The Tooting Commons consist of two adjacent areas of common land lying between

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

and

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

, in south west

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

: Tooting Bec Common and Tooting Graveney Common. Since 1996, they have been wholly within the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in southwest London; it forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main named areas are Battersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth, Wandsworth ...

, which has administered both commons since 1971. Between 1965 and 1995, the eastern part of Tooting Bec Common was within the adjacent

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...

. Wandsworth's Parks Department erroneously described the two historically separate spaces as Tooting Common for many years, but recent signage uses the plural title. Tooting Bec Common includes

Tooting Bec Lido Tooting Bec Lido is an open-air fresh water swimming pool in South London. It is the largest fresh water swimming pool by surface area in the United Kingdom, being 100 yards (91.44 m) long and 33 yards (30.18 m) wide. The Lido is on Tooting B ...

and Tooting Graveney Common includes

Tooting Bec Stadium Tooting Bec Athletics Track & Gym is an sport of athletics, athletics stadium in Tooting Common, near Tooting Bec, Wandsworth, southwest London, England. Tooting Bec Common and Tooting Graveney Common are the remains of common land that once stretched as far as Mitcham. Tooting Bec Common — the northern and eastern part of the commons — was within the historic parish of Streatham, and takes its name from the area's links to

Bec Abbey Bec Abbey, formally the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec), is a Benedictine monastic foundation in the Eure ''département'', in the Bec valley midway between the cities of Rouen and Bernay. It is located in Le Bec Hello ...

Le Bec-Hellouin Le Bec-Hellouin () is a commune in the department of Eure in the Normandy region in northern France. It is best known for Bec Abbey and has recently been voted one of the " most beautiful villages of France". The current mayor is Pascal Finet who ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. At various points in history this common has been called Streatham Common, which causes some confusion with the open space a mile to the east of that name. The common is not immediately adjacent to the area now generally known as

Tooting Bec Tooting Bec is in the London Borough of Wandsworth, south London, England. History Tooting Bec appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as "Totinges". It was held partly by St Mary de Bec-Hellouin Abbey and partly by Westminster Abbey. Its domesday ass ...

. Tooting Graveney Common - the southern and western part of the commons - was in Tooting parish and a thin line of other common land ran further south down Church Lane towards the

River Graveney Norbury Brook is a tributary of the River Wandle, that rises near Lower Addiscombe Road and flows north-west through Selhurst, Thornton Heath and Norbury to join the Wandle at south Wimbledon. A short stretch of this is visible in South Nor ...

. During the 19th century, the commons at Tooting were divided by building of roads and railways — starting with the

West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway The West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway (WELCPR) was an early railway company in south London between Crystal Palace station and Wandsworth, which was opened in 1856. The line was extended in 1858 to a station at Battersea Wharf near t ...

line in 1855, and the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

line running north — south which opened in 1861 and was further widened in 1901 after this had become the main line to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. The common today continues to be divided into multiple parcels by these busy transport links. Tooting Bec Common, comprising nearly , was one of the first commons which the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London County ...

took action to preserve following the Metropolitan Commons Act of 1866 when in 1873 it acquired the manorial rights for £13,798. In 1875, the MBW acquired Tooting Graveney Common of for £3,000. The road marking the boundary between the two commons (and the historic parish boundary between Streatham and Tooting) is called ''Doctor Johnson Avenue''. This was originally a country path leading from Streatham Place, and

Doctor Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford D ...

is reputed to have regularly walked here when visiting

Hester Thrale Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (née Salusbury; later Piozzi; 27 January 1741 or 16 January 1740 – 2 May 1821),Contemporary records, which used the Julian calendar and the Annunciation Style of enumerating years, recorded her birth as 16 January ...

. Tooting Bec Common includes a number of formal avenues of trees — the first such avenue to be recorded was a line of oaks to commemorate a visit by Elizabeth I in 1600. With the loss of elms along Tooting Bec Road to

Dutch Elm Disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...

, most visitors are now immediately aware of late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

plantings of horse chestnuts on the boundaries, but there are some much older trees — notably the oaks parallel to Garrad's Road which are the successors to an avenue first recorded in the 17th century. In the 1990s the junction of Tooting Bec Road and Church Lane was widened, encroaching on the common. A few metres of grass behind the railings of the former

Tooting Bec Hospital Tooting Bec Hospital was a mental facility in Tooting Bec, London, England. History This facility was one of the establishments commissioned by the Metropolitan Asylums Board to deal with chronic cases. The hospital, which was designed by Arthur ...

(redeveloped as the Heritage Park residential development) are now part of the common in exchange for the lost land. In 2016, there was a proposal to close Doctor Johnson Avenue and cover the tarmac with grass to make it part of the common. The proposal was overturned after nearly 70% of responses voiced opposition to the idea.

Wildlife and ecology

The two commons are recognised as being of Site of Metropolitan importance for

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

because they include a number of rare wildlife habitats. Although the woodland areas are the most obvious, the unimproved areas of

acid grassland Acid grassland is a nutrient-poor habitat characterised by grassy tussocks and bare ground. Habitat The vegetation is dominated by grasses and herbaceous plants, growing on soils deficient in lime (calcium). These may be found on acid sedimentary ...

are actually far rarer. There is currently a consultation about the future of the trees on Chestnut Avenue

July 2016

In popular culture

The two commons were the location for the award-winning British Independent Film, ''Common People'' (2013), written/directed by and starring Kerry Skinner and Stewart Alexander. The plot concerns a pet Parrot escaping the confines of her cage and flying with parakeets in the south London skies, soaring into the lives of the Common People. The Commons are also the punchline of the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

joke: "Q: Where is

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

's? A: In Egypt, of course! Q: No. They're in southwest London!"

References

External links

{{Coord, 51, 26, 00, N, 0, 8, 41, W, dim:2000_region:GB, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Wandsworth Common land in London Streatham Tooting