Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BATTERSEA

BATTERSEA, a parish in the districts of Wandsworth and Croydon, Surrey. The main body of it, or Battersea-proper, is a subdistrict of Wandsworth, suburban to London, on the river Thames and on the West-End and Southwestern railway, opposite Chelsea; and the rest, consisting of Penge hamlet, lies in Croydon district, detached from the main body, 8 miles distant. Acres of the main body, 2,177 of land and 166 of water; of the entire parish, 3,183. Real property, £158,897. Pop. of the main body in 1841, 6,616; in 1861, 19,600. Houses, 3,125. Pop. of the entire parish in 1841, 6,887; in 1861, 24,615. Houses, 3,793. The manor was known to the Saxons as Petersey, signifying Peter's Island; belonged to the abbey of St. Peter at Westminster; was granted, in 1627, to the family of St. John; and passed, in 1763, to the Spencers. The old mansion on it was the residence of the famous Viscount Bolingbroke, and a haunt of the poet Pope; but has been entirely demolished; yet is commemorated in the neighbouring localities of Boling broke Terrace and Bolingbroke garden. Battersea Fields, within the manor, along the Thames, were long notable as a marshy tract, producing a great variety of indigenous plants; and were the scene, in 1829, of the duel between the Duke of Wellington and Lord Winchelsea; but are now partly disposed in a fine new public park, and partly covered with streets and buildings. The park comprises 185 acres; lies almost all below the level of high water; was purchased at a cost of £246,517, and laid out, in 1852-58, at a further cost of £66,373; and is disposed in walks, drives, ornamental plantations, and a fine sheet of water. A suspension bridge, across the Thames, at the upper end of the park, measures 347 feet between the towers and 705 between the abutments; is remarkably light and elegant; and was erected, in 1857, after designs by Mr. T. Page, at a cost of £85,319. The West End railway to Sydenham is carried across, in the vicinity, on a substantial, tasteful, segment-arched bridge, constructed by Mr. Fowler, and opened in 1860, to the Victoria station in Pimlico; goes ¾ of a mile south-south-eastward to Battersea station; then runs 2½ miles west south-westward, parallel to the Southwestern railway, and past Battersea-Rise, to New Wandsworth station. Battersea New Town adjoins the two railways where they mutually approach; Battersea Old Town stands on the Thames below the park; and Battersea-Rise is a hill covered with villas. Both Battersea and Battersea-Rise have post offices‡ under London S.W. The living of Battersea is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £982.* Patron, Earl Spencer. The parish church is a commodious but inelegant structure, built in 1777. The vicarages of Christchurch, St. George, and St. John with-St. Paul, are separate benefices. Value of C., not reported; of St. G., £290; * of St. J., £430.* Patron of all, the Vicar of a.church was built in 1849, at a cost of £5,556; and is in the decorated English style: St. G.'s church was built some years later; St. J.'s, in 1863; St. P. 's, in 1869. The vicarages of Penge and Upper Penge also are separate benefices. A handsome Independent chapel, in the Lombardic style, was built in 1867, at a cost of £4,488. There are several other dissenting chapels, the training national school, a free school with £160 a year, and charities £121. SeeLondon.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Battersea CP/AP       Surrey AncC
Place names: BATTERSEA     |     PETERSEY
Place: Battersea

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