Between the Commons - Is it Battersea or Clapham Junction?

[CaptainNjork]

I've lived in this area for a while and always tend to say I live 'between the commons' or for non-SW Londoners that I live in Clapham Junction but is it really Battersea?

There's a group actively pursuing this and petitioning local businesses etc... to change their signs and even calling for Clapham Junction station to be renamed Battersea Junction.

If you live here too, what do you think? I tend to think of the area between the river and Lavender Hill as Battersea proper and so identify slightly more with the Clapham tag.

I suspect it only really matters to estate agents but I would like to know the right name for where I live!

Is the group 'Love Battersea'?

Their website says:

"If you are reading this and live in SW11, around Clapham Junction, between Wandsworth and Clapham Common, or north of Clapham Common Northside to the eastern edge of the metalled road of Wix's Lane, then YOU LIVE IN BATTERSEA"

So that's us told then !

If you want more explanation, here's the link to their site:

www.lovebattersea.org.uk/

Battersea.

When I first moved to London I arranged to meet friends at the Clapham Grand. I got a tube to Clapham Common and was very pissed off surprised to find it was actually in Battersea.

Hello everyone, yes Battersea includes not only the area 'Between the Commons' but half of Clapham Common and virtually all of Wandsworth Common.

What some call 'Between the Commons' is also known (historically and today) as 'South Battersea' and used to be part of a separate 'Battersea South Parliamentary constituency). It would be great if people would rediscover the name 'South Battersea' as that would save a lot of confusion.

The boundary is marked by old cast iron boundary markers positioned from Lavender Hill up Wix's Lane (west side in Battersea) across Clapham Common to Clapham South underground station and Nightingale Lane. Nightingale Lane is the southern boundary, apart from a section that heads down Ravenslea Road, back around by Boundaries Road (wonder how it got that name eh!!!) encompassing almost all of Bellvue Road, and then across Wandsworth Common (watch out for the old cast iron boundary posts there too) past the back of the gardens of Baskerville Road and then onwards to the river, give or take a few twists and turns. The eastern boundary heads from Lavender Hill / Queenstown Road north east behind Wandsworth Road's frontage area to Nine Elms and the river.

Clapham Common used to be two commons. Clapham Common to the east and "Battersea East Heath" to the west. Today the boundary between the two is very easy to remember.

Its "B&C" : "Bandstand in Battersea, Cafe in Clapham. Couldn't be simpler.

Wandsworth Common was "Battersea West Heath" or the West Common.

Here are some links to help:

Map:
sites.google.com/site/lovebatterseacampaign/batterseaonthemap-1

Boundary post pictures and descriptions:
sites.google.com/site/lovebatterseacampaign/batterseaboundarymarkers

The postcode guide tips are:

All of SW11 is Battersea.

SW4 from Wix's Lane westwards and south, including Clapham Common Northside and Westside (once known by the extended and geographic name of "Battersea Rise").

SW12 and SW17 - the Bellvue Road section.

SW8 - Queenstown Road and Nine Elms area.

Lastly...

Tip of the year from Battersea:

Leicester Square isn't in Leicester, its in London...everyone knows that.
Same logic: Clapham Junction isn't in Clapham,
its in the heart of BATTERSEA!
...simples, as the meerkat would say

Web: www.lovebattersea.org.uk

Twitter: twitter.com/LoveBattersea1

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LoveBattersea1