Wandsworth Historical Society

Old Battersea

St John's Hill and Clapham Junction, Battersea c.1905

The fountain, Battersea Park c.1906

Our monthly talks which are now being held online via Zoom.

We normally meet regularly on the last Friday of the month (but not in August or December) starting at 8.00 pm for an illustrated talk on either the history or archaeology of London.

The next talk is on 29th October:

'Revealing Holywell Priory, Recent Excavations' by Matt Edmonds of Pre-Construct Archaeology.

The Augustinian Priory was founded between 1152 and 1158 on the site at Holywell Lane, Shoreditch, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist. The recent work revealed further areas of the graveyard and more about its occupants as well as details of the medieval church.

Members will receive the link to the meeting by email.

We welcome guests - To obtain the link to the meeting please send an email to:

whsevents@wandsworthhistory.org.uk

For full details of our forthcoming talks, please click here.

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West London Local History Conference 2021

We are delighted to confirm that the 41st West London Local History Conference will go ahead as an on-line event on Saturday, 27 November this year. Its theme will be 'Liquid History: the Thames in the past of South & West London', and our own Society will be represented by Dorian Gerhold who will be speaking on Wandsworth's Lost Fishing Village.

It looks like it's going to be a thoroughly enjoyable day. As the number of places is limited, please make sure you book your ticket without delay by following the details on the accompanying publicity flyer.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact Neil Robson via 020neil119@gmail.com.

Membership of the Society

Membership of the Society costs just £12 a year for adults and £3 a year for students. In addition to the programme of talks, benefits of membership are:

2 editions of our journal, the The Wandsworth Historian, every year

a regular newsletter

the opportunity to take part in the Thames foreshore survey.

The borough of Wandsworth covers 5 town centres:

Balham

Battersea

Putney

Tooting

Wandsworth Town

It also includes Earlsfield, Roehampton and Southfields.

As a small voluntary organisation, we are unable to undertake any research for you.

However some examples of WHS Research are available on line.

For any inquiries about the work of the society, please contact the Secretary at: info@wandsworthhistory.org.uk

Our Publications

The WHS offers an outstanding selection of local history publications. Here are the highlights:

Current books and maps.

The latest 'Wandsworth Historian'.

The 'Wandsworth Historian' digital archive 1971-2021, available for just £5. Click [here] for more details.

Our fully searchable Index of Publications 1955-2021.

Beating the lockdown: research without record offices

A list of online links to original records, so that you can continue to research local or family history relating to the Wandsworth area without having to visit a record office or library.

Online links compiled by Dorian Gerhold

The Tooting Common Heritage Project

Tooting Common

For information on this see the Tooting Common Heritage Project webpage.

The project has now been completed and a book produced containing the historical research. There were a limited number of printed copies but it is also available online as a pdf via this link.
The Common Story - A History of Tooting Common.

Some background information from March 2014 when WHS had a Friday evening talk can be found here. Now updated to the past tense.

A talk, now likely to be held in 2022, will provide a summing up of the project.

The photos show the fountain and its dedication plaque which were restored as part of the project.

Tooting Common

Wandsworth Museum

What was Wandsworth Museum became part of Battersea Arts Centre. It was rebranded as "Moving Museum" but there is nothing about this on their new website.