1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Wandsworth

WANDSWORTH, a south-western metropolitan borough of London, England, bounded N. by the river Thames and Battersea, and E. by Lambeth, and extending S. and W. to the boundary of the county of London. Pop. (1901) 232,034. The name, which occurs in Domesday, indicates the position of the village on the river Wandle, a small tributary of the Thames. Wandsworth is the largest in area of the metropolitan boroughs, including the districts of Putney by the river, part of Clapham in the north-east, Streatham in the south-east, Balham and Upper and Lower Tooting in the centre and south. These are mainly residential districts, and the borough is not thickly populated. Towards the west, along the Upper Richmond and Kingston roads, there is considerable open country, undulating and well wooded. It is to a great extent preserved in the public grounds of Putney Heath, which adjoins Wimbledon Common, outside the borough, on the north; and Richmond Park and Barnes Common, parts of which are in the borough. Other public grounds are parts of Wandsworth Common (193 acres) and Clapham Common, both extending into Battersea, Tooting Bec (147 acres) and Streatham Common (66 acres), and Wandsworth Park bordering the Thames. The borough is connected with Fulham across the Thames by Wandsworth and Putney bridges. The annual Oxford and Cambridge boat-race starts from above Putney Bridge, finishing at Mortlake; and the club-houses of the principal rowing clubs of London are situated on the Putney shore. Putney Heath was formerly notorious as a resort of highwaymen and duellists. Among the institutions of Wandsworth are the Royal Hospital for Incurables, Putney; the Fountain and the Grove fever hospitals, Lower Tooting; the Clapham School of Art, Wandsworth Technical Institute; the Roman Catholic Training College for Women, West Hill; and Wandsworth Prison, Heathfield Road. The parliamentary borough of Wandsworth returns one member, but the municipal borough also includes part of the Clapham division of the parliamentary borough of Battersea and Clapham, and part of the Wimbledon division of Surrey. The borough council consists of a mayor, 10 aldermen and 60 councillors. Area, 9129.7 acres.