor) toChristopher Hatton, who sold it in the same year toSir Thomas Cecil,Earl of Exeter. The lands of the manor were given to the Cecil family in 1588 and a new manor house,Wimbledon Palace, was constructed and gardens laid out in the formalElizabethan style.
Wimbledon's proximity to the capital was beginning to attract other wealthy families. In 1613 Robert Bell, Master of theWorshipful Company of Girdlers and a director of theBritish East India Company built Eagle House as a home at an easy distance from London. The Cecil family retained the manor for fifty years, before it was bought byCharles I in 1638 for his Queen,Henrietta Maria.
Following theKing's execution in 1649, the manor passed rapidly among variousparliamentarian owners, including theLeedsMember of Parliament (MP)Adam Baynes and thecivil war generalJohn Lambert; Lambert drafted theInstrument of Government, the founding document ofthe Protectorate, at Wimbledon. After therestoration of the monarchy in 1660, it was returned to Henrietta Maria (now as mother of the new King,Charles II).
TheDowager Queen sold the manor in 1661 toGeorge Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, who employedJohn Evelyn to improve and update the landscape in accordance with the latest fashions, includinggrottos and fountains. After his death in 1677, the manor was sold again to theLord High Treasurer,Thomas Osborne,Earl of Danby.
The Osborne family sold the manor toSir Theodore Janssen in 1712. Janssen, a director of theSouth Sea Company, began a new house to replace the one built by the Cecils, but the spectacular collapse of the company meant it was never finished.
The next owner wasSarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, who increased the land belonging to the manor and completed the construction of a house to replace Jansen's unfinished effort in 1736. On her death in 1744, the property passed to her grandson, John Spencer, and subsequently to the firstEarl Spencer.
The village continued to grow and the 18th-century introduction ofstagecoach services from theDog and Fox made the journey to London routine, although not without the risk of being held-up byhighwaymen, such asJerry Abershawe on thePortsmouth Road. The stagecoach horses would be stabled at the rear of the pub in what are now named Wimbledon Village Stables.
The 1735 manor house burnt down in the 1780s and was replaced in 1801 by Wimbledon Park House, built by thesecond Earl. At the time the manor estate included Wimbledon Common (as aheath) and the enclosed parkland around the manor house. Its area corresponded to the modernWimbledon Park. The house stood east ofSt Mary's church.
Wimbledon House, a separate residence close to the village at the south end of Parkside (near Peek Crescent), was home in the 1790s to the exiled French statesmanVicomte de Calonne, and later to the mother of the writerFrederick Marryat. Their association with the area is recorded in the names of nearby Calonne and Marryat roads. Directly south of the common, the early 18th-century Warren House (Cannizaro House from 1841) was home to a series of grand residents.
The first decades of the 19th century were relatively quiet for Wimbledon, with a stable rural population coexisting alongside nobility and wealthy merchants from the city. Renewed upheaval came in 1838, when the opening of theLondon and South Western Railway (L&SWR) brought a station to the south-east of the village, at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill. The location of the station shifted the focus of the town's subsequent growth away from the original village centre.
For several years Wimbledon Park was leased to theDuke of Somerset, who briefly in the 1820s employed a youngJoseph Paxton as one of his gardeners, but in the 1840s the Spencer family sold the park off as building land. A period of residential development began with large detached houses in the north of the park. In 1864, the Spencers attempted to get parliamentary permission[6] toenclose the common as a new park with a house and gardens and to sell part for building. Following an enquiry, permission was refused and a board of conservators was established in 1871 to take ownership of the common and preserve it in its natural condition.[7][8]
In the second half of the century, Wimbledon experienced a very rapid expansion of its population. From under 2,700 residents recorded in the 1851 census, the population grew by a minimum of 60 per cent each decade up to 1901, to increase fifteen-fold in fifty years. Large numbers of villas and terraced houses were built along the roads from the centre towards neighbouring Putney,Merton Park andRaynes Park.
Transport links improved further with railway lines to Croydon (Wimbledon and Croydon Railway, opened in 1855) and Tooting (Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway, opened in 1868). TheDistrict Railway (now theLondon UndergroundDistrict line) extended its service over new tracks from Putney in 1889.
The commercial and civic development of the town also accelerated. Ely'sdepartment store opened in 1876 and shops began to stretch along Broadway towards Merton. Wimbledon built its first police station in 1870. Cultural developments included a Literary Institute by the early 1860s and the opening of Wimbledon Library in 1887. The religious needs of the growing population led to anAnglican church-building programme, starting with the rebuilding of St Mary's Church in 1849 and the construction of Christ Church (1859) and Trinity Church (1862).
Street names reflect events: Denmark Road, Denmark Avenue and theAlexandra pub on Wimbledon Hill mark the marriage ofEdward, Prince of Wales, to PrincessAlexandra of Denmark.[9]
The change of character of Wimbledon from village to small town was recognised under theLocal Government Act 1894, which formed Wimbledon Urban District with an electedcouncil.
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Wimbledon's population continued to grow in the early 20th century, as was recognised in 1905, when the urban district was incorporated as theMunicipal Borough of Wimbledon, with the power to select a mayor.[2]
By 1910, Wimbledon had established the beginnings of theWimbledon School of Art at the Gladstone Road Technical Institute and acquired its first cinema and the theatre. Unusually, the facilities at its opening includedVictorian-style Turkish baths.[10]
By the 1930s, residential expansion had peaked in Wimbledon and the new focus for local growth had moved to neighbouringMorden, which had remained rural until the arrival of the Underground atMorden station in 1926.Wimbledon station was rebuilt by theSouthern Railway with a simple Portland stone facade for the opening of a new railway branch line from Wimbledon toSutton in 1930.
In 1931, the council built a new red brick andPortland stoneTown Hall next to the station, on the corner of Queen's Road and Wimbledon Bridge. The architects wereBradshaw Gass & Hope.
Damage to housing stock in Wimbledon and other parts of London duringWorld War II led to a final major building phase when many earlier Victorian houses with large grounds in Wimbledon Park were sub-divided into flats or demolished and replaced with apartment blocks. Other parts of Wimbledon Park, which had previously escaped being built upon, saw local authority estates constructed by the borough council, to house some of those who had lost their homes.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Wimbledon town centre struggled to compete commercially with more developed centres atKingston andSutton. Part of the problem was the shortage of locations for large anchor stores to attract customers. After some years in which the council seemed unable to find a solution, TheCentre Court shopping centre was developed on land next to the station, providing a much-needed focus, and opened in 1990.[11] The shopping centre incorporated the old town hall building. A new portico, in keeping with the old work, was designed by SirGeorge Grenfell-Baines, who had worked on the original designs over fifty years before.
Wimbledon lies in the south-west area of London, three miles (4.8 km) south ofWandsworth, two miles (3.2 km) south-west ofTooting, three miles northwest ofMitcham, four miles (6.4 km) north ofSutton and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east ofKingston upon Thames, inGreater London. It is 7 miles (11.3 km) south-west ofCharing Cross. The area is identified in theLondon Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.[12]
It is considered an affluent suburb with its grand Victorian houses, modern housing and low-rise apartments.[13] The residential area splits into two sections: the village and the town,[14] with the village near the common centred on the High Street, being part of the original medieval village,[15] and now a prime residential area of London commanding high prices, and the "town" being part of the modern development, centred on The Broadway, since the building of the railway station in 1838.
The majority of the adult population of around 68,200 adults belong to theABC1 social group.[16] The population grew from around 1,000 at the start of the 19th century to around 55,000 in 1911, a figure which has remained reasonably stable since.[17]
Wimbledon is covered by several wards in the London Borough of Merton, making it difficult to produce statistics for the town as a whole.
The largest ethnic groups (up to 10%) in the wards according to the 2011 census are:
At the time theDomesday Book was compiled (around 1086), Wimbledon was part of themanor of Mortlake.[5] From 1328 to 1536, a manor of Wimbledon was recorded as belonging to theArchbishop of Canterbury.[24]
The manor of Wimbledon changed hands many times during its history. Wimbledon was anAncient Parish from the medieval period, later being re-organised as the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon within the county ofSurrey.
In 1965, theLondon Government Act 1963 abolished the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon,Merton and Morden Urban District and theMunicipal Borough of Mitcham, creating instead the London Borough of Merton. Initially, the new administrative centre was at Wimbledon Town Hall, but it moved to the 14-storey Crown House in Morden in the early 1990s.
It is now the Parliamentary constituency ofWimbledon, and since2024 has been represented byPaul Kohler, aLiberal Democrat MP.
In 2012 the businesses in Wimbledon voted to introduce a Business Improvement District. "Love Wimbledon" was formed in April 2012, funded and managed by the business community to promote and enhance the town centre. Those who work within Wimbledon can apply for a 'Privilege Card' which provides discounts and benefits within the town centre.[25]
The UK's leading car-sharing companyZipcar has its UK headquarters in Wimbledon.[26] Other notable organisations with head offices in Wimbledon includeCIPD, Ipsotek,United Response, theCommunication Workers Union (United Kingdom)[27] and, until 2022,Lidl.[28]
TheWimbledon Times (formerlyWimbledon Guardian) provides local news in print and online.[29]
In the 1870s, at the bottom of the hill on land between the railway line and Worple Road, the All-England Croquet Club had begun to hold its annual championships. But the popularity ofcroquet was waning as the new sport oflawn tennis began to spread, and after initially setting aside just one of its lawns for tennis, the club decided to hold itsfirst Lawn Tennis Championship in July 1877. By 1922, the popularity of tennis had grown to the extent that the club's small ground could no longer cope with the numbers of spectators and the renamedAll England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club moved to new grounds close to Wimbledon Park.
Wimbledon historian Richard Milward recounts how KingGeorge V opened the new courts. "He (the king) gave three blows on a gong, the tarpaulins were removed, the first match started – and the rain came down." The club's old grounds continue to be used as the sports ground forWimbledon High School.
Wimbledon Village Stables is the oldest recorded riding stables in England. The late Richard Milward MA, a local historian, researched the background of horses in Wimbledon over the years and found that the first recorded stables belonged to the Lord of the Manor, and are detailed in the Estate's accounts of 1236–37. Stables on the current site, behind theDog & Fox pub in the High Street, were founded in 1915 by William Kirkpatrick and named Hilcote Stables; William's daughter Jean took over on his retirement and continued to visit the stables until her death in 2005. From 1969 Hilcote Stables were leased to Colin Crawford, and when they came up for sale in 1980 renamed Wimbledon Village Stables. It is now approved by the British Horse Society and the Association of British Riding Schools. It offers horse-riding lessons and hacks on Wimbledon Common and in Richmond Park.
In 1792 the Rev.Daniel Lysons publishedThe Environs of London: being a historical account of the towns, villages, and hamlets, within twelve miles of that capital in which he wrote: "In the early part of the present century there were annual races upon this common, which had then a King's plate." However, he gives no further details and does not say how successful horse racing was or how long it lasted.
In the 1860s, the newly formedNational Rifle Association held its first competition - the "Imperial Meeting" - on Wimbledon Common. The association and the annual competition grew rapidly and by the early 1870s, rifle ranges were established on the common. In 1878 the competitions were lasting two weeks and attracting nearly 2,500 competitors, housed in temporary camps set up across the common. By the 1880s, however, the power and range of rifles had advanced to the extent that shooting in an increasingly populated area was no longer considered safe. The last meeting was held in 1889 before the NRA moved toBisley in Surrey.
Wimbledon, a small farming locality in New Zealand, was named after this district in the 1880s after a local resident shot a bullock from a considerable distance away. The shot was considered by onlookers to be worthy of the rifle-shooting championships held in Wimbledon at the time.[30]
TheWimbledon Cup trophy, first awarded in Wimbledon for high-power rifles in 1866, was presented to the American rifle team in 1875 and a century and a half later continued to be awarded by theNational Rifle Association of America.[31]
From a small, long-establishednon-League team,Wimbledon Football Club had from 1977 climbed quickly through the ranks of theFootball League structure, reaching the highest national professional league in 1986 and winning theFA Cup againstLiverpool in 1988.
Wimbledon moved into astadium at Plough Lane in 1912 and played there for 79 years until beginning a ground share withCrystal Palace atSelhurst Park nearCroydon, as their progress through theFootball League meant that redeveloping Plough Lane to the required modern standards was impractical. The stadium stood dormant for 10 years until it was finally demolished in 2001. A housing development now occupies the site.[32]
AFC Wimbledon, thephoenix club founded to replace the departed team (seeMilton Keynes Dons), played for a number of years in Kingston upon Thames; in 2020, however, they moved into a new stadium, again namedPlough Lane, on the site of the former greyhound track and a short distance from its namesake.[33]
Wimbledon Cricket Club is based at The Wimbledon Club and also plays matches at Raynes Park Sports Ground.[34]
There are a number offield hockey clubs in the area.Wimbledon Hockey Club competes in theMen's England Hockey League, theWomen's England Hockey League and theSouth East Hockey League.[35][36] Berrylands Hockey Club, Merton Hockey Club and Mitcham Ladies Hockey Club are also nearby and compete in the South East Hockey League.[37][38][39][40][41][42]
For many yearsWimbledon Stadium hosted toGreyhound racing, as well asStock car racing andmotorcycle speedway. Speedway began atWimbledon Stadium in 1928. The local team, the"Dons", was successful over the decades. It started out in 1929 as a member of the Southern League and operated until the Second World War. The track re-opened in 1946 and the Dons operated in the top flight for many years. In the 1950s the track was home to two World Champions: Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs. In the Dons' last season, 2005, the team finished second in The National Conference League, but after the collapse of lease-renewal talks with the Greyhound Racing Association (owners of the stadium), the high increase in rent required meant the team was wound up. The stadium was demolished in 2017.
There are two active running clubs in Wimbledon Park called Hercules Wimbledon and the Wimbledon Windmilers. Both clubs includes some top athletes as well as beginners. AParkrun is held every Saturday morning. Prior to Parkrun, a similar event had been held as the Wimbledon Common Time Trial.
The New Wimbledon Theatre is aGrade II listedEdwardian theatre built by J. B. Mullholland as the Wimbledon Theatre, on the site of a large house with spacious grounds.[43] The theatre was designed by Cecil Aubrey Masey and Roy Young (possibly after a 1908 design by Frank H Jones). It opened on 26 December 1910 with thepantomimeJack and Jill.[44] The theatre was very popular between the wars, with appearances byGracie Fields,Sybil Thorndike,Ivor Novello,Markova andNoël Coward. Lionel Bart'sOliver! andHalf A Sixpence, starringTommy Steele, received their world premières at the theatre in the 1960s, before transferring to theWest End.
The theatre was saved from redevelopment by theAmbassador Theatre Group in 2004.[15][45] With several refurbishments, notably in 1991 and 1998, it retains itsbaroque andAdamesque internal features. The golden statue on the dome depictsLaetitia, the Roman Goddess of Gaiety, and was an original fixture back in 1910. Laetitia is holding alaurel crown as a symbol of celebration. The statue was removed duringWorld War II, as it was thought to be a direction finder for German bombers. It was eventually replaced in 1991.
ThePolka Theatre is a children's theatre in Wimbledon,London Borough of Merton, for children up to 13. The theatre contains two performance spaces – a 300-seat main auditorium and a 70-seat studio dedicated to early-year performances. Polka also has a creative learning studio, a garden, an outdoor playground, an indoor play area, exhibition spaces, and a cafe. It is a producing theatre, which also tours shows nationally and internationally, and provides a range of education and community engagement programmes for children as a registered charity[46] and anArts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.[47] It is also funded by theLondon Borough of Merton[48] and a number of private charitable trusts and foundations, individuals and firms. The theatre (formerly the Holy Trinity Halls in Wimbledon) opened in November 1979.
Wimbledon is part ofOyster Fare Zone 3.
| Start | End | Operator | Other Info |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Waterloo | Dorking | South Western Railway | |
| London Waterloo | Epsom | South Western Railway | |
| London Waterloo | Guildford | South Western Railway | |
| London Waterloo | Richmond | South Western Railway | |
| London Waterloo | Hampton Court | South Western Railway | |
| London Waterloo | Shepperton | South Western Railway | |
| London Waterloo | Chessington South | South Western Railway | |
| Luton | Sutton | Thameslink | Rush Hours Only |
| Bedford | Sutton | Thameslink | Rush Hours Only |
| St Albans City | Sutton | Thameslink |
Wimbledon is served byLondon Buses routes57,93,131,156,163,164,200,219 and493 and night busN87. It is also served byTramlink route 3.[49]
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In literature, Wimbledon provides the principal setting for several comic novels by authorNigel Williams (including the best-sellingThe Wimbledon Poisoner andThey Came from SW19), as well as forElisabeth Beresford's series of children's stories about theWombles.
Wimbledon was given as the site where the sixthMartian invasion cylinder landed inH. G. Wells' bookThe War of the Worlds and is mentioned briefly in the same author'sThe Time Machine andWhen the Sleeper Wakes.
Each October thousands attend the Wimbledon BookFest, which has been running since 2006. Over 60 events are held around Wimbledon, including at the Big Tent on the Common.
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