# Southfields > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Southfields > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Southfields.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southfields > Source revision: 1355279527 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{other places}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}} {{Use British English|date=September 2015}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | region = London | population = {{london ward populations|00AJHA|population}} | population_ref = ({{london ward populations|00AJHA|ward}} ward {{london ward populations|year}}){{london ward populations|reference}} | official_name = Southfields | static_image = Southfields - geograph.org.uk - 2168747.jpg | static_image_caption = [Southfields tube station](/source/Southfields_tube_station) (left) on Wimbledon Park Road, 2010 | coordinates = {{coord|51.446|-0.195|display=inline,title}} | london_borough = Wandsworth | constituency_westminster = [Putney](/source/Putney_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) and [Wimbledon](/source/Wimbledon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | post_town = LONDON | postcode_area = SW | postcode_district = SW18, SW19 | dial_code = 020 | os_grid_reference = TQ255735 | london_borough3 = Merton }} '''Southfields''' is a district of [inner London](/source/Inner_London) located within the [London Borough of Wandsworth](/source/London_Borough_of_Wandsworth), [England](/source/England), 5.6 miles (9 km) south-west of [Charing Cross](/source/Charing_Cross), with a small portion of the area extending into the neighbouring [London Borough of Merton](/source/London_Borough_of_Merton). Southfields is mainly residential, historically a part of Wandsworth itself, and is divided between the [SW18](/source/SW_postcode_area) and SW19 postcode areas. ==History== thumb|right|Photo taken in 1912 Until the late 19th century, Southfields remained open fields between the more developed villages of [Wimbledon](/source/Wimbledon%2C_London) and [Putney](/source/Putney). Several former pathways through the fields form parts of today's road system, such as the historic path from Wimbledon to Wandsworth, which became Wimbledon Park Road and its continuation through Southfields Passage. Kimber Road and The Baulk were also field paths, visible on old maps of the area. The opening of the District and London & South Western Railway from Wimbledon to [Putney Bridge](/source/Putney_Bridge) in June 1889 boosted development in the area. The first school opened a year later on Merton Road, another of the main thoroughfares that originated as field paths. The main residential areas of Southfields are known as the "Southfields Triangle" and "The Grid." thumb|left|Riversdale Primary School on Merton Road is a Grade II listed building The "Southfields Triangle" is an area defined by roads and streets roughly forming a triangle. It extends from Standen Road in the south (bordering Coronation Gardens) to Granville Road in the north, and from Pulborough Road in the west to Merton Road in the east. The Triangle consists almost entirely of Victorian and Edwardian houses. In 1904, the Frame Foods baby food company opened a factory on Standen Road. The building, in a distinctive [Art Nouveau](/source/Art_Nouveau) style with green ceramic tiles and the slogan "Nourish and Flourish," is Grade II listed and has been converted into flats.{{cite web|title=Top 15 unusual buildings for sale|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buyingsellingandmoving/9775390/Top-15-unusual-buildings-for-sale.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102215934/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/buyingsellingandmoving/9775390/Top-15-unusual-buildings-for-sale.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 January 2013|publisher=Daily Telegraph}} Standen Road was also home to the [Ault & Wiborg](/source/Ault_and_Wiborg_Company) printing ink factory. Some homes with south-facing gardens bordering Coronation Gardens have a notably quiet character. "The Grid" is a series of parallel roads intersected by parallel streets. On 23 December 1891, [London County Council](/source/London_County_Council) approved an application from the Wimbledon Park Land Company for nine new streets: Replingham and Brookwood Roads and Astonville, Trentham, Elborough, Engadine, Clonmore, Heythorp and Elsenham.{{cite web |last1=Bailey |first1=Keith |title=The Building of the Southfields Grid c.1860-1910 |url=https://www.wandsworthhistory.org.uk/publications/documents/Southfields_grid_text_version_20181007.pdf |publisher=Wandsworth Historical Society |access-date=30 June 2025 |location=Wandsworth |pages=5–7 |date=2018 |archive-date=7 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251207225955/https://www.wandsworthhistory.org.uk/publications/documents/Southfields_grid_text_version_20181007.pdf |url-status=live }} Construction was initially slow, despite the recent arrival of the railway, although by 1898 only Trentham and Elborough streets had failed to attract any builders. The Grid was extended southwards to Lavenham Road in 1899 and Revelstoke Road in 1903. Electrification of the District Railway sped up construction further, with the Grid being effectively completed by the middle of 1906, at which point it totalled 1766 houses, maisonettes and shops. The building on the corner of Kimber Road and Merton Road once housed the [OK Sauce](/source/OK_Sauce) factory until its takeover by Reckitt and Colman. ===Toponymy=== Southfields takes its name from the old manorial system, where it was known as the South Field of the [manor](/source/Manorialism) of [Dunsford](/source/Dunsford).{{cite web|url=http://www.stuartking.net/quizform.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110724083942/http://www.stuartking.net/quizform.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-07-24 |title=Stuart's Putney Quiz answers |access-date=2008-09-17 |last=King |first=Stuart |publisher=StuartKing.net }} The earlier name for the area dates back at least to the year 1247.{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}} The equivalent North Field lay between West Hill and the River Thames and survives in the short road named Northfields which runs to the east of Wandsworth Park. ==Governance== thumb|A map showing the Southfield ward of Wandsworth Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916. [Southfields](/source/Southfields_(ward)) is one of the 22 [wards](/source/Wards_of_the_United_Kingdom) that make up the [London Borough of Wandsworth](/source/London_Borough_of_Wandsworth), and it supplies two of the Borough Council's 58 councillors – the Conservative Party's Kim Caddy & Guy Humphries.{{cite web |date=25 March 2021 |title=The London Borough of Wandsworth (Electoral Changes) Order 2021 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/418/made |access-date=14 November 2021 |website=[gov.uk](/source/gov.uk) |archive-date=14 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114224848/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/418/made |url-status=live }} It is part of the [Merton and Wandsworth](/source/Merton_and_Wandsworth_(London_Assembly_constituency)) constituency for the [London Assembly](/source/London_Assembly). Southfields falls within the parliamentary constituency of [Putney](/source/Putney_(UK_Parliament_constituency)). The current Member of Parliament for the constituency is the [Labour Party's](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)) [Fleur Anderson](/source/Fleur_Anderson), who was elected in [2019](/source/2019_United_Kingdom_general_election) with a majority of 4,774. ==Geography== {{Geographic Location |title = '''Neighbouring areas''' |Northwest = [Roehampton](/source/Roehampton) |North = [Putney](/source/Putney) |Northeast = [Wandsworth](/source/Wandsworth) |West = [Wimbledon and Putney Commons](/source/Wimbledon_and_Putney_Commons) |Centre = Southfields |East = [Earlsfield](/source/Earlsfield) |Southwest = [Wimbledon and Putney Commons](/source/Wimbledon_and_Putney_Commons) |South = [Wimbledon](/source/Wimbledon%2C_London) |Southeast = [Tooting](/source/Tooting) }} Southfield's postcodes are split across the London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Merton. Of the two main parks, the above applies to Wimbledon Park whilst the second, King George's Park is situated wholly within the boundaries of Wandsworth. Tennis being a part of the fabric of Southfields life, both parks are home to a large number of public tennis courts. Wimbledon Park has an athletic track and a landscaped lake that is home to a number of water sports. The smaller but historic Coronation Gardens bordering the southern edge of the Southfields triangle commemorates the coronation of King Edward VII in August 1902. ==Demography== thumb|Entrance to Southfields Library According to the [2011 census](/source/United_Kingdom_Census_2011) the ward of Southfields had a population of 17,962.{{cite web |author= |url=https://www.datawand.info/population/report/view/6f733fd599da4b72882380ccce63701c/E05000624 |title=DataWand – Population – Reports |publisher=Datawand.info |date= |accessdate=2020-04-26 |archive-date=21 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121234809/https://www.datawand.info/population/report/view/6f733fd599da4b72882380ccce63701c/E05000624/ |url-status=live }} The population of the area is largely white in its ethnic origins, at 75.6%. The area is also home to a significant [white South African](/source/White_South_Africans) community. ==Transport== The [A3](/source/A3_road) trunk road runs south west towards [Portsmouth](/source/Portsmouth) and north east into central London along Southfields' northern edge; the district is bounded by the A218 (Merton Road) to the east and the A219 (Parkside Avenue) to the west. Southfields is served by bus routes [39](/source/London_Buses_route_39) ([Clapham Junction](/source/Clapham_Junction_railway_station) to [Putney Bridge](/source/Putney_Bridge_tube_station), operated by [London General](/source/London_General)), [493](/source/London_Buses_route_493) ([Tooting, St George’s Hospital](/source/Tooting) to [Richmond](/source/Richmond%2C_London), operated by London General) and [156](/source/London_Buses_route_156) ([Vauxhall](/source/Vauxhall_bus_station) to [Wimbledon](/source/Wimbledon%2C_London), operated by [Transport UK London Bus](/source/Transport_UK_London_Bus)). [Southfields tube station](/source/Southfields_tube_station) is in [London fare zone 3](/source/London_fare_zone_3) of the [London Underground](/source/London_Underground) network, situated between [East Putney](/source/East_Putney_tube_station) and [Wimbledon Park](/source/Wimbledon_Park_tube_station) on the Wimbledon branch of the [District line](/source/District_line). Southfields is the main London Underground station for the [Wimbledon Tennis Championships](/source/Wimbledon_Tennis_Championships). A five-minute walk takes spectators from Southfields Tube down Wimbledon Park Road to the [All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club](/source/All_England_Lawn_Tennis_and_Croquet_Club). Southfields is not served by the [National Rail](/source/National_Rail) network; the nearest National Rail stations are [Earlsfield](/source/Earlsfield_railway_station), [Wimbledon](/source/Wimbledon_railway_station) and [Putney](/source/Putney_railway_station). ==Popular culture== [[File:Fazl Mosque.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[Fazl Mosque](/source/Fazl_Mosque%2C_London)]] Part of the video for [Shampoo](/source/Shampoo_(duo))'s [1994 hit single ‘Trouble’](/source/Trouble_(Shampoo_song)) was filmed in Southfields. The former cinema premises on Wimbledon Park Road, most recently used as a [snooker](/source/snooker) club were demolished following a successful planning application from the owners of the site, despite a three-year campaign by a local group to convert the building back to a local cinema, which would have been named The Southfields Plaza. In 1926, Southfields became home to London's first mosque. The [Fazl Mosque](/source/Fazl_Mosque%2C_London), also known as the ''London Mosque'', was built by the [Ahmadiyya Muslim Community](/source/Ahmadiyya_Muslim_Community) and served as the international headquarters of the community until 2019, when the headquarters moved to [Farnham](/source/Farnham). The band [Lawson's](/source/Lawson_(band)) [debut album](/source/Chapman_Square) was named after Chapman Square SW19. thumb|St Barnabas Church, Merton Road ==Notable people== {{main|List of people from Southfields}} ==Notes== {{Reflist}} ==References== :{{cite book |author=Robson, Neil |year=1999 |title=Roomy Villas: The Story of Southfields Grid and Its Surroundings |publisher=N. Robson |edition=1st |isbn=978-0953646708}} ==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100322213613/http://www.southfieldsvillage.com/ Southfields Village website] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050830000735/http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/LeisureandTourism/Aboutborough/abthistory.htm#earlsfield Borough history] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060926121302/http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/Home/LeisureandTourism/Museum/StoryofWandsworth/default.htm Story of Wandsworth] *[http://www.southfieldstriangle.co.uk/ Southfields Triangle Residents Association] *[http://www.southfieldsgrid.org.uk/ Southfields Grid Residents Association] *[http://www.southfields.wandsworth.sch.uk/ Southfields Community College] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070112033258/http://www.wandsworthclc.org/main.htm Wandsworth City Learning Centre] (based in Southfields) {{LB Wandsworth}} {{Authority control}} Category:Districts of the London Borough of Wandsworth Category:Areas of London --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Southfields](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southfields) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southfields?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.