| Sands End | |
|---|---|
  Sands End Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 12,760 (2011 Census.Ward)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ265765 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SW6 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°28′23″N0°10′48″W / 51.473°N 0.180°W /51.473; -0.180 | |
Sands End is an area of the ancient parish ofFulham, formerly in theCounty of Middlesex, which is now the southernmost part of theLondon Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England. In a deep loop of theRiver Thames, between the tidalChelsea Creek and the old Peterborough estate, west ofWandsworth Bridge, its northern edge isNew King's Road. While wharves, industrial acres and workers' cottages gave way to intensive re-development such asChelsea Harbour and Imperial Wharf in the last quarter of the 20th-century, it still contains some 300-year-old cottages and 19th century streets.
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For centuries, this swampy place was a rural backwater, cut off from other villages and the main thoroughfares into theCity of London. Its earliest recorded landowner was John de Saundeford in the reign ofEdward I. Barbara Denny, a contemporary historian, wrote thatKing Henry VIII granted the manor of Sandford to the Abbot of Westminster, but that in 1549 it returned to theCrown.
Ten years later,Queen Mary sold it to amercer fromLondon, William Maynard. Although the estate had a manor house, for centuries the land was used mainly for pasture. Singing nightingales in the 17th-century are said to have arrested the attention of essayist and politician,Joseph Addison (1672–1719), who came to live in his 'retreat' hereabouts, but probably not inSandford Manor House, which is in present-day Rewell Street, andGrade II* listed.[2] Another reputed resident wasNell Gwyn.[3]
The historian of Fulham, Charles Féret (1852–1921), devotes several chapters of his three-volume work to the origins of Sands End. As distinct from ownership, settlement of the area did not begin till theElizabethan era, as can be inferred from this extract from Féret:
A small volume might, indeed, be filled by citations of similar entries referring to lands which had belonged to Goldhawk 'at the Sand.' In the earlier Court Rolls one or two other persons are described as 'atte Sonde'. In 1454 we hear of a 'John Burton atte Sonde.' In a presentment of 1569 there is mentioned a 'Thomas Burton of Sandes.' It is not till the time of theVirgin Queen that we hear of the 'End,' from which we may infer that the nucleus of a tiny village was only then in course of formation. The earliest instance of the name is in 1566, when mention is made of the 'bridge at Sandeande.' In 1575 John Powell, gent, was required to make his fence between 'Gill Hale' and the premises of John Burton at 'Sands Ende.' Two years later this John Burton was ordered to scour his ditches (foveas) at 'Sand End', between 'Gilhalle' and 'Peasecroft' (see vol. ii. p. 83)[4]
In spite of its rural charms, the area was affected by flooding, dampness and the effluent descending fromCounter's Creek, sometimes referred to as a sewer, so by the early 19th-century, the estate was in decline. Dr Barton MD, author of 'the Lost Rivers of London', quotes a colleague from the West London Medical Journal, who had observed thatrheumatism was unusually common on both sides of Counter's Creek fromShepherd's Bush to Chelsea.[5]
In 1824, twenty acres of the estate were bought by theImperial Gas Light and Coke Company, the first public utility enterprise in the world. So began almost two centuries of industrialisation and manufacturing. Craftsmen and artists were still attracted to its fringes, most notably,William De Morgan, a friend ofWilliam Morris and a member of theArts and Crafts movement.[6]
The growth of theTemperance movement produced yet another brewery in Fulham, only without any alcohol content. On an eight-acre site in Sands End, just east ofWandsworth Bridge, the Polish-born entrepreneur,Henry Lowenfeld built theKops Brewery that started production in 1890. It lasted to the dawn ofWorld War I when it was turned into a margarine factory and later turned to food logistics.[7]
In 1901,Fulham Council built itsgasworks here, whileMacFarlane Lang had established its biscuit factory nearby. Sands End became noted as a close knitworking class community in the industrial heartland of Fulham with its gas works, power station and petrol depot providing work for generations of local families.[8]
A property boom begun in the 1970s coupled with the advent of oil-fuelled processing ofNorth Sea oil led to a process ofGentrification with offices and studio businesses and flats on the market for prices more customary in the centre of the capital.[9] On the northern bank of theThames there is Hurlingham Retail Park, which includes an electrical retailer and tile stores. There is also a business enterprise centre in theSulivan district. Across the other side of Townmead Road there is a very large food and home wares supermarket, andImperial Wharf, a brownfield development of the former Imperial Gasworks which is growing to include a mixture of affordable housing, both private and public, shops, a park and a new railway station.[citation needed]
Also in this part ofFulham isSouth Park. Wandsworth Bridge Road runs through Sands End and has restaurants, tile and pine furniture shops, and theChurch of England parish church of Saint Matthew.[citation needed]
Because of the notoriously poor transport links for the area (including Chelsea Harbour), including the absence of tube stations due to the many medieval plague pits which deterred their building in Victorian times, the nearbyImperial Wharf station was opened on 27 September 2009, providing direct rail links withClapham Junction andWillesden Junction viaKensington (Olympia).Southern also provides direct train services from Imperial Wharf toWatford Junction andEast Croydon. It is hoped that the area will be re-vitalized by the new station and transport links in the areas which were previously served only by bus routes391 andC3.[citation needed]
River bus services are provided at peak hours byLondon River Services fromChelsea Harbour Pier, and offer transport toPutney andBlackfriars Millennium Pier.[10]
Sands End is part of theSands End ward for elections toHammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council.[11]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)In October 2008 an interactive local history website,Sands End Revisited, was published with photos and memories from residents closed in 2015, but e-mail contact available.[1]
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