| Tooting | |
|---|---|
 Junction of Mitcham Road and Tooting High Street | |
  Tooting Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 16,239 (2011 Census. Ward)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ275715 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SW17 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
| 51°25′41″N0°09′54″W / 51.4280°N 0.1650°W /51.4280; -0.1650 | |
Tooting is a district inSouth London, forming part of theLondon Borough of Wandsworth. It is located 5 miles (8 kilometres) south south-west ofCharing Cross.[2]
Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin but the meaning is disputed. It could meanthe people of Tota, in which context Tota may have been a local Anglo-Saxon chieftain.[3] Alternatively it could be derived from an old meaning of the verbto tout, to look out. There may have been a watchtower here on the road to London and hencethe people of the look-out post.[3]
TheRomans built a road, which was later namedStane Street by the English, fromLondon (Londinium) toChichester (Noviomagus Regnorum), and which passed through Tooting. Tooting High Street is built on this road. In Saxon times, Tooting andStreatham (then Toting-cum-Stretham) was given to theAbbey of Chertsey. Later, Suene (Sweyn), believed to be aViking, may have been given all or part of the land. In 933,King Æthelstan is thought to have confirmed lands including Totinge (Tooting) to Chertsey Abbey.[4]
Tooting appears in theDomesday Book of 1086 asTotinges: Lower Tooting was held fromChertsey Abbey by Haimo the Sheriff (ofKent) when its assets were 1 church,2+1⁄2ploughlands of land and 5 acres (2 hectares) ofmeadow. Its people were called to render £4 per year to theiroverlords. Later in the Norman period, it came into the possession of the De Gravenel family, after whom it was namedTooting Graveney. Until minor changes in the 19th century it consisted of2 km2 (3⁄4 sq mi).[5] The ancient parish of Tooting Graveney included the southern part of what is now Streatham.[6]
Upper Tooting, orTooting Bec (for centuries administered as part of Streatham), appears as amanor held by theAbbey of Hellouin Bec, in Normandy, thus acquiring the "Bec" in its name. Its Domesday assets were 5hides. It had5+1⁄2 ploughlands and so was assessed as rendering £7.[7]
As with many of South London's suburbs, Tooting developed during the late Victorian period.[8] Some development occurred in the Edwardian era but another large spurt in growth happened during the 1920s and 30s.
The Member of Parliament for Tooting isDr Rosena Allin-Khan of theLabour Party, who was first elected in a2016 by-election to represent theparliamentary constituency of Tooting.[14] This followed the election of her predecessorSadiq Khan to the role ofMayor of London in May 2016.
Since the creation of the Tooting seat, it has been held by Labour, often with amarginal result against aConservative Party challenge. Although the constituency boundaries include wards represented by both Labour and the Conservatives, the Tooting ward itself can be regarded as a Labour stronghold, electing a full slate of councillors from the party.
Tooting has a largeBritish Asian community and has gained the nickname "land of the curry mile" due to the concentration of South Asian restaurants.[15]
In the2011 census, Tooting wasWhite orWhite British (47%),Asian orAsian British (28.8%),Black orBlack British (15.5%),Mixed/multiple ethnic groups (5%), and Other ethnic group (2.9%). The largest single ethnicity is White British (32.4%).[16]
The main spoken first languages are English, followed byUrdu,Punjabi,Polish andGujarati.[17]
Tooting is positioned on theNorthern line—with stations at the top and the bottom of the hill that slopes down the High Street,Tooting Bec andTooting Broadway. Tooting is also served byNational Rail atTooting railway station providing a direct link south toSutton viaWimbledon, and north toFarringdon,St Pancras and on toLuton.
It also has several bus links, with routes to and fromCentral London, Richmond,Croydon,Sutton andKingston amongst others.[18]
Tooting Broadway tube station is currently being considered by TfL as a stop on the futureCrossrail 2 development. In addition to relieving congestion on the Northern Line, this would provide Tooting with a rapid and direct connection to major London stations such as nearby Clapham Junction, Victoria, Tottenham Court Road and Euston.[19]
Totterdown Fields estate was designated aconservation area on 19 September 1978. It was the firstLondon County Councilcottage estate built between 1901 and 1911, containing 1244 individual houses over 38 acres (15 ha). It was influenced byEbenezer Howard'sGarden city movement and theArts and Crafts movement.[20]
As previously mentioned, Totterdown Fields estate has considerable historical significance, being the first "cottage estate" within London and later protected from redevelopment through its designation as a conservation area. Within the London Borough of Wandsworth, Tooting has the fourth-highest number of social housing accommodation afterRoehampton,Battersea andSouthfields in that order.[21] Notable large post-modern estates within the area are the: Aboyne/Holborn and Hazelhurst with smaller estates including: Bevill Allen Close, Burtop Road, Copeland House, Flowersmead, Newlands and Tooting Grove.[22]
A large open area, popularly known as theTooting Commons, lies at the northern end of Tooting. Historically this was two separate open spaces:Tooting Graveney Common (formerly part of Tooting Graveney parish), andTooting Bec Common (formerly part of Streatham parish). The commons are home toTooting Bec Lido,[23] which is 91.5 m × 30 m (300 ft × 98 ft).
Tooting shares two football clubs with nearbyMitcham:Tooting & Mitcham FC and Tooting & Mitcham Wanderers FC.
A greyhound racing track, the 'Wimbledon Stadium', was narrowly in Tooting on Plough Lane.AFC Wimbledon moved to the site in 2021.[24]
Tooting has two indoor markets, with numbers of permanent stalls. The entrances of both are situated on the same street, Tooting High Street, only a few metres apart. They both have many types of outlets, but since the 2010s have also developed a focus on street food stalls.Tooting Market is the smaller of the two; the other,The Broadway Market, is one of the largest of London's indoor markets, having more than ninety stalls, and has been active since 1936.[25]
InAndré Charlot'sWest EndrevueThe Charlot Show of 1926,Jessie Matthews and Henry Lytton, Jnr. sang "Silly Little Hill", which features the lyric "there's no fishing, there’s no shooting dear / and no cyclists fresh from Tooting dear", which they also recorded that year.[32]
TheEaling Studios filmKind Hearts and Coronets (1949), starringAlec Guinness, references Tooting Bec as the residence of one of the characters.
TheBBCcomedy seriesHugh & I (1962–67) was set in the fictional Lobelia Avenue in Tooting.[33]
The BBC comedy seriesCitizen Smith (1977–80) was set in Tooting and popularised the cry "Freedom for Tooting!". The lead character in the series, Wolfie Smith (Robert Lindsay), was the founder of a fictional revolutionary socialist political organisation, the Tooting Popular Front.[34]
TheKitchens of Distinction (who formed in the area) recorded "On Tooting Broadway Station" on their albumThe Death of Cool (1992).
In 2005, a 28 km diametercrater on Mars was named after Tooting.[35] Ageological map of Tooting Crater was published in 2015 by theU.S. Geological Survey.[36]
The phrase "Ting Tong from Tooting" is associated with the character Ting Tong from the UK comedy sketch showLittle Britain.
Tooting was the setting for the eponymous 2013 British-Tamilcrime dramaGangs of Tooting Broadway.[37]
In the filmJohnny English Reborn, Agent Tucker lives in Tooting.[38]
Channel 4's award-winning documentary series24 Hours in A&E was filmed atSt George's Hospital in Tooting.[39]
In the BBC comedy dramaFleabag, the title character's sister Claire says she is from Tooting.[40]
In the second season ofApple TV comedyTed Lasso, Tooting is referenced as the home of a fictional Greek restaurant called A Taste of Athens.[41]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
| Districts |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Attractions | ||
| Bridges and tunnels | ||
| Parks and open spaces | ||
| Constituencies | ||
| Tube and rail stations | ||
| Other topics |
| |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
