Southfields
| Southfields | |
|---|---|
 Southfields
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| Southfields shown within Greater London | |
| Population | 13,474 (Southfield ward 2011) |
| OS grid reference | TQ255735 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SW18, SW19 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Southfields is a district in the London Borough of Wandsworth, England, situated 5.6 miles (9 km) south-west of Charing Cross. Southfields is located partly in the SW18 postcode area and partly in SW19.
Until the late 19th century Southfields was still fields, situated between the more developed villages of Wimbledon and Putney. Several of the former pathways through the fields form the routes of parts of today's road system, in particular Wimbledon Park Road and its continuation through Southfields Passage, which was the field path from Wimbledon to Wandsworth, Kimber Road and The Baulk, both of which were field paths and can be seen on old maps of the area. When the District & London & South Western Railway from Wimbledon to Putney Bridge opened in June 1889, the area started to take off, with the first school opening a year later on Merton Road, another of the main thoroughfares that were formerly paths through fields.
The area, like others around it, has undergone significant change in the last few decades, with house prices rising accordingly. The history of Southfields has been researched and documented in Neil Robson's 1999 book "Roomy Villas".
The main residential areas of Southfields are the "Southfields Triangle" and "The Grid".
The "Southfields Triangle" is a series of roads and streets that (somewhat) resemble a triangle. It covers the area from Granville Road in the north down to Standen Road in the south (bordering on Coronation Gardens), and Pulborough Road in the west across to Merton Road in the east. The "Southfields Triangle" consists mostly of Victorian and Edwardian houses. In 1904, the Frame Foods babyfood company opened its factory in Standen Road. The building is in a distinctive art nouveau style, with green ceramic tiles, and the slogan 'Nourish and Flourish' on the exterior. The building has now been converted into luxury flats. Standen Road was also the home of the Ault & Wiborg printing ink factory. The building on the corner of Kimber Road and Merton Road once housed the OK Sauce factory, until its takeover by Reckitt and Colman.
"The Grid" is a series of parallel roads that are crossed at right angles by a series of parallel streets - so named because of the grid layout of the streets. The roads run from Replingham Road, in the north to Revelstoke Road, in the south, and the streets run from Elsenham Street, in the west, to Astonville Street (although Merton Road to the east of Astonville is the border of "The Grid"). "The Grid" consists almost entirely of Edwardian terrace houses, some of which have been converted into flats in the past, though conversions are no longer permitted on The Grid owing to a change in policy by Wandsworth Borough Council. These Victorian terraced houses were built at the same time as the bordering terraced housing Wimbledon Park and the avenues to the south of The Grid originally had the same names as the streets in Southfields that led to them. A restrictive covenant or covenants at one time prevented any pubs from being built in the Southfields "Grid" area. However, in the 1990s, the covenants were apparently judged either to be ineffective or non-existent and two pubs were opened in adjoining premises on the south side of Replingham Road (one since closed, in late 2011).
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