Hackbridge is a suburb in the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is an Outer London London boroughs, borough in south London, England. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to the east, ...

, south-west London, just over two miles north-east of the town of

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

itself. It is 8.8 miles (15 km) south-west of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

Toponymy

The district takes its name from Hack Bridge, a bridge over the

River Wandle The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Sutton, Sutton, Londo ...

, which serves the area. The origin of the name is obscure; it may mean "Haka's bridge", or "bridge of the hogs". Early versions include ''Hakebridge'', ''Hagbridge'' and ''Hogbridge''.

Hackbridge Masterplan and New Mill Quarter

The

is working to make Hackbridge the "UK's first truly sustainable suburb". There has been a regeneration scheme in Hackbridge which has a number of developments on many sites. These are mentioned as part of the Hackbridge Regeneration. Detailed plans include proposals for new eco-friendly homes, more shops, leisure and community facilities, jobs, sustainable transport and pedestrian/cycle initiatives, improved networks and open spaces. A key part of this is a £150m plan to redevelop the one million square foot former Felnex industrial estate, which in 2016 gained redevelopment approval from the Greater London Authority. The development, described as "one of the greenest places to live in the UK", is to be centred on a public square and will see 725 homes built, as well as a new supermarket, doctor's surgery, care home, offices and workshops, additional shops and a bus interchange. Work was expected to begin as soon as detailed consent was obtained for the first phase, which was expected to be in early 2013. Felnex-supermarket-drawing1

One of the housing developments is the Barratt-built New Mill Quarter which is providing 440 new homes with commercial and retail space. It is the largest new residential development in the area.

BedZED

Hackbridge has already achieved success in its green agenda in the form of the

BedZED Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) is an environmentally friendly housing development in Hackbridge, London, England. It is in the London Borough of Sutton, north-east of the town of Sutton, London, Sutton itself. Designed to creat ...

(Beddington Zero Energy Development) eco-friendly housing development, around 500 yards north of

Hackbridge railway station Hackbridge railway station is a railway station at Hackbridge in the London Borough of Sutton in South London. The station is served by Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway), Southern and Govia Thameslink Railway, Thameslink. It is in Travelcard Z ...

, which is in Zone 4. Designed to create zero carbon emissions, it was the first large scale community to do so. BedZED utilises a number of innovative technologies to enable it to operate with zero energy use. It has attracted wide interest over the past decade since it was built, and, among other examples of recognition, it was shortlisted for the

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The ...

for architecture in 2003. Key features of BedZED include: * Zero energy — The project is designed to use only energy from renewable sources generated on site. There are 777 square metres (8,360 sq ft) of solar panels. * High quality — The apartments are finished to a high standard to attract the eco-minded urban professional. * Energy efficient — The houses face south to take advantage of solar gain, are triple glazed, and have high thermal insulation. * Water efficient — Most rain water falling on the site is collected and reused.

Geography

Hackbridge is located three miles away from the town of Mitcham and is located 1.3 miles away from the area of Wallington ;Location Hackbridge is located on the

in the

, about almost three miles north east of the town of

itself. ;Architecture Hackbridge has a fairly wide range of architecture, but is mainly Edwardian and early 20th century in the central shopping area with surrounding suburbs in Tudorbethan

semi-detached A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single-family Duplex (building), duplex dwelling that shares one common party wall, wall with its neighbour. The name distinguishes this style of construction from detached houses, with no sh ...

style - a number of Post War Modernist social housing schemes have been demolished in recent years. There are also a number of 21st century buildings, the most notable being the environmentally-friendly

development (see above); but a further example is the large and just completed (in 2013) Centrale apartment building (see photo) located in London Road, opposite the railway station. The former Durand Close Council estate is also being regenerated as a mixed tenure development by the Lavender Housing Partnership over the period 2003–2018. ;Churches The parish church of Hackbridge was built in 1931 (see photo of interior). The architect was H.P. Burke-Downing, and it is located opposite

on the London Road. ;Open Space Beddington Park, through which the

flows, is a quarter of a mile (400 metres) south of

. It is nearly 100 acres (40 hectares) in size and is maintained by the London Borough of Sutton. It was originally part of the Deer Park attached to Carew Manor, a grand country house built in the Tudor period, which stands to this day. It is a large area of open grassland with small clumps of trees, with an area of more formal gardens near the Grange restaurant, as well as the lake and pond. The main lake in the south west of the park was originally a mill pond. There are many paths and a number of ornamental bridges (see photo), which cross the stream which feeds the lake: this is part of the River Wandle (a Thames tributary), and the park is on the Wandle Trail. Part of the park is managed as a wildlife site.

Sport

Nearest professional football clubs: * Crystal Palace F.C. * Sutton United Nearest Non League football clubs: * Tooting and Mitcham United F.C. play approximately 0.5 miles away from Hackbridge. * Carshalton Athletic F.C. play approximately 0.5 miles away from Hackbridge. *Streatham-Croydon RFC play approximately 3.2 - 4.0 miles away from Hackbridge

Education

Primary education * Hackbridge Primary School

Famous past residents

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman; 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, singer, dancer, screenwriter, producer, and director. Despite being frequently referred to as a comedian, Ullman considers herself a character actress. Critics h ...

grew up in Hackbridge. * Tony Power: Songwriter

Transport

;Rail

is served by train services to

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...

London Blackfriars Blackfriars (), also known as London Blackfriars, is a London station group, central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), ...

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, London St Pancras,

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

and

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

. Trains are operated by

Thameslink Thameslink is a mainline route on the British railway network, running from , , , , , and via central London to , , , Rainham, , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than ...

and Southern. The station is in Travel Card Zone 4 and the journey time to London Victoria is 25 minutes. ;Bus Hackbridge is served by

Transport for London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...

bus routes: 80, 127 and 151. ;Tram The nearest

Tramlink Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink and currently branded as London Trams, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It is the first operational tram system serving the London region since 195 ...

stop to Hackbridge is at Mitcham Junction. Trams go to

and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

Dogs' Home

Hackbridge was home to the first country dogs' home, opened by the Duke and Duchess of Portland in 1898.Historic England
/ref>

External links

Hackbridge Network - Local community website for the Hackbridge neighbourhood

* ttp://abouthackbridge.co.uk/ About Hackbridge - Community website with information on local transport, schools, parks and healthcare options

References

{{Areas of London Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Sutton