Battersea Park

“ The long expected embankment from Battersea Bridge to Chelsea College, it is said, really is to be commenced and completed, and those old and dilapidated houses in that narrow and dangerous thoroughfare, known as Duke Street and Lombard Street, are to be pulled down. If this should be the case, the parishioners will then possess one of the finest promenades, with Battersea Park opposite to it, which may be found along the entire banks of the river Thames. ”

“ On reaching Sydney (which had no harbour to speak of, but possessed a wobbling pier marked Battersea Park) they disembarked with most of the other voyagers, some of whom had decided that the three were either theatrical people or not quite right in their heads. As they went up the wooden gangway and entered the Park, Louisa had colour in her white cheeks, and, declining assistance of her companions, ordered them to give each other their arms. ”

“ As in Battersea Park, there are wide spaces in this field of art, and within the limits of reason and decency you may play whatever games you choose. But it is an open space, and it is dedicated to the delectation of the public. The operating theatre, the dissecting room, and the precincts of the divorce court are out of place there, and most out of place of all possible exhibitions is the exhibition of man's lust and woman's temptation. ”

“ Battersea may have its tough citizens, but they do not live in Battersea Park Road. Battersea Park Road's speciality is Brain, not Crime. Authors, musicians, newspaper men, actors, and artists are the inhabitants of these mansions. A child could control them. They assault and batter nothing but pianos; they steal nothing but ideas; they murder nobody except Chopin and Beethoven. Not through these shall an ambitious young constable achieve promotion.
At this conclusion Edward Plimmer arrived within forty-eight hours of his installation. ”

“ And I seriously recommend to all those who are inclined to take a gloomy view concerning their fellow-creatures, and the mischievous and dangerous tendencies of the lower classes, to pay a visit to Battersea Park on any Sunday evening in the summer.
As regards the working man's theatrical tastes, they lean, so far as they go, to the melodrama; but as a matter of fact there are great masses of working people who never go to the theatre at all. ”

“ Of this a portion remains on the riverside, containing a room associated with Pope, who is said to have worked here upon the “Essay on Man.” Wandsworth Common and Clapham Common (220 acres) lie partly within the borough, but the principal public recreation ground is Battersea Park, bordering the Thames between Albert and Victoria Bridges, beautifully laid out, containing a lake and subtropical garden, and having an area of nearly 200 acres. ”

“ Old houses there were before the great increase began, but they exist no more; the place is dull; in parts it{113} is dirty; everywhere it is without character or distinction. It has, however, a pretty park called after the famous Vauxhall Gardens, on whose site it stands. The park is new, but it is well laid out and planted; already it is a pretty piece of greenery, and, with Kennington and Battersea Parks, offers a much wanted breathing place for the multitudes of that quarter. It is adorned, or enriched, or ennobled, by a statue of Henry Fawcett, who died in a house on this spot. ”

“ Mr. Wright took the house of Mr. Swaine, but after Mr. Wright left, the house was taken by a man of the name of Ireland.
James Rock, a respectable ferryman and lighterman, whose house was hard by, was accidentally drowned in the river Thames, August, 1874. His son, George Rock, is now Pier-master at Battersea Park Railway Pier.
The "Red House" was famed for aquatic sports. Adjoining the premises were grounds for pigeon and sparrow-shooting, and the performance of athletic feats. Pigeons were there sold to be shot at, at 15s. per dozen; starlings at 4s., and sparrows at 2s. ”

“ The streets do not allow of wild, romping games, and it would be dangerous to dash about and try to catch one another, so most of these are games that can be played on the pavement in safety.
The children who live near parks are luckier than those who have only the streets for playgrounds, and these parks are filled with children, especially on Saturday afternoons. There is one called Battersea Park, near the river, where you may sit on a little knoll at one end, and, in summer, as far as you can see there are boys playing cricket. ”

“ The cycle craze, however, as a means of town amusement for the fashionable world, has already died out. In Hyde Park it had but a short life. One year everyone flocked to Battersea Park, where in certain hours of the day the cycling throng mustered in battalions, and most of them were smart young Englishwomen. But nowadays the cyclists seen in the Park are not those who come out to while away an hour or two, but mostly riders taking a short cut to distant parts of London or to the country. ”

“ About the time I was married people used very often to drive out to the market gardens, which were then quite close, and eat fruit there. The strawberry season was the great time for these excursions. In 1840 quite large nursery gardens existed at Paddington, whilst some hundreds of acres near what is now Battersea Park were utilised for the same purpose up to much more recent times. The gardens here were especially noted for the early fruit and vegetables which they produced, as also for their asparagus, said to be the best grown in the neighbourhood of London. ”

“ In this locality and that of Latchmere it is said the bricks were made for the construction of Chelsea Hospital.
THE METROPOLITAN ARTIZANS AND LABOURERS DWELLINGS ASSOCIATION have just erected three blocks of houses in the Battersea Park Road, designed by Charles Barry, Esq., [Pg 144] President of the British Institute of Architects. Accommodation in A Block for 98 families with 3 and 4 rooms each. There are two B Blocks, 45 families in a block, having accommodation for 90 families with one or two rooms each for labourers. ”

“ Although Battersea is far from being a fashionable part of London there are pleasant little flats to be had there, overlooking the park, for those who are indifferent to the advantages of a smart address. ”

“ Brings ever a joy and a blessing to me."
The London Chatham and Dover Railway was opened 29th of September, 1860. Number of miles open 141. Gross Receipts including 31st December, 1873, £904,509.
The first railway train (London, Chatham and Dover) entered the City of London over the new Railway Bridge, Blackfriars, 6th October, 1864.
Adjacent to the Railway Viaduct and facing the south-eastern gate of Battersea Park is Sargent's Carpet Ground. Here during the Summer and Autumnal months a Gospel tent is pitched wherein Special Religious Services for the people are conducted by Messrs. ”

“ THE SHAFTESBURY PARK ESTATE [1] formerly the site of Poupart's Market Ground, covers an area of 42 acres, contains about 1100 houses and 8000 inhabitants. The houses are built on the [Pg 142] most improved sanitary principles, they are prettily and artistically constructed, having small gardens back and front; on either side of the streets are rows of lime and plane trees which in the course of a few years will give the "Work peoples' Town," a beautiful and pleasant aspect. ”

“ A school-house was erected in 1793, near the Obelisk, St. George's Fields, on leasehold ground belonging to the Corporation of the City of London. At the expiration of the lease in 1851, it was determined by the Committee to remove to a more healthy locality. Accordingly about three acres of freehold land were purchased on the high ground of Battersea Rise. Upon this land the present building, which is an ornament to the neighbourhood, was erected in 1852. It is constructed of red brick of Gothic architecture from the designs of Mr. ”

“ Many things have been said by way of disparagement of Battersea and not at all reflecting credit on certain localities within the parish. Battersea has been called "the Sink Hole of Surrey." Europa Place, Bridge Road, has been designated "Little Hell," and the spot where Trinity Hall has been erected at the end of Stewart's Lane, received the epithet of "Hell Corner." Persons in the habit of receiving stolen property were said to reside in the neighbourhood; moreover, there was a gang called "Battersea Forty Theives!" ”

“ If there is one spot in England, where human creatures pass or live, which one would expect to find, in spite of their foul existence, still clean—it is Bolton Park. But to my final and utter amazement, I had not taken two steps by the waterside at the loveliest bend of the river below the stepping-stones, before I found myself again among broken crockery, cinders, cockle-shells, and tinkers’ refuse;—a large old gridiron forming the principal point of effect and interest among the pebbles. The filth must be regularly carried past the Abbey, and across the Park, to the place. ”

“ Crowds of emigrants, drunken men, slovenly women and dirty children are to be seen at all hours of the day in the old park, and the only beauty still clinging to the scene is in the expanse of blue water which stretches away from it seaward. At night the Battery is not a safe place to visit, for its frequenters respect neither life nor property, and the bay is close at hand to hide all traces of crime. ”

“ Lavender Hill seems to have been long noted for its nursery gardens. Situated on the Hill was Lavender Villa—at the foot of Lavender Hill was a brook. Now Lavender Hill has the appearance of a busy town. Splendid shops, handsomely decorated and well stocked line both sides of the main thoroughfare, and rows of respectable houses and semi-detached villas forming roads and streets have sprung up in all directions. The same may be said of a great portion of Battersea Rise extending to Bolingbroke Grove. ”

“ Certainly the present generation do not appear to have improved much more than their forefathers in this respect when there is so much nonsensical talk about communicating with the invisible world by means of "spirit rappings," "table turnings," etc. Surely the age when men shall give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons has come!
Battersea Fields, within the Manor along the Thames, were long notable as a marshy tract producing a great variety of indigenous plants ”

“ An old-fashioned print represents the former Parish Church of Battersea with square tower crowned with lantern and pinnacles, not far off is the Swan Tavern with stairs leading down to the river where persons arriving by boat might land. ”

“ Hence it is that, when walking about Battersea, you speedily lose your bearings, and, after following a devious lane which you suppose to be parallel with the river, suddenly find yourself on a bit of shingly strand, with a barge on the limits of the tide, and a general appearance as if the end of all things had been reached.
OLD BATTERSEA BRIDGE, 1890.
Battersea, then, is as “nook-shotten” a place as is the “isle of Albion” itself, according to Shakespeare. Gardens as old as the time of Queen Anne hide coyly behind walls that permit only the tops of the trees to be discerned. ”

“ It is to be regretted that the necessity for general plans in parks is not appreciated by most people as is the necessity for a general plan for city hall or court house. Yet a park is apt to include more naturally incongruous purposes and objects than a city hall. ”

“ The area of the district supplied extends for about 13 miles E. and W., and 3 miles N. and S., the home district stretching from Rotherhithe to Clapham and the suburban and rural districts from Wandsworth to Richmond. Thus an area of 39 miles south of the Thames receives a supply of water distributed to about 80,000 houses, having a population of 550,000. The Company's property at Battersea consists of one Pumping Station, standing on freehold land of some 50 acres, and six Cornish Engines, erected by Messrs. ”

“ It is particularly urgent that a city having beautiful local scenery adapted for parks and parkways should secure the land betimes lest these natural advantages he destroyed or irreparably injured by the owners. ”

“ A company was formed to buy up this estate, which failing to effect the purchase, the corporation, assisted by private subscriptions of £7,000, came to the aid of the enterprise, and secured the valuable property for the use of the people. The park contains forty-two acres, affording sufficient space for recreation, while it is so situated as to appear only the central point of view to a park of a dozen miles in extent, picturesquely wooded and dashed with gleams of water pleasantly interspersed with the green and gold of the variegated landscape. ”

“ Here is a great public park, one of the lungs of an important city, which, in order to maintain its usefulness as a park, must be as free as possible from being serrated by railroads; and yet the interests of the public demand that it shall be crossed by a railroad. But the evil consequences of such crossing are to be reduced to a minimum by having a single right of way, and a single set of tracks, to be used by all the railroads which desire to cross the park. ”

“ James’s Park, with its lawns and walks and waterfowl, harbours still its associations with a bygone order of men and women, whose happiness and sadness are woven into its history, dim and grey as they were once bright and glowing, like the faded pattern worked into the fabric of an old tapestry. ”

“ Having particularized the principal things within, you proceed to the park, which is very extensive and profusely adorned with p. 66wood. It has the advantage, also, of a fine piece of water, nearly a mile in length and in its broadest part four hundred yards; the northern bank is richly fringed with wood, from which you view the opposite side of the lawn, which rises gradually for a considerable space, broken at intervals by large plantations of oak and beach. A banqueting room, to which is attached a tower commanding an extensive prospect, terminates the view very agreeably. ”