Looking towards Clapham Common North Side

Image: © Marathon Taken: 12 Oct 2011

Clapham Common was originally two commons belonging to neighbouring parishes, with the western end here being called Battersea East Common. There was substantial disagreement over where the boundary lay and in 1716 the Battersea parishioners dug a ditch across the common to demarcate their portion. This was rapidly filled in. One of the reasons the common has survived is through its popularity with the wealthy and influential as a place to reside and hence protect from development. Many of their houses still surround the common, as here on Clapham Common North Side. In 1877, the common was bought by the Metropolitan Board of Works from the Lords of the Manors and designated as a Metropolitan Common "dedicated to and for the use and recreation of the public as an open and unenclosed space for ever". Clapham Common is one of the very few large Metropolitan Commons not to have been dissected by railway lines, but road-building has made up for this. The South Circular Road forms a one-way system in front of and behind where I was standing, leaving a small island of common at the top of Battersea Rise completely surrounded by busy roads.

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