Walking in Wandsworth

With John Goodier

This walk explores some of the parks in the
borough of Wandsworth. we start in Battersea
with some small local parks and then move on to
larger and better-known sites.

Our start is at York Gardens, created in 1972 when the
surrounding social housing was built, replacing run-down
properties. One fragment of the old landscape is St Peterís
Church. The oldest part has a painted mural Battersea Puzzle
(1981) by Christine Thomas on it. This is likely to go soon
when the church is rebuilt. York Gardens has a central seating
area amongst rose beds and some play equipment. It is also
home to the library and community centre and the children's
centre, which both open directly into the park. It is also home
to Thames Waters Falconbrook Pumping Station. This marks
the last stretch of one of Londonís lost rivers.

Fred Wells Gardens is a hidden gem in Orville Road off
Battersea High Street. The site in the past has been a
greyhound track, and was a railway station from 1863 to 1940,
when it was bombed. The site eventually became small works
yards. In 1982, it was made into a park in memory of Fred
Wells, a local Councillor. An adjacent area in Orville Road had
been prefab housing on a site of bombed houses and in the
nineties this area was added to the park. The park has several
mounds giving an interesting layout and there is good shrub
and tree planting. There is an area of more recent formal
planting along Orville Road and the park has a tennis court and
two play areas. The one for older children exploits one of the
mounds. The general impression is of greenness.

Our next stop is Christchurch Gardens. This is an old
garden converted from a churchyard by the MPGA and the
local vestry in 1885. The church was destroyed by bombing in
the war and the current church is by Thomas Ford, with some
of the murals by Hans Fiebarch, dates from 1959. Ford and
Fiebarch collaborated on several churches in south London
after the war. The garden has a pergola and shelter which is a
civilian war memorial. The bronze plaque was stolen and has
been replaced by a granite one provided by the Co-op Funeral
Service.

Latchmere Gardens is the next park. It was laid out in in
1906 as part of the Latchmere estate. The site was originally
intended for private housing but was laid out as social housing
in 1903. It is thus one of the earliest public housing schemes
laid out by a local authority. Most of the properties are half-houses.
The park is now in three parts with a play area in the
centre and a more formal area to the east with a small pergola.
The park was the original home of the Brown Dog statue, and
early anti-vivisection protest. The statue is now in Battersea
Park.

The next two parks were created after the Second World
War on bombed land. Falcon Park is reached by a narrow road
that goes under the railway. The park is almost entirely
surrounded by railways and must have been a noisy place to
live. It is grass with perimeter trees and is marked out for
football. It is well used by dog walkers. The arches on the
railway have been converted into workshops. The blank back
wall has a double X pattern in red brick that adds a bit of
interest. At either end of the park the railway arches are open
so you can enter Shillington Park. This is more interesting
with paths and trees in the northern part and a playing field and
trim gym equipment to the south. You can also see the fronts of
the rail arch workshops.

The next of open spaces are south of Clapham Junction.
Follow Este Road through the social housing and go down
Falcon Road, which covers the Falcon Brook. The fine Falcon
pub on the corner (a rebuild of 1887) gave its name to the brook
back in the 18th century. The pub has a long continuous bar
that winds its way through various designated areas. Much of
the 19th century decoration remains. Continue down St John's
Street, past Arding and Hobbs Department Store to Battersea
Rise and turn west.

St Markís Church, by William White (1874) is a grand red
brick landmark. It has some shrubs in the church garden.
Adjacent to the church are two detached parts of Wandsworth
Common. The one immediately by the church is set out with
trees and has an undulating surface. It has a small play area for
young children. The other section is flat and is most likely used
for informal games. Opposite the church is St Maryís Cemetery,
laid out in 1860 by Charles Lee. It has a pair of tiny gothic
chapels. The gates have religious motifs and a relatively new
lodge. The best and most elaborate of the graves are near the
chapels. The graves are notable for the rhyming obituaries, the
work of local poets. The cemetery is fairly well looked after
and has some fine avenues of trees.

This brings us to main part of Wandsworth Common.
This is not as wild as Wormwood Scrubs, nor as formally
converted to park as Kennington. However, both roads and
railways dissect it, which gives it a very urban feel. Wandsworth
Common Station, originally of 1856 was moved to the present
site in 1859 on a southern area of the common. It is in red brick
with stone details. The main entrance opens directly on to the
common and this adds to the urban-rural switching of the
whole site. For those doing this as an actual walk, I would
suggest walking down by the railway on the east side where the
common is given over to playing fields, and then crossing on
the road bridge and following the railway north past the ponds,
which are an important wildlife habitat, and then heading out
to Windmill Road. There are many feature of interest on the
Common and I suggest you explore some of them. There is a
café by the playing fields at the northeast where there is some
of the small amount of formal planting on the common. The
best gardens are around the bowling green where there is a fine
collection of shrubs and bedding plants. The toilets beyond the
tennis courts have what looks like the original 30s lettering.
The grand gothic building is the Royal Victoria Patriotic
Building, an asylum for female orphans of military officers,
built in 1859 by Rhodes Hawkins. In 1987, it was converted to
offices, studios, flats, a drama school and a restaurant/bar. It is
worth having a wander round. Windmill Road has the remains
of a smock mill built in the 1830s by the London and South
Western Railway to pump water out of the cutting. Further
north is the memorial to those killed or affected by the
Clapham Junction Rail Disaster of 12 December 1988. It is an
accident that changed, forever, the practices of electrical and
mechanical engineering. The memorial is a large piece of slate
with a simple statement on one side, and the helping hand
symbol on the other. When I visited, the area was being
smartened-up for the attendance of Her Majesty the Queen for
the 25th anniversary commemoration. Whilst in this part of the
common, it is worth mentioning Spencer Park. This is a
private development of large villas from around 1870, plus
some later buildings. It contains a private park in the middle
with access available only to residents, but looking well wooded
in an aerial photograph. There are some more detached parts of
the Common in the area. There is a small area just opposite the
memorial which is a flat area with trees. On the other side of
Spencer Park are two sections of the Common mainly given
over to grass but with some scrubby areas and trees. These two
sections are divided by Trinity Road, a major part of the local
transport infrastructure, which reinforces the urban-rural nature
of the Common.

One reason for venturing onto these areas of the Common is
that it brings us to Huguenot Burial Ground on West Hill.
This was opened in 1687 and closed in 1854. It is now managed
as a small park. Many of the graves still remain and there is a
plaque erected in 1911 that recalls the origin of the site. The
park was given new railings in 2003 but the style is of an earlier
period. Ironically, the burial ground now finds itself next to a
Catholic Church of 1887 onwards. At the other side is Book
House of 1888, originally the Wandsworth District Board of
Works. Having made this detour we can return to the main
route.

Hidden behind Wandworth Prison, of 1849 by D R Hall, is
Croom Crescent. This has a large area of grass used as playing
fields by schools and other groups. It is probably not worth
visiting as a park, but if you do there are plenty of houses on the
route that were the original Prison Officersí Housing.

Wandsworth Cemetery in Magdalen Road is the next
open space. The eastern part was the first section opened in
1878 but it now extends almost
to Garratt Lane, and there is a
pedestrian entrance in the far
corner so it is possible to walk
through the whole site. The
gates are fine and the small
chapels are by H W Young.
They date from 1899 and were
added when the cemetery was
enlarged. The older and more
elaborate monuments are at the
east end of the cemetery. The
cemetery has eight war memorials,
many commemorating
servicemen from the Dominions. Back in the 1980s, the section
of the cemetery by the railway was covered in soil to provide
reusable space. This now is getting full.

The next open space can be found by walking down
Penwith Road and Acuba Road to reach the southernmost point of King George's Park.
Originally laid out in the 1920s by
Percy Crane, it was opened by King George and later renamed
after him. The southern parts are mainly sports fields with
some trees and small wooded areas. The path is called Fosters,
named after a local soldier awarded the Victoria Cross in
1917. There is a new skateboard and BMX trail by Kimber
Road. The park now begins to get more formal. The path
becomes a brick path and descends in to an area of pergolas,
and flower beds. As we approach the main entrance, there is a
pond with a lot of interesting planting. It was created from one
of the many parts of the River Wandle, which is the water
course that we have glimpsed as we walked through the park.
Even in the formal area, there are sports facilities. The park has
facilities for a wide variety of sports and ages. Although King
George's Park does not appear to be a King George Memorial
Playing Field, it well fulfils the function of one. About where
we entered the formal part of the park there is a little alley that
leads to the Wandle and is followable to Garratt Lane. If we
were to follow, this we could go further north to the Old Burial
Ground, opened in 1800 as an overflow from the parish church.
The last burial was in the thirties. There is a modern entrance
with seats and sculptural wall features. If, however we leave the
park by the main gate, we should make for Armoury Way and go
to the east side of the bridge over the Wandle. The Wandle can
now be followed down to the Thames. There is a lot of
development going on. A new stretch of Thames Path
has been opened upstream through Riverside Quarter. There is
planting of the usual modern development style, and it is a well
laid out space. The path leads to Wandsworth Park. There
are avenues of trees along the Thames. To the south of these,
the grass area is given over to sport. The cricket square is being
restored. Cricket pitches and practice nets seem to be getting
rarer in public parks in London. Putt in the Park provides a café
for parents and a crazy golf course for children. The best way to
leave the park is go out the upstream gate and over the
footbridge on Putney Railway Bridge.