Wallington, London
Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton situated 10.3 miles (16.6 km) south south-west of Charing Cross. Prior to the merger of the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington into the London Borough of Sutton, it was part of the county of Surrey.
History
The name "Wallington" derives from the Anglo Saxon "Waletone", meaning "village of the Britons". Wallington appears in Domesday Book of 1086 and was held by William the Conqueror. Its domesday assets were: 11 hides. It had 2 mills worth £1 10s 0d, 11 ploughs, 8 acres (32,000 m2) of meadow. It rendered £10.[1]
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The historic village was situated somewhat to the north of the current town centre around what is now Wallington Bridge over the River Wandle.
What was then called "Carshalton" railway station was opened in 1847 in the open fields to the south of Wallington because the owner of Carshalton Park objected to it being built near to Carshalton village. This acted as a spur to the development of the area and in the 1860s Nathaniel Bridges created a prestigious housing estate of gothic revival villas (architect E. L. Brock) and a new church (Holy Trinity). The area around Holy Trinity Church is known as Wallington Old Town In particular Clifton road, Belmont road and Park road exhibit some fantastic Victorian and Edwardian villas. This southward development continued towards Woodcote and by the time of the first world war the section of Woodcote Road to the south of the station had become the new high street.
The Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington was created in 1915 and a town hall (architect Robert Atkinson) and public library were built in Wallington town centre in the 1930s, as was the fire station in Belmont Road.
Wallington County Grammar School (for Boys) was opened on London Road, close to Beddington Park, in 1927.
Wallington was an important centre for the production of lavender oil until about the time of the first world war. This is remembered in a number of ways, for example:
- There is a large sculpture at the junction of Woodcote Road and Stafford Road representing a lavender plant.
- The Christmas lights also represent lavender plants.
- One of the local lavender farmers - John Jakson of Little Woodcote Farm - lent his name to a public house in Woodcote Road.
Today
Since 2007 Wallington has enjoyed something of a mini boom with new retailers being attracted to the town, including Tesco Express, Café Nero, SpecSavers and in 2009 a new Subway, as well as Iceland, following the fall of Woolworths. These are in addition to existing High Street names such as Sainsbury's, Boots, WH Smith, Dorothy Perkins, Greggs, Lloydspharmacy, Peacocks and Lidl. In addition, many major banks and building societies are sited in the town.
A farmers' market is held on the second Saturday of each month. This is usually located outside the old town hall, but occasionally in the car park at Shotfield. Tragically on 23rd December 2010 a woman was mauled to death in Demesne road, Wallington. The woman was named as Barbara Williams.
Transport
Wallington is well served by bus, coach and rail connections, and it is possible to reach London's two major airports - Heathrow and Gatwick - in less than an hour by car, or a little longer by public transport.
Bus
A variety of bus services are available from Wallington. for accurate information to find exactly each stop check the national travel website as it shall lead to you to all the changes going on and how to re-route. This shall give you a rough guideline to the buses available in the local area.
- 127 - to Purley, Carshalton, Mitcham, Tooting Broadway
- 151 - to Carshalton, St Helier, Sutton, Cheam, Worcester Park
- 154 - to Croydon, Carshalton, Sutton, Morden
- 157 - to Crystal Palace, Croydon, Morden
- 407 - to Caterham, Purley, Croydon, Sutton
- 410 - to Crystal Palace, Norwood, Croydon, Beddington
- 455 - to Beddington, Waddon, Croydon, Purley
- 463 - to Coulsdon, Beddington, Mitcham
- 612 - to Wallington Boys School
- S4 - to Roundshaw, Sutton, St Helier
- X26 - to Croydon, Carshalton, Sutton, Kingston, Heathrow.
All services listed above go through Wallington town centre, except for the 407 and X26 which pass through Wallington Green.
Wallington was served by the N213 night bus (which ran from Kingston to West Croydon) until 4 July 2009 when the N213 was dropped in favour of making the 213 route 24 hours.[2] This route is between Kingston and Sutton, not serving areas such as Wallington, Carshalton and the Roundshaw estate. This decision has led to a campaign by local young people to bring back the service.[3][4]
Coach
National Express services 025 from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport and Brighton, and 027 from Victoria to Chichester also serve Wallington.
Rail
Services operate from Wallington to London Bridge and Victoria via West Croydon and to Epsom and beyond via Sutton.
The northbound platform extends over the bridge that crosses Woodcote Road. The road immediately below this bridge occasionally floods during heavy rain and achieved some notoriety on 20 July 2007 when it was severely flooded, making it impassable for several hours.[5]
A faster service to London Bridge via Wallington was introduced in May 2010. This stops at Waddon, West Croydon and Norwood Junction and then runs non stop to London Bridge, shaving several minutes off the previous journey time.[citation needed]
Famous residents
- Mervyn Peake's father bought a medical practice at 55 Woodcote Road in 1923, and "Woodcroft" was his home until the early 1930s. He lived there for five years when he inherited the house on the death of his father in 1953, but sold the house for development when he moved to Chelsea.
- Nick Ross, television presenter.
- Eileen Shanahan, Irish poet, lived with her family in Blenheim Gardens.
- Neil Ardley, jazz pianist and composer, was born in Wallington.
- Jeff Beck of The Yardbirds was born in Wallington and lived on Demesne Road.
- Will Owen, Member of Parliament for Morpeth, Co. Durham, also lived in Wallington.
- Giles Marshall, Ex-Conservative spin bowler, current head of 6th of Sutton Grammar School.
- David Weir, Paralympic gold medalist lives on the Roundshaw estate.
Education
Primary education
- Bandon Hill Primary School
- Amy Johnson Primary School
- Foresters Primary School
- Highview Primary School
- Holy Trinity C of E Junior School
- Holy Trinity C of E Primary School
Secondary education
See the London Borough of Sutton article for details of education in the borough.
References
- ^ Morris, J. (1975). Domesday Book Surrey. Philimore & Co. ISBN 0850331323.
- ^ http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/12143.aspx Transport for London press release
- ^ Croydon Guardian 'Protesters fight to keep N213 Croydon to Sutton night bus running'
- ^ 'Save the N213' Facebook group
- ^ BBC news story (see photo in West London section)
External links
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