Nine Elms is a district of London, situated in the far north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Wandsworth between Battersea and Vauxhall.
It is primarily an industrial area, dominated by Battersea Power Station, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, railway lines, a major Royal Mail sorting office and, the New Covent Garden Market.
Nine Elms Lane was named, around 1645, from a row of trees bordering the road. In 1838, at the time of construction of the London and Southampton Railway, the area was described as “a low swammpy district occasionally overflowed by the Thames [whose] osiers beds, pollards and windmille and the river give it a Dutch effect.…”
Nine Elms railway station opened on 21 May 1838, as the first London terminus of the London and South Western Railway which that day changed its name from the London and Southampton Railway. The neo-classical building was designed by Sir William Tite. The station was connected to points between Vauxhall and London Bridge by Thames steam boats. It closed in 1848 when the railway was extended to a new terminus at Waterloo station (then called Waterloo Bridge Station). The redundant station and the adjacent area, to the north of the new mainline, became the London and South Western Railway’s carriage and wagon works and main locomotive works until their relocation to Eastleigh in 1909. The company’s largest locomotive depot was located on the south side of the main line. The buildings, damaged by bombs in World War II, were demolished in 1974 and replaced by the flower section of the New Covent Garden Market.[1]
Gasworks were established in 1853, close to the existing waterworks of the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company. Later Battersea Power Station was built on the site.
Nine Elms contains some residential areas along the riverside, most recent of which is Chelsea Bridge Wharf, and three large council estates: Carey Gardens, The Patmore and The Savona.
In October 2008 it was announced that the U.S. Embassy in London would relocate to the area, moving from its current base in Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square.[2]
See also
- The Optimists of Nine Elms (1974 film, starring Peter Sellers)
References
- ^ Nine Elms Station, image and information at Science and Society accessed 07 Mar 2007
- ^ Embassy of the U.S. London: Public Affairs Section: Press Release accessed 02 Oct 2008
External links
- Aerial photo of Nine Elms. Other map and aerial photo sources.
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