Earlsfield is an area within the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities are Battersea, Balham, P ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. It is a typical south London

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

and comprises mostly residential Victorian terraced houses with a

high street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

of shops, bars, and restaurants between Garratt Lane, Allfarthing Lane, and Burntwood Lane. The population of Earlsfield at the 2011 Census was 15,500, increasing to 18,500 in 2022.

History

In medieval times, the area now known as Earlsfield was the northern part of the manor and hamlet of Garrat (also spelt Garratt, Garrett or Garret) in the parish of Wandsworth and notorious in the 18th century for the Garrat mock elections. By then the area was already industrialised with numerous mills along the

River Wandle The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Sutton, Sutton, Londo ...

and in the early 19th century London's first railway, the horse-drawn

Surrey Iron Railway The Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) was a horse-drawn narrow-gauge plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, in England. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1801, and opened p ...

, ran along Garratt Lane. This was followed in 1838 by the opening of the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exete ...

which originally passed through without stopping. Later in the century, suburban development began to creep across from Wandsworth Common. In April 1884, the L&SWR opened Earlsfield station on Garratt Lane, prompting further development. The station was named after a nearby residence, Earlsfield, now demolished. This was owned by the Davis family, who also owned the land required for the station, and one of the conditions of sale was that the station would be named after their house. The area was once a working-class suburb of Wandsworth and as such much of the property is medium-sized terraced housing, though several new developments have been or are being developed, notably the Olympian Homes development between the station and library. The area now houses young families attracted by the affordability of the area in comparison to its northern, western and eastern neighbours, Clapham, Wandsworth,

Battersea Battersea is a large district in southwest London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway. It includes the Battersea Park. Hist ...

and

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

, contributing to the wider area's nickname of Nappy Valley. Earlsfield Library has on display a range of historic photographs of the area. Between 1853 and 1864, the area in the south of Earlsfield, Summerstown, was the site of the Copenhagen Running Grounds, a major venue for

pedestrianism Pedestrianism was a 19th-century form of competitive walking, often professional and funded by wagering, from which the modern sport of racewalking developed. 18th- and early 19th-century Britain During the late eighteenth and nineteenth ce ...

. Haldane Place, near the Wandle, was the site of the main manufacturing base for

Airfix Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced Injection moulding, injection-moulded plastic model, plastic scale model kits. In the UK, the name 'Airfix' has become practically synonymous with plastic models of this typ ...

between 1939 and 1981.

Schools

Earlsfield is home to many highly-regarded schools that cater to children from early years through to secondary education. Primary schools in the area include Allfarthing, Beatrix Potter, Earlsfield, Floreat Wandsworth and Swaffiel

Secondary schools include Burntwood, Southfields Academy and St. Cecilia's

Emanuel, an independent co-educational day school, is located close to Earlsfield.

Transport

Earlsfield railway station provides access to

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

(three stops to London Waterloo ( Clapham Junction,

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

, Waterloo) in 12 minutes) and other areas in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

( Victoria - changing at Clapham Junction,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

one stop). Near to Earlsfield are the London Underground stations of Tooting Bec on the Northern Line, and Southfields on the District Line. Earlsfield also has several bus links, with routes to and from central London including Tooting to Victoria Station (route 44), Tooting to Waterloo Station (route 77) and Mitcham to Putney Bridge (route 270).

Geography

Earlsfield is bordered by Wandsworth to the north, Tooting to the south, Clapham to the north east, and Wimbledon to the south west. The area is largely residential, with green spaces such as King George’s Park, Garratt Green and the new Springfield Park providing recreational areas. The

flows roughly parallel to Garratt Lane through the area.

High Street

The main shopping street – Garratt Lane – includes estate agents, cafes and restaurants, pubs, bars and hairdressers. The stretch of Earlsfield just to the south of the station includes chains and an increasing number of independent cafes, delicatessen, butchers and public houses including The Earlsfield situated in the old railway station house have opened in recent years. Garratt Lane is home to cross-cultural theatre company Tara Arts and its venue Tara Theatre. Opened in 2007 (and refurbished in 2016), the space hosts local and national companies as well as staging its own productions. There are two churches in the centre - Earlsfield Baptist church (opened in 1900) on Magdalen Road and St Andrew's, Earlsfield (Church of England, built in two stages between 1888 and 1902 ) on the corner of Garratt Lane and Waynflete Street, with St Gregory's (Catholic) and St John the Divine (CoE) further down Garratt Lane towards Wandsworth.

Notable residents

Louis de Bernières Louis de Bernières (born 8 December 1954) is an English novelist. He is known for his 1994 Historical fiction, historical war novel ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin''. In 1993 de Bernières was selected as one of the "20 Best of Young British Nove ...

– He lived in Earlsfield while writing '' Captain Corelli's Mandolin''. His book and play '' Sunday Morning At the Centre of the World'' "is a homage to the diverse community of Earlsfield." *

Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...

– Former MP for Tooting (which includes Earlsfield within its constituency boundaries) and

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

since May 2016. He lived as a child in the Henry Prince Estate on Garratt Lane.

Neighbours

* Wandsworth Common SW17 *

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

SW12 *

SW11 *

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

SW18 *

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...

SW17 * Southfields SW19 *

SW15

Next stop neighbouring travel connections

* Inbound: Clapham Junction * Outbound:

References

External links

Edith's Streets - history by street
{{LB Wandsworth Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Wandsworth District centres of London