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76-695: Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London . It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858. The park occupies marshland reclaimed from the Thames and land formerly used for market gardens. The park is Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens . Prior to 1846,

152-500: A "barrage net" length: a steel cable was strung between the balloons, and more cables hung from it. These nets could be raised to an altitude comparable to the operational ceiling (15,000 feet or 4,600 metres) of the bombers of the time. By 1918 the barrage balloon defences around London stretched for 50 miles (80 km), and captured German pilots expressed great fear of them. In 1938, the British Balloon Command

228-444: A bit carried away and also stripped completely naked. Eventually the police were called and took down all of the young ladies' particulars." British artist Marion Coutts recreated Battersea, along with Regent's and Hyde Park as a set of asymmetrical ping-pong tables for her interactive installation Fresh Air (1998–2001). The 1996 film 101 Dalmatians was filmed at Battersea Park; it stands in for St James Park. In 1951

304-475: A boating lake, a bandstand, and all-weather outdoor sporting facilities including tennis courts, a running track and football pitches. Four West London hockey teams use the all-weather Astroturf pitches, including the Wanderers Hockey Club. In the centre of the park is Pump House Gallery , which is housed in a four-storey Grade II listed Victorian tower. It is owned by Wandsworth Council. On

380-456: A narrow raised causeway, the fields consisted of low, fertile marshes intersected by streams and ditches with the chief crops being carrots, melons, lavender (all the way up to Lavender Hill ) and the famous 'Battersea Bunches' of asparagus. Running along the riverside from the fields were industrial concerns and wharves, including a pottery, copper works, lime kiln, chemical works, and, increasingly, railways. The site of Battersea Power Station

456-409: A pig farm was also set up. Maintenance of the park was reduced as the war effort took priority. On 16 September 1978, Battersea Park hosted a big punk rock concert featuring The Stranglers and several guests, among them Peter Gabriel and The Skids . "The Stranglers booked some strippers to up the show's visual aspect," recalled photographer Barry Plummer. "But some of the lads in the audience got

532-502: A point, roughly three miles (4.8 km) from Battersea's northeastern corner – but two miles (3.2 km) from the western corner. To the east are South Lambeth and Stockwell ; to the south is Balham ; to the southeast is Clapham ; and to the west is Wandsworth Town , south of which is Wandsworth . Two large neighbourhoods within the larger Battersea are: Some parts of Battersea have become known for drug-dealing. The Winstanley and York Road council estates have developed

608-476: A range of industries such as mills, breweries and dyeing, bleaching and calico printing. Industry developed eastwards along the bank of the Thames during the Industrial Revolution from the 1750s onwards; the Thames provided water for transport, for steam engines and for water-intensive industrial processes. Bridges erected across the Thames encouraged growth; Putney Bridge , a mile to the west,

684-590: A reputation for such offences and were included in a zero-tolerance "drug exclusion zone" in 2007. As of 2011 , Battersea had a population of 73,345. The district was 52.2% of White British origin, as against an average for Wandsworth of 53.3%. Within the bounds of modern Battersea are (from east to west): Battersea is served by three National Rail stations: Battersea Park , Clapham Junction , and Queenstown Road (Battersea) . All three stations are in London Travelcard Zone 2 . Battersea Park

760-486: A royal park of 320 acres. The Battersea Park Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. 38) was passed in 1846 and £200,000 was promised for the purchase of the land. The Commission for Improving the Metropolis acquired 320 acres of Battersea fields, of which 198 acres became Battersea Park, opened in 1858, and the remainder was let on building leases. The park was laid out by Sir James Pennethorne between 1846 and 1864, although

836-613: Is a large district in southwest London , part of the London Borough of Wandsworth , England. It is centred 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross it also extends along the south bank of the Thames Tideway . It includes the 200-acre (0.81 km ) Battersea Park . Battersea is mentioned in the few surviving Anglo-Saxon geographical accounts as Badrices īeg , 'Badric's Island' and later [Patrisey] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |abbr= ( help ) . As with many former parishes beside tidal flood plains

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912-670: Is connected to the London Underground network at Battersea Power Station tube station in September 2021. London Bus routes 44 , 137 , 156 , 211 , 344 , 436 , 19 , 49 , 319 , 345 and 452 serve the Battersea area during the daytime. Night buses N19 , N137 and N44 , as well as the 344 and 345 route, run overnight. Cycling infrastructure in Battersea is provided by the London Borough of Wandsworth and Transport for London (TfL). Battersea features in

988-536: Is on the curved south bank of the River Thames . Battersea's northern limit is thus the Tideway , the Thames below Teddington . Battersea's riverside is just over 3 miles (4.8 km) long. Immediately to the west is Wandsworth Town . To the north-east are Vauxhall and then Lambeth , including Waterloo . Battersea at one end of its riverside has a western corner at a point 350 metres east northeast of Wandsworth Bridge , and Battersea tapers SSE to almost

1064-511: Is served by some South Western Railway trains. Northbound, most trains call at Vauxhall en route to London Waterloo. Southbound passengers can travel towards Richmond, Twickenham , Hounslow , and Windsor & Eton direct. Queenstown Road opened up the line on 1 November 1877 by the London and South Western Railway , as Queen's Road (Battersea) . British Rail renamed the station to Queenstown Road (Battersea) on 12 May 1980. As part of Northern line extension to Battersea , Battersea

1140-399: Is served by some Southern trains. Trains northbound terminate at London Victoria , which is the next stop along the line. Southbound, Southern's " metro " services run to Clapham Junction, Wandsworth Common , and Balham . After Balham, trains head towards Croydon , Epsom , London Bridge , and Sutton , amongst other destinations. The first station to carry the name "Battersea Park"

1216-560: The Anglican Bishop of Southwark Cyril Garbett . It commemorates the over 10,000 men killed or listed as "missing presumed dead" whilst serving with the British Army 's 24th Division . It is now Grade II* listed. During both wars, anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons were installed to help protect London from enemy air raids. Shelters were dug, part of the park was turned over to allotments for much needed vegetables and

1292-520: The Battersea Park funfair disaster on 30 May 1972 when one of the trains became detached from the haulage rope, rolling back to the station (the anti-rollback mechanism having failed) and colliding with the other train. After the closure, the "Jetstream" ride was sold to Trusthouse Forte , the then owners of Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester . A night scene at the funfair, which

1368-497: The Far Tottering and Oyster Creek Branch Railway . Another part of the transformation was the addition of Battersea Funfair, with roller coasters , swings, roundabouts and other attractions. The funfair's leading attraction was the roller coaster ride, known as The Big Dipper, which opened in 1951. It was of wooden construction and suffered a major fire in 1970. It was closed after five children were killed and 13 injured in

1444-535: The London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1867 and closed in 1916. The largest railway station in Battersea is Clapham Junction, to the southwest of the district. The station is a busy interchange, and it serves destinations across London, the South , and South West England . Train operators from Clapham Junction include: In terms of the number of train movements, Clapham Junction is Europe's busiest railway station. It opened on 21 May 1838. Queenstown Road (Battersea)

1520-577: The Palembang oil refineries, the British aircrews were surprised by the massive use of barrage balloons in the Japanese defences. These were spherical and smaller than the British type. One Grumman Avenger was destroyed, and its crew killed, from striking a balloon cable. Barrage balloons were partly filled with highly pure hydrogen. "The top of the balloon was filled with hydrogen, the bottom half

1596-464: The 1969 movie Battle of Britain, in the movie as in real life used as a navigational landmark by the attacking Luftwaffe bombers. The Optimists of Nine Elms , a 1973 film starring Peter Sellers , is set in Battersea. Battersea is also the setting for Penelope Fitzgerald 's 1979 Booker Prize –winning novel, Offshore . Kitty Neale's Nobody's Girl is set in a fictional café and the surrounding Battersea High Street Market. Nell Dunn 's 1963 novel Up

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1672-811: The Junction (later adapted for both television and cinema) depicts contemporary life in the industrial slums of Battersea near Clapham Junction . Battersea provides the backdrop for the real world scenes in the audio book and app series Rockford's Rock Opera . Barrage balloon France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom used barrage balloons in the First World War . While the French and German forces developed kite balloons , early British barrage balloons were spherical. Sometimes, especially around London, several balloons were used to lift

1748-963: The London Mayor's new Housing Zones. Further north towards Chelsea is the Surrey Lane Estate , and on Battersea Park Road is the Doddington and Rollo Estate. East, toward Vauxhall, is the Patmore Estate which is in close proximity to the Battersea Power Station. Other smaller estates include: York Road (see Winstanley Estate ), Ashley Crescent, Badric Court, Carey Gardens, Chatham Road, Ethelburga, Falcon Road, Gideon Road, Honeywell Road, Kambala, Peabody, Robertson Street, Savona, Somerset, Wilditch and Wynter Street. The tradition of local government in England

1824-576: The National Anti-Vivisection Society sought permission to erect a drinking fountain celebrating the life of a dog killed by vivisection . The fountain, forming a plinth for the statue of a brown dog, was installed in the Latchmere Recreation Ground , became a cause célèbre, fought over in riots and battles between medical students and the local populace until its removal in 1910. The borough elected

1900-519: The Secretary ( E. C. Morley ) and included many well-known footballers of the day. From the 1860s, the park was home to the leading amateur football team Wanderers F.C. , winners of the first FA Cup, in 1872. The park also hosted the historic London v Sheffield football match in March 1866. In 1924, the 24th Division War Memorial by Eric Kennington was unveiled by Field Marshal Lord Plumer and

1976-711: The St John Baronets of Lydiard Tregoze and ultimately the Viscounts Bolingbroke . Bolingbrokes exercised control of the manor for some 173 years, showing varying levels of interest and competence in running the estate's affairs, until in 1763 the disastrously dissolute Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke sold the manor to help to settle his many debts. Battersea now passed into the Spencer family - John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer being related to Frederick's wife. The Survey of London identified

2052-501: The Thames foreshore; and a Spencer was responsible for the construction of first local bridge across the Thames, Battersea Bridge from 1771 to 1772. And albeit Battersea saw some slow change over the first seven centuries of the second millennium, it was not until a later period that an imperative for greater local government arose. The vestry of Battersea continued to increase in importance from 1742, notably concerning itself with Poor Law administration and drainage. Responsibility for

2128-596: The abbey, variously termed a beadle , reeve or sergeant , whose responsibility it was supervise the farm servants of the manor, and to enforce and direct customary work performed by manorial tenants. After 1540 the Crown assumed ownership of the manor, and let it on short leases to a succession of individuals, until in about 1590 it came into the hands of the St. John family of Lydiard Tregoze in Wiltshire, who later became

2204-511: The area now covered by the park was known as Battersea fields, a popular spot for duelling . On 21 March 1829, the Duke of Wellington and the Earl of Winchilsea met on Battersea fields to settle a matter of honour. When it came time to fire, the duke aimed his duelling pistol wide and Winchilsea fired his into the air. Winchilsea later wrote the duke a groveling apology. Separated from the river by

2280-604: The area shows the following factories, in order, from the site of the as yet unbuilt Wandsworth Bridge to Battersea Park: Starch manufacturer; Silk manufacturer; (St. John's College); (St. Mary's Church); Malt house; Corn mill; Oil and grease works (Prices Candles); Chemical works; Plumbago Crucible works (later the Morgan Crucible Company ); Chemical works; Saltpetre works; Foundry. Between these were numerous wharfs for shipping. In 1929, construction started on Battersea Power Station , being completed in 1939. From

2356-551: The books of Michael de Larrabeiti , who was born and brought up in the area: A Rose Beyond the Thames recounts the working-class Battersea of the 1940s and 1950s; The Borrible Trilogy presents a fictional Battersea, home to fantasy creatures known as the Borribles. The station makes a brief appearance in The Beatles ' second film, Help! , in 1965. It also appears during the first daylight attack on London sequence in

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2432-462: The borough and after the turmoil of dock strikes affecting the populace of north Battersea, was elected to represent the borough in the newly formed London County Council . In 1892, he expanded his role, being elected to Parliament for Battersea North as one of the first Independent Labour Party members of Parliament. Battersea's radical reputation gave rise to the Brown Dog affair , when in 1904

2508-424: The development of a plurality of smaller estates, which had implications for the later development of the area. The scope of governance throughout this period was relatively slight. Lords of the manor were responsible for church appointments and maintenance of the fabric of the church; for drainage, and for the direction of the duties of the manor's tenants. From time to time work was done under manorial direction on

2584-434: The early twentieth century. During the latter decades of the nineteenth century Battersea had developed into a major town railway centre with two locomotive works at Nine Elms and Longhedge and three important motive power depots (Nine Elms, Stewarts Lane and Battersea) all in an initial pocket of north Battersea. The effect was precipitate: a population of 6,000 people in 1840 was increased to 168,000 by 1910; and save for

2660-520: The eastern edge of the park and two smaller nearby areas have been designated the Battersea Park Nature Areas Local Nature Reserve , with an area of three hectares. They have a variety of woodland bird species including blackcap and bullfinch. There are 20 species of butterfly and several of stag beetle. Other invertebrate species include the hoverfly Volucella zonaria . Battersea Battersea

2736-453: The end of large scale local industry, resurgent demand among magnates and high income earners for parkside and riverside property close to planned Underground links has led to significant construction, Factories have been demolished and replaced with modern apartment buildings. Some of the council owned properties have been sold off and several traditional working men's pubs have become more fashionable bistros. Battersea neighbourhoods close to

2812-578: The first black mayor in London in 1913 when John Archer took office, and in 1922 elected the Bombay -born Communist Party member Shapurji Saklatvala as MP for Battersea; one of only two communist members of Parliament. Battersea is currently divided into five Wandsworth wards. The Member of Parliament for the Battersea constituency since 8 June 2017 has been Labour MP Marsha de Cordova . Battersea

2888-453: The first estate directly built by a council's own workforce and therefore the first true "council estate". Indeed, both of these earlier estates have since been recognised as conservation areas due to their historical and architectural significance and are protected from redevelopment. Battersea also has a large area of mid-20th century public housing estates, almost all located north of the main railway lines and spanning from Fairfield in

2964-642: The focus of the area southwards, and marginalised Battersea High Street (the main street of the original village) into no more than an extension of Falcon Road. Battersea has a long and varied history of social housing, and the completion of the Shaftesbury Park Estate in 1877 was one of the earliest in London or the UK. Additionally, the development of the Latchmere Estate in 1903 was notable both for John Burns ' involvement and for being

3040-400: The government to site its buildings in the area surrounding Clapham Junction , where a cluster of new civic buildings including the town hall, library, police station, court and post office was developed along Lavender Hill in the 1880s and 1890s. The Arding & Hobbs department store, diagonally opposite the station, was the largest of its type at the time of its construction in 1885; and

3116-430: The green spaces of Battersea Park , Clapham Common , Wandsworth Common and some smaller isolated pockets, all other farmland was built over, with, from north to south, industrial buildings and vast railway sheds and sidings (much of which remain), slum housing for workers, especially north of the main east–west railway, and gradually more genteel residential terraced housing further south. The railway station encouraged

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3192-575: The lake since the 1980s due to natural degradation and difficulties with providing energy to the pumps. In 2011, a sculpture commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, After 9/11 , was unveiled by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson . In 2012, the park hosted one of the seven national Foodies Festivals on 17–19 August. Masterclasses were performed by chefs such as Levi Roots and Ed Baines , with burlesque shows, restaurant tents, city beaches and pop-up cinemas. A narrow strip along

3268-407: The late 18th century to comparatively recent times, Battersea was established as an industrial area with all of the issues associated with pollution and poor housing affecting it. Industry declined and moved away from the area in the 1970s, and local government sought to address chronic post-war housing problems with large scale clearances and the establishment of planned housing. Some decades after

3344-567: The latter was removed from the vestry in 1855 with the establishment of Metropolitan Boards of Work under the Metropolis Management Act 1855 ; a Metropolitan Board concerned itself with cross-London drainage and sewerage, whilst a local Wandsworth Metropolitan Board assumed responsibility for minor sewers and the connection of houses to sewerage systems. It was during the tenure of the Wandsworth board that much of Battersea

3420-483: The location of friendly troops during the air assault preceding the advance of ground forces, which took Aachen on October 21, 1944. Conversely, during the First Army advance past Aachen to nearby Düren , barrage balloons were floated eastward to mark the location of enemy troops to be bombed. After the war, some surplus barrage balloons were used as tethered shot balloons for nuclear weapon tests throughout most of

3496-751: The lowest land was reclaimed for agriculture by draining marshland and building culverts for streams. By the side of this was the Heathwall tide mill in the north-east with a very long mill pond regularly draining and filling to the south. The settlement appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Middle English : Patricesy , a vast manor held by St Peter's Abbey, Westminster . Its Domesday Assets were: 18 hides and 17 ploughlands of cultivated land; 7 mills worth £42 9s 8d per year, 82 acres (33 ha) of meadow , woodland worth 50 hogs . It rendered (in total): £75 9s 8d. The present church, which

3572-523: The middle of 1940, there were 1,400 balloons, a third over the London area. While dive-bombing was a devastatingly effective tactic against undefended targets, such as Guernica and Rotterdam , dive-bombers were very vulnerable to attack by fighter aircraft when pulling up after having completed a bombing dive. Due to the effectiveness of the Royal Air Force fighters' tactic of waiting for a dive bomber to complete its dive and then pouncing when it

3648-464: The north east tip of the area. Over the next 22 years five other lines were built, which continue to carry all of the trains to and from London's Waterloo and Victoria termini. An interchange station was built in 1863 towards the north west of the area, at a junction of the railway. Taking the name of a fashionable village a mile and more away, the station was named ' Clapham Junction ': a campaign to rename it "Battersea Junction" fizzled out as late as

3724-571: The northern parts of the park were transformed into the "Pleasure Gardens" as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations. As well as a new water-garden and fountains, new features included a "Tree-Walk", which consisted of a series of raised wooden walkways linked by tree house -like platforms suspended between the branches of a number of trees. Popular attractions included the Guinness Clock, designed by Jan Le Witt and George Him , and

3800-452: The parish of Battersea was part of the county of Surrey . In that year a new County of London came into being and the parish was made part of it. Before the Industrial Revolution , much of the large parish was farmland, providing food for the City of London and surrounding population centres; and with particular specialisms, such as growing lavender on Lavender Hill (nowadays denoted by

3876-530: The park which was opened in 1858 varied somewhat from Pennethorne's vision. The park's success depended on the successful completion of the Chelsea Bridge , declared open in 1858 by Queen Victoria. In her honour, the road alongside the eastern edge of the park was called Victoria Road, linked to Queens Road by Victoria Circus (now Queen's Circus). Victoria Road and Queens Road later became Queenstown Road . Prince of Wales Road (now Prince of Wales Drive )

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3952-817: The period of Frederick's tenure with the development of the Vestry in Battersea; absent a competent lord of the manor, this local secular and ecclesiastical government took it upon itself to establish a workhouse in 1733, and met monthly from 1742. The period of Spencer ownership of the manor saw important land ownership changes introduced to the area. The family had many estates, such as at Althorp in Northamptonshire and Wiseton in Nottinghamshire. Locally, their interests were concentrated on Wimbledon . During their tenure, large tracts of land were sold, notably around 1761, and from 1835 to 1838, leading to

4028-529: The railway have some of the most deprived local authority housing in the Borough of Wandsworth, in an area which saw condemned slums after their erection in the Victoria era. Battersea was radically altered by the coming of railways. The London and Southampton Railway Company engineered their railway line from east to west through Battersea, in 1838, terminating at the original Nine Elms railway station at

4104-492: The road of the same name), asparagus (sold as "Battersea Bundles") or pig breeding on Pig Hill (later the site of the Shaftesbury Park Estate ). At the end of the 18th century, above 300 acres (1.2 km ) of land in the parish of Battersea were occupied by some 20 market gardeners, who rented from five to near 60 acres (24 ha) each. Villages in the wider area: Wandsworth, Earlsfield (hamlet of Garratt), Tooting, Balham – were separated by fields; in common with other suburbs

4180-584: The same time a panel would be ripped away from the balloon causing it to deflate and fall independently to the ground. The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion , a Very Low Altitude barrage balloon battalion of the United States Army, participated in the June 1944 Normandy landings , raising barrage balloons on Omaha Beach and Utah Beach . They remained stationed at Normandy until October 1944. In January 1945, during Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm raids on

4256-472: The streets near the station developed as a regional shopping district. The area was served by a vast music hall – The Grand – opposite the station (nowadays serving as a nightclub and venue for smaller bands) as well as a large theatre next to the town hall (the Shakespeare Theatre, later redeveloped following bomb damage). All this building around the station shifted

4332-410: The trailing cables short-circuited power lines , causing some localised disruption to mining and manufacturing . In particular, metals production was disrupted. Canadian military historical records indicate that one of the more serious incidents, known as "The October Incident", caused an estimated loss of 400 tonnes of steel and 10 tonnes of ferro-alloys. As a result, balloons were stored during

4408-746: The wealthy of London and the traditional manor successors built their homes in Battersea and neighbouring areas. Industry in the area was concentrated to the northwest just outside the Battersea-Wandsworth boundary, at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Wandle , which gave rise to the village of Wandsworth . This was settled from the 16th century by Protestant craftsmen – Huguenots – fleeing religious persecution in Europe, who planted lavender and gardens and established

4484-399: The west to Queenstown in the east. There are four particularly large estates. The Winstanley Estate , perhaps being the most renowned of them all, is known as being the birthplace to the garage collective So Solid Crew . Winstanley is close to Clapham Junction railway station in the northern perimeter of Battersea, and is currently being considered for comprehensive redevelopment as one of

4560-566: The western side there are two cricket pitches, home to the King's Road Cricket & Social Club. The club, whose members wear distinctive orange caps, can be seen playing on Saturdays and Sundays. The park is the site of the London Peace Pagoda , erected in 1985. A Buddhist monk looks after the pagoda on a daily basis. A replica of the bronze statue of a dog that was the focal point of the historic vivisection-related Brown Dog affair

4636-497: The winter months and training was improved. Lessons learned from breakaway balloons led to Operation Outward , intentional release of balloons trailing conductive cables to disrupt power supplies on the occupied European mainland. On the road to Aachen in west Germany in 1944, the British 2nd Tactical Air Force floated barrage balloons along the American First Army sector front line (a.k.a. "bomb line") to designate

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4712-792: Was based in part of Manor , and later on the Parish . Battersea's governance can be traced back to 693, when the manor was held by the nunnery of St. Mary at Barking Abbey . After the Norman Conquest of 1066, control of the manor passed to Westminster Abbey , ending at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540. Battersea was one of only three of the Abbey's demesne directly supervised by monks, rather than being let to tenants. Local control rested with an officer appointed by

4788-676: Was built in 1729 and rebuilt 1882, and Battersea Bridge in the centre of the north boundary in 1771. Inland from the river, the rural agricultural community persisted. Along the Thames, a number of large and, in their field, pre-eminent firms grew; notably the Morgan Crucible company, which survives to this day and is listed on the London Stock Exchange ; Price's Candles, which also made cycle lamp oil; oil refiner and paint manufacturer S. Bowley and Son ; and Orlando Jones' Starch Factory. The 1874 Ordnance Survey map of

4864-408: Was completed in 1777, hosted the marriage of William Blake and Catherine Boucher in 1782. Benedict Arnold , his wife Peggy Shippen , and their daughter were buried in the crypt of the church. Battersea Park , a 200-acre (0.81 km ) northern rectangle by the Thames, was landscaped and founded for public use in 1858. Amenities and leisure buildings have been added to it since. Until 1889,

4940-633: Was developed; but such was the pace of development in Battersea that by 1887 it had a population sufficient to win the case for renewed local autonomy under the Metropolis Management (Battersea and Westminster) Act of 1887. The Battersea vestry continued through to 1899, when it became the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea as a result of the London Government Act 1899 . The Metropolitan Borough of Battersea

5016-716: Was erected here in 1985. It was moved in 1994 to the Woodland Walk, near the Old English Garden. In 2002–4 the park underwent a £11 million refurbishment funded in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund and was re-opened on 2 June 2004 by Prince Philip . In 2007, a Dog Walk of Fame was inaugurated in the park. The Winter Garden, next to Albert Bridge Road, was commissioned by the Friends of Battersea Park and designed by Dan Pearson Studios. It

5092-399: Was established to protect cities and key targets such as industrial areas, ports, and harbors. Balloons were intended to defend against dive bombers flying at heights up to 5,000 feet (1,500 m), forcing them to fly higher and into the range of concentrated anti-aircraft fire: anti-aircraft guns could not traverse fast enough to attack aircraft flying at low altitude and high speed. By

5168-538: Was ghostly and empty, featured in the opening title scene for the 1960s television series Journey to the Unknown . The site of the funfair was levelled and became a site for travelling fairs and exhibitions, and is the site of Battersea Evolution , formerly the Battersea Park Events Arena , which hosts exhibitions, conferences and Christmas parties. The park is home to a small children's zoo,

5244-662: Was in 1965 combined with the neighbouring Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth to form the London Borough of Wandsworth . The former Battersea Town Hall , opened in 1893, is now the Battersea Arts Centre . In the period from 1880 onwards, Battersea was known as a centre of radical politics in the United Kingdom. John Burns founded a branch of the Social Democratic Federation , Britain's first organised socialist political party, in

5320-410: Was laid out along the southern boundary and Albert Bridge Road constructed along the western side. The park came under the management of the newly formed London County Council in 1889. The park hosted the first exhibition football game played under the rules of the recently formed Football Association on 9 January 1864. The members of the teams were chosen by the President of the FA ( A. Pember ) and

5396-476: Was left empty, so when it was put up at a certain height it filled with natural air", according to Dorothy Brannan, barrage balloon volunteer in Portsmouth, England. In 1942, Canadian and American forces began joint operations to protect the sensitive locks and shipping channel at Sault Ste. Marie along their common border among the Great Lakes against possible air attack. During severe storms in August and October 1942 some barrage balloons broke loose, and

5472-561: Was opened by Mayor Boris Johnson on 3 March 2011, at which he unveiled a plaque designed by Steve Bunn of the RCA Sculpture School. In 1871, James Robert Pulham constructed "Waterfalls, Rocky stream, [and a] Cave for shady seat on the peninsula and in other parts of the Park" in his patented anthropic rock Pulhamite. It was the first example of this unique rock landscape in a London Park. The waterfalls have not been running into

5548-409: Was opened by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) as "Battersea" on 1 October 1860 and was located at the southern end of what is now Grosvenor Bridge. It closed on 1 November 1870. The LB&SCR opened another station on a high-level line on 1 May 1867 called Battersea Park . Another station existed closed to the current station called Battersea Park Road railway station by

5624-474: Was partly occupied by the famously bawdy Red House Tavern, patronised by Charles Dickens . Access was via the rickety wooden Battersea Bridge or by ferry from the Chelsea bank. In 1845, spurred partly by the local vicar and partly by Thomas Cubitt , the builder and developer, whose yards were across the river in the still marshy and undeveloped area of Pimlico , a bill was submitted to Parliament to form

5700-807: Was pulling up - a moment when it was slow and vulnerable - the use of dive bombers against the UK was discontinued by Nazi Germany. Balloons proved to be of little use against the German high-level bombers with which the dive-bombers were replaced, but continued to be manufactured nonetheless until there were almost 3,000 in 1944. They proved to be effective against the V-1 flying bomb , which usually flew at 2,000 feet (600 m) or lower but had wire-cutters on its wings to counter balloons. 231 V-1s are officially claimed to have been destroyed by balloons. The British added two refinements to their balloons, "Double Parachute Link" (DPL) and "Double Parachute/Ripping" (DP/R). The former

5776-400: Was triggered by the shock of an enemy bomber snagging the cable, causing that section of cable to be explosively released complete with parachutes at either end; the combined weight and drag bringing down the aircraft. The latter was intended to render the balloon safe if it broke free accidentally. The heavy mooring cable would separate as the balloon and fall to the ground under a parachute; at

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