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10
Natural and Social Conditions.
The Metropolitan Borough of Battersea, created in November,
1900, under the provisions of the London Government Act, 1899,
was formed from the old parish of Battersea after some re-arrangement
between the two districts of Battersea and Wandsworth to
define the boundary line. Up to comparatively modern times
Battersea was a small hamlet on the Thames. It was not until late
in the nineteenth century that it began to emerge from its rural
environment, and some idea of its rapid growth will be gathered
when it is known that so late as 1857 the population was only 16,000.
The Borough as now constituted is bounded on the north by
the Thames and on the west, south and east by the neighbouring
boroughs of Wandsworth and Lambeth. It has an area (excluding
water) of 2,139 acres, and a population of 160,700 (mid-year, 1930).
There are about 24,000 houses, including 27,000 separate tenements.
The rateable value is £988,164, and a penny rate yields over £4,640.
There are two Parliamentary Divisions (North and South). The
status of the population is in the main working-class. The manufactures
carried on are comparatively few, so that the larger element
of the population goes to work outside the Borough, and it is,
therefore, mainly a dormitory or residential working-class district
of London. The chief occupations of male workers in Battersea
are transport, building and allied trades, metal works and clerks,
draughtsmen, etc. Amongst female workers (excluding those
engaged in domestic duties) the principal employments are personal
service, clerical, typists, dressmaking, embroidery, etc.
Battersea is fortunate in the possession of fine open spaces,
Battersea Park in the north, and Clapham and Wandsworth
Commons in the south-and south-west contributing greatly to
the healthiness and natural amenities of the district.
The Borough is low-lying in the north, where in parts it lies
below high-water mark of the river, and in the past this area has
been much liable to flooding in times of heavy storm. On the south
and south-west the ground rises to a considerable height towards
Clapham and Wandsworth Commons to the Balham plateau.
The soil is chiefly clay with outcrops of gravel and isolated banks of
sand or sandy loam. Along the river front there is a belt of
alluvium laid down by the river where it formerly overflowed
its banks, and what is now the site of Battersea Park and much
of the Nine Elms district was mainly marsh land.
Hospitals.
There are five hospitals situate within the Borough, three of
which are controlled by publicly-elected bodies, and two by voluntary
associations. The three former are:—