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

Balham Balham () is an List of areas of London, area in south-west London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with small parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in t ...

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. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...

, in south west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: 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 South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities are Battersea, Balham, P ...

, 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 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 is at Frazi ...

. 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 and Tooting Graveney Common includes Tooting Bec Stadium.

History

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 (), 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 Hellouin, Normandy, France, and was ...

at Le Bec-Hellouin in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. 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 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. 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 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 ...

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 in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. 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 upper tier of local government for London between 1856 and 1889, primarily responsible for upgrading infrastructure. It also had a parks and open spaces committee which set aside and opened up severa ...

(MBW) took action to preserve following the Metropolitan Commons Act 1866 ( 29 & 30 Vict. c. 122) 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 is reputed to have regularly walked here when visiting

Hester Thrale Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (née Salusbury; 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 1740. The pro ...

. Until March 1970 it was called simply ''The Avenue''. 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, many 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 reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

plantings of horse chestnuts on the boundaries, but there are some much older trees – including 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 (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 London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

because they include a number of rare wildlife habitats. Although the woodland areas are the most obvious, the unimproved areas of acid grassland are actually far rarer.

In popular culture

The two commons were the location for an 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.

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