Wandsworth - History

History

It was held partly by William, son of Ansculfy, and partly by St Wandrille's Abbey. Its Domesday assets were 12 hides, with 5½ ploughs and 22 acres (89,000 m2) of meadow. It rendered £9. Since at least the early 16th century, Wandsworth has offered accommodation to consecutive waves of immigration, from Protestant Dutch metalworkers fleeing persecution in the 1590s to recent Eastern European members of the European Union.

The heart of Wandsworth, between the town centre and the river, is the site of Young & Co's Ram Brewery. Traditional draught beer was produced on the site for 425 years starting from 1581, which made the Ram Brewery the oldest site in Britain at which beer had been brewed continuously. Shire horse-drawn brewery drays were still used to deliver beer to local pubs. However, brewing stopped in September 2006 when Young & Co merged its operations with Charles Wells of Bedford. A new use for the site is being discussed. Young & Co still has its headquarters in Wandsworth.

Wandsworth gas works was built in 1834 beside the River Thames near Wandsworth Bridge. The undertaking became the Wandsworth and Putney Gaslight and Coke Company in 1854 and was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1856. Coal for making coal gas was brought by sea from North East England and unloaded on the Thames beside the gasworks. The undertaking grew by a series of mergers and takeovers so that by 1936 it served a considerable area of south-west London. The company's name evolved each time it merged with or took over neighbouring gas undertakings, but from 1936 it was the Wandsworth and District Gas Company. The company was nationalised in 1949 and became part of the South Eastern Gas Board.