London SW11 guidebook

"Battersea, so far off, the roads so execrable, and the rain so incessant". Matthew Arnold wrote this to his wife in 1852, and Thomas Carlyle couldn't have agreed with him more, only venturing over the Thames from his Chelsea digs armed "with a good stick in my hand".

A hotbed of lawlessness in the early 19th century, a centre of heavy industry in late Victorian times and even boasting a Communist MP between the wars, there was nothing to predict Battersea's startling elevation.

Over the past twenty-five years no other area of London has climbed so many social rungs is such a short space of time - a process symbolised by the riverside developments, the conversion of Price's candle factory and the carving up of various Victorian schools into smart loft-style apartments.

A glance across the river, however, might have given a clue. Would-be residents of Chelsea, priced out of the market in the Eighties, began an exodus across the Thames to colonize what became mockingly known as South Chelsea, Little Chelsea or 'Batt-Ur-Seer'. The place hasn't looked back since then and you'd be hard pressed to find a more complete and irreversible example of gentrification anywhere in the capital.

Some things, however, remain unchanged: for those whose knowledge of the district is restricted to passing through there are the three constant leviathans of Battersea Power Station, Clapham Junction Railway Station and the wonderful Battersea Park.

With the exception of a small slice of Clapham at its south-eastern edge the borders of SW11 are fairly contiguous with those of Battersea. The immense pull of Clapham Junction station may have dragged the traditional centre of Battersea somewhat to the south but the narrow and twisting roads to the north show the true origin of the area.

- Old Battersea

The river bend at the north-western corner of SW11 shelters the old heart of Battersea. The place has become a microcosm of British urban housing styles as architectural fashions and styles have swept through.

There are the Sixties' estates of Somerset and Surrey Lane, largely now in private hands. Between them and Clapham Junction station to the south are a collection of small streets that boast small and medium sized Victorian terraces. Infills around the village centre itself come in the form of town houses and maisonettes from the Eighties.

Far better known in later times has been the transformation of the waterfront with landmark blocks of luxury apartments by brand-name architects such as Richard Rogers(Montevetro) and Norman Foster (Albion Riverside).

Older examples include Morgan's Walk from the Seventies and the well-known Plantation Wharf from the Eighties, but in truth close to every square inch of this riverside strip is now providing the well-heeled with penthouse views over the Thames and it takes a sharp eye to pick out the ancient church of St. Mary's dwarfed by these towering new arrivals.

- The Junction/The Commons

Life around Clapham Junction station is hectic so it is a pleasant relief to find its side streets lined with some fine late Victorian and Edwardian terraces, flats and maisonettes. Many of the terraces have been split into multi-occupancy and what few modern infills there have been are small scale houses and flats.

The Peabody-built Clapham Junction Estate lies immediately south of the great station and provides the only contrast to the collection of short residential streets that define the area.

To the south of this lies an area known universally as 'Between The Commons' (Wandsworth and Clapham respectively). A grid of lengthy, leafy and utterly respectable streets, 'nappy valley', as it's now called, is popular with affluent young professional families and their off-spring and folk in these parts tend to know just what school catchment areas they are in.

The proximity of the commons keeps rat-runs away from the area and flats are rare as hen's teeth. Almost uniformly you will find Victorian and Edwardian two and three-storey houses. They are immensely popular, a fact reflected in the prices, and traffic-calming measures all add up to what must be the quietest backwater of Battersea, which is just how the residents like it.

- Battersea Park

The Commons' great rival in Battersea for prestige housing lies immediately to the south of the great Battersea Park. The obvious difference is the almost complete switch from houses to flats, with the late Victorian mansion blocks of Prince of Wales Drive and Warriner Gardens perennially popular.

South of these the Doddington and Rollo Estates have received heavy makeovers in recent years and areas close to Battersea Park and Queenstown Road stations are unrecognisable from their council origins.

To the west is the Latchmere Estate, a 1903 creation that has the distinction of being the first municipal housing project to be built using a council workforce in British history. It still reflects its Garden City origins.

South from these blocks is a ribbon of railway tracks that serves to cut this area off from Lavender Hill, which in turn ends with its southern border at the wide expanse of Clapham Common.

- Lavender Hill

The actual road called Lavender Hill neatly isolates the Shaftesbury Park Estate to its north. Built over a market garden by the Artizans', Labourers' and General Dwellings Company from 1872 - 77, these cute and ostentatious cottages with their rich detailing have always been popular, none more so than today for their close proximity to Clapham Junction station.

Those looking for flats in this part of SW11 will be restricted to the main roads - Latchmere Road can offer both pre-war and post-war blocks. Two school conversions increase the choice.

Housing between the Lavender Hill road and Clapham Common is almost as homogenous as the Shaftesbury Estate, with houses as clear winners over flats. The general air is that of late Victorian terraces, with a smattering of Edwardian and modern in fills, and traffic calming measures keeping the rat runs down.

It is at the western edge of this sector, closest to Clapham Junction station, that flat hunters will find the best pickings. Several houses, larger than their eastern counterparts, have been split into conversions.

Green space

One of Battersea's obvious charms is its open territory. Riverside walks have been improved alongside the gleaming new blocks of flats that tower over the Thames and even the open tracts round the decrepit Battersea Power Station may one day be of use to the dwellers of Battersea, Clapham and Vauxhall.

- Battersea Park is the obvious winner in this world of greenery. Its 200 acres include a lake with boating in the spring and summer and there's an adventure playground and a park zoo, not to mention a cafe, a restaurant and several all-weather sports pitches. There's also the Pump House Gallery, and the new Millennium Arena is an up-to-the-minute paradise for athletes. Different types of gardens can be enjoyed and there is even room for a deer park. But since 1985 the undoubted centrepiece of the place has been the glittering Buddhist Pagoda that rises above the river.

- Falcon Park - known to all as 'the banana park' by virtue of its shape, ordained by the railways - which has been recently boosted by the adjoining Shillington Open Space. Both are now designated as Sites of Local Importance, with Shillington offering a meadow and native grassland and Falcon giving the more traditional fare of sports and playgrounds.

- Christchurch Gardens (Cabul Road) is a development of old church land which now hosts a riot of plants and flowers.

- Latchmere Recreation Ground (1906, Reform Street), built over old allotments and featuring a playground and more gardening delights.

- To the west, close to the river, is the more conventional park of York Gardens. At the southern edge of SW11 are the huge commons of Wandsworth and Clapham, but a new creation can be found in the heart of old Battersea. This is the Fred Wells Gardens (Vicarage Crescent), resplendent with playgrounds and a tennis court.

The old Town Hall on Lavender Hill is now the Battersea Arts Centre, and persistently busy with music, plays, exhibitions and education.

- More live music can be sought out at The Grand opposite Clapham Junction station. Theatre 503 over the Latchmere pub on Battersea Park Road is a small place that has been entertaining the locals since 1982 when the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill felt the need to expand.

- Other performance spaces in SW11 include the Battersea Tech College (Battersea Park Road), Chatham Hall (Northcote Road), Ethelburga Clubroom (Worfield Road), York Gardens Community Centre (Lavender Road) and Garfield Community Centre (Garfield Road).

- Lavender Gardens also possesses the country's first Jongleurs Club, created in a 1920s ballroom. The Royal Academy of Dancing is located in Battersea Square and for the more waterborne adventurer Battersea Canoe Club can be found on Frere Street and Diving Leisure on Webbs Road.

Clapham Junction: Its name, a continuing source of confusion, came from Victorian snobbery. The station is nowhere near Clapham, but at a time when Battersea had a decidedly down-at-heel reputation, the railway honchos did not want to saddle their station with such a working class name. 'Battersea Junction' was simply not on.

It is unique in being able to serve some of London's major termini (Victoria and Waterloo) and north-of-the river junctions (Kensington Olympia, Willesden Junction). You can also head south-east to Croydon, Gatwick Airport, Sussex and Kent. Lines heading west can take you across southern England to the West Country while northerly branch lines allow contacts with stations north of the Thames.

Two stations at the north-eastern border of SW11 intersect with trains coming out of the Junction - Queenstown Road is on the line to Waterloo and Battersea Park is the last stop before Victoria. Battersea Park also allows a connection to the South London Loop via Denmark Hill station between Victoria and London Bridge.

At the southern tip of SW11, by the eponymous common, is Wandsworth Common station which links up with the Junction on the line to East Croydon.

The proliferation of railways is just as well for the tube is noticeable by its absence. With this in mind, Clapham Common tube station on the Northern Line is often taken to be the local station for the Between the Commons area even if it is firmly in SW4 and in the heart of Clapham.

With the mushrooming of vast new apartment complexes along the SW11 waterfront there has been more talk than elsewhere about the prospect of river buses on the Thames but, as with elsewhere, talk is all it so far remains.

Steve Roberts

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