Tooting is a suburb in the
London Borough of WandsworthThe London Borough of Wandsworth is a London borough in south west London, England and forms part of Inner London.-History:The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but...
in south
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. It is south south-west of
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in Westminster within Central London, England. It is named after the site of a long demolished Eleanor cross located at the former hamlet of Charing, at this point...
. The area is identified in the
London PlanThe London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended. The current version was published in February 2008...
as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
Tooting has been settled since pre-
SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
times, and its name means "the dwelling of the sons of Totas". The
RomansRoman Britain was those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia...
built
Stane StreetThere are several Roman Stane Streets - see also Stane Street Stane Street, sometimes called Stone Street , is the modern name given to an important Roman road in England that linked London to the Roman town of Noviomagus...
from
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
(Londinium) to
ChichesterChichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
(Regnum), which passed through Tooting. Tooting High Street is built on this road.
Tooting is a suburb in the
London Borough of WandsworthThe London Borough of Wandsworth is a London borough in south west London, England and forms part of Inner London.-History:The borough was formed in 1965 from the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea and much of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth, but...
in south
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. It is south south-west of
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in Westminster within Central London, England. It is named after the site of a long demolished Eleanor cross located at the former hamlet of Charing, at this point...
. The area is identified in the
London PlanThe London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended. The current version was published in February 2008...
as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
History
Tooting has been settled since pre-
SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
times, and its name means "the dwelling of the sons of Totas". The
RomansRoman Britain was those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia...
built
Stane StreetThere are several Roman Stane Streets - see also Stane Street Stane Street, sometimes called Stone Street , is the modern name given to an important Roman road in England that linked London to the Roman town of Noviomagus...
from
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
(Londinium) to
ChichesterChichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
(Regnum), which passed through Tooting. Tooting High Street is built on this road. In 666 AD, Tooting and
StreathamStreatham is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth in the United Kingdom. It is an inner-London suburb situated south of Brixton. Streatham is 5.5 miles south of Charing Cross. The town centre is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:Streatham...
(then Toting-cum-Stretham) was given to the
Abbey of ChertseyChertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey.It was founded by Saint Erkenwald, later Bishop of London, in 666 A.D and he became the first abbot. In the 9th century it was sacked by the Danes and refounded from...
. Then in 900 AD, Suene (Sweyn), believed to be a
VikingA Viking is one of the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far...
, was given the land by
Edward the ConfessorEdward the confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last English kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066 Edward the confessor ...
. It was later passed on to again: in 933 AD, King
Athelstan of EnglandAthelstan or Æthelstan , called the Glorious, was the King of England from 924/925 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder, and nephew of Æthelflæd of Mercia...
gave lands including Totinge (Tooting) to the family of Chertsey Minster.
Tooting appears in
Domesday BookThe Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror...
of 1086 as
Totinges. It was held by Haimo the Sheriff (of
KentKent , originally Cantia, is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent...
) from
Chertsey AbbeyChertsey Abbey, dedicated to St Peter, was a Benedictine monastery located at Chertsey in the English county of Surrey.It was founded by Saint Erkenwald, later Bishop of London, in 666 A.D and he became the first abbot. In the 9th century it was sacked by the Danes and refounded from...
. Its domesday assets were: 1 church, 2½
ploughThe plough is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
s, of
meadowA meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . It may be cut for hay or grazed by livestock such as cattle, sheep or goats.- Agricultural meadow :...
. It rendered £4.
Tooting BecTooting Bec is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth in south London.It is named after Bec Abbey in Normandy, which was given land in this area after the Norman Conquest. Saint Anselm, the second Abbot of Bec, is reputed to have been a visitor to Tooting Bec long before he succeeded...
appears as a distinct area. It was held partly by St Mary de Bec-Hellouin Abbey and partly by Westminster Abbey. Its domesday assets were: 5
hideThe hide was a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax, in Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th to the 11th centuries. It continued in use for some time after the Norman Conquest of England, notably in the Domesday Survey: the hide was not a fixed area of land.-Development as a...
s. It had 5½
ploughThe plough is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
s, 13 acres. It rendered £7.
As with many of South London's urban suburbs, Tooting developed largely during the late Victorian years. Some development occurred in the Edwardian years but another large spurt happened during the 1920s and '30s.
-
- 1703 AD - Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain, and is even referred to by some as one...
was a Tooting PresbyterianPresbyterianism is the religion of a number of different Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, and organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity...
Minister in hiding.
- 1906 - Tooting Bec Lido
Tooting Bec Lido is an open-air swimming pool in South London. It is the largest swimming pool in the British Isles — being 100 yards long and 33 yards wide — and the largest fresh-water pool in England....
opened.
- 1954 - St George's Hospital
St George's Hospital, founded in 1733, is a teaching hospital in London, England. It has continuously trained medical students since that date.-History:...
begins to relocate to Tooting from Hyde Park CornerHyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. It is a major intersection where Park Lane, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Constitution Hill converge...
, taking over the old Grove Fever and Fountain Hospitals.
- 2003 - Redevelopment of St George's Hospital
St George's Hospital, founded in 1733, is a teaching hospital in London, England. It has continuously trained medical students since that date.-History:...
buildings completed.
Cultural references
The
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
comedyComedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in Ancient Greece...
series
Citizen SmithCitizen Smith is a British television sitcom. The show was written by John Sullivan, who went on later to write Only Fools and Horses. The Pilot was transmitted on 12 April 1977 in the Comedy Special series of one-off plays, and the series properly ran from 3 November 1977 to 31 December...
was set in Tooting and popularised the cry "Freedom for Tooting!". Star of the series Wolfie Smith (played by
Robert LindsayRobert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles in Citizen Smith, My Family, and Hornblower.-Early life:...
) was a beret-hatted Communist "leftie" type, founder of fictional revolutionary political organisation, the Tooting Popular Front.
In 2005, a 28-km diameter crater on Mars was named after Tooting. A geologic map of Tooting Crater is under preparation, and will be published by the U.S. Geological Survey in the United States.
The
Kitchens of DistinctionKitchens of Distinction were a three-person alternative rock band formed in Tooting, South London, England, active from 1986 to 1996.-History:...
(who formed in the area) recorded 'On Tooting Broadway Station' on their 1992 album
The Death of CoolThe Death of Cool is the third studio album from UK alternative rock group Kitchens of Distinction, released in August 1992. The album is the follow-up to 1991's Strange Free World and was once again produced by Hugh Jones....
.
British TV police drama '
The Bill...
' is frequently filmed in and around Tooting.
Scottish singer-songwriter
Sandi ThomSandi Thom is a Scottish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Macduff in Aberdeenshire...
found fame after she
webcastA webcast is a media file distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
21 performances from her basement flat in Tooting between February and March 2006. Her track 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair)' reached No1 in the UK charts on 2 June 2006.
Tooting Bec appears in the book
The Meaning of LiffThe Meaning of Liff is a humorous dictionary of toponomy and etymology, written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, published in the United Kingdom in 1983, and first published in the USA in 1984.It is a "dictionary of things that there aren't any words for yet"; all the words listed are place names,...
, defined as the situation in which a driver sounds his or her horn at a car in front, only to discover that the car in front is parked.
In the third series of the popular British comedy sketch show
Little BritainLittle Britain is an award winning character-based comedy sketch show first appearing on BBC radio and then television. It was written by stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams...
it is uncovered that Dudley Punt's new found Thai bride Ting Tong Macadangdang is really from Tooting and not where she originally said she was from, a tiny village called Pong Pong, "Ting tong not from Pong Pong, Ting Tong from Tooting.".
Politics
The Member of Parliament for Tooting is
Sadiq KhanSadiq Aman Khan is a British Labour politician. He was elected Member of Parliament for Tooting in the 2005 general election, succeeding Tom Cox as the Labour MP for the seat....
, first elected at the
2005 General ElectionThe United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect members to the House of Commons.The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a reduced overall majority of 66 and they failed to gain any new seats...
to represent the
parliamentary constituency of TootingTooting is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
.
Councillors for Tooting Ward (May 2006) are Susan John-Richards (Independent), Alex Jacob (Conservative) and Dr Nick Bowes (Labour).
Open spaces
A large open area, popularly known as
Tooting CommonThe Tooting Commons consist of two adjacent areas of common land lying between Balham, Streatham and Tooting, in south west London: Tooting Bec Common and Tooting Graveney Common....
, lies at the northern end of Tooting. Historically this was two separate open spaces:
Tooting Graveney Common nearer to Tooting, and
Tooting Bec Common towards Streatham. The latter common includes
Tooting Bec LidoTooting Bec Lido is an open-air swimming pool in South London. It is the largest swimming pool in the British Isles — being 100 yards long and 33 yards wide — and the largest fresh-water pool in England....
, which is 90 metres long and 30 metres wide making it undoubtedly the largest freshwater open air pool in the UK, and reputedly the largest freshwater open air pool in Europe.
Sport
Tooting shares a football club with nearby
MitchamMitcham is a district in South London, in the London Borough of Merton. The area is located on the border of Inner London and Outer London. It is both residentially and financially developed, well served by Transport for London, and home to Mitcham Town Centre, Mitcham Library, and Mitcham Cricket...
:
Tooting & Mitcham United F.C.Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club are a semi-professional association football club representing the south-west London areas of Tooting and Mitcham, within the London Borough of Merton. The club's stadium, Imperial Fields is located in Morden. The club are nicknamed The Terrors or...
SnookerSnooker is a cue sport that is played on a large baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regulation table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different ...
player
Jimmy WhiteJames Warren White, MBE is an English professional snooker player, best known as Jimmy White. Nicknamed the "Whirlwind", White is a multiple World Championship finalist, appearing in six World Championship finals without ever winning the title - although he won the 1980 amateur World Championship,...
comes from Tooting.
Darren BentDarren Ashley Bent is an English footballer who plays for Sunderland as a striker. Darren Bent started his career with Ipswich Town in 2001. He made 122 appearances and scored 49 goals in the league for Ipswich, before joining Charlton Athletic for a fee of £2.5 million in 2005...
who plays football for
SunderlandSunderland Association Football Club are a professional association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, that compete in the Premier League. Since their formation in 1879, they have won six First Division titles—in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and 1936 Sunderland Association...
comes from Tooting.
Coventry City FC player
Clinton MorrisonClinton Hubert Morrison is an English-born professional footballer of Jamaican, Irish and Trinidadian heritage who plays for Coventry City...
was born in Tooting.
One of London's few greyhound racing tracks, the
Wimbledon StadiumWimbledon Greyhound Stadium is a dog racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosts speedway, stock car and other racing events....
, is found in Tooting.
Former British and European Light Middleweight boxing champion Wayne Alexander was born in Tooting.
Transport
Tooting is positioned on the
Northern LineThe Northern line is an underground railway in London, United Kingdom that is coloured black on the London Underground Tube map. The line's two branches carry 206.734 million passengers per year—the highest on the London Underground system. For most of its length it is built as a deep-level...
— with stations at the top and the bottom of the hill that slopes down the High Street,
Tooting BecTooting Bec tube station is a London Underground station in Tooting, South London. The station is on the Northern line, between Balham and Tooting Broadway stations. It is located on the junction of Trinity Road , Upper Tooting Road , Balham High Road , Tooting Bec Road and Stapleton Road...
and
Tooting BroadwayTooting Broadway tube station is a London Underground station in Tooting, South London. The station is on the Northern Line, between Tooting Bec and Colliers Wood stations. It is located on the corner of Tooting High Street and Mitcham Road...
. It also has good bus links, with routes to and from
Central LondonThe term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London". Central London covers about 10 square miles on areas both north and south of the...
,
CroydonCroydon is a major commercial centre in Greater London and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Croydon. It is south of Charing Cross, and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
,
Sutton-Places:Sutton, meaning 'south settlement' in Old English, is a very common place name. Places named Sutton include:-United Kingdom:In London:* London Borough of Sutton** which includes Sutton, London** historically Sutton Urban District...
and Richmond, amongst others.
Nearest places
- Balham
Balham is a neighbourhood in South London, England.The settlement appears in the Domesday Book as Belgeham. It was held by Geoffrey Orlateile. Its Domesday Assets were: 1½ ploughs, of meadow. It rendered : £2.-History:...
- Earlsfield
Earlsfield is an area within the London Borough of Wandsworth, London, United Kingdom.Earlsfield is a typical London suburb and comprises mostly residential Victorian terraced houses with a high street of shops, bars, and restaurants between Garratt Lane, Allfarthing Lane, and Burntwood Lane...
- Mitcham
Mitcham is a district in South London, in the London Borough of Merton. The area is located on the border of Inner London and Outer London. It is both residentially and financially developed, well served by Transport for London, and home to Mitcham Town Centre, Mitcham Library, and Mitcham Cricket...
- Wimbledon
Wimbledon is a suburb in south west London, part of the London Borough of Merton and located from Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
- Streatham
Streatham is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth in the United Kingdom. It is an inner-London suburb situated south of Brixton. Streatham is 5.5 miles south of Charing Cross. The town centre is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:Streatham...
- Furzedown
Furzedown is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth in South West London. It is a mainly residential area bordering the larger communities of Streatham and Tooting. Besides containing Furzedown halls of Residence, a part of the University of the Arts London, It contains three schools:...
- Colliers Wood
Colliers Wood is an area in south London, England, in the London Borough of Merton. Colliers Wood station is served by the London Underground's Northern Line....
Nearest tube stations
(North to South on Northern Line)
- Balham tube station
- Tooting Bec tube station
Tooting Bec tube station is a London Underground station in Tooting, South London. The station is on the Northern line, between Balham and Tooting Broadway stations. It is located on the junction of Trinity Road , Upper Tooting Road , Balham High Road , Tooting Bec Road and Stapleton Road...
- Tooting Broadway tube station
Tooting Broadway tube station is a London Underground station in Tooting, South London. The station is on the Northern Line, between Tooting Bec and Colliers Wood stations. It is located on the corner of Tooting High Street and Mitcham Road...
- Colliers Wood tube station
Colliers Wood tube station is a London Underground station in South London. The station is on the Northern Line, between Tooting Broadway and South Wimbledon stations. It is located at the corner of Merton High Street and Christchurch Road...
- South Wimbledon tube station
South Wimbledon tube station is a London Underground station in South London. The station is on the Northern Line, between Colliers Wood and Morden stations. It is located on the corner of Merton High Street and Morden Road...
Nearest railway stations
- Tooting railway station
Tooting railway station is in the London Borough of Merton in South London. The station is served by First Capital Connect trains, and is on the Thameslink loop. It is in Travelcard Zone 3....
- Balham railway station
- Haydons Road railway station
Haydons Road railway station is in north-east of the London Borough of Merton in South London. The station is served by First Capital Connect trains and by a limited number of Southern services during the morning and evening peak...
Shopping
The Tooting Markets are open Monday to Saturday with a wide range of small independent marketplace sellers. You can find green-lipped New Zealand mussels at the
fishmongerA fishmonger is someone who sells fish and seafood...
right next door to a lace and fabric stall. The markets also contain a pet shop, CD store, women's shoe stall, tattoo parlour, bakery, coffee shop, nail salon and much more. The markets are closed on Sunday.
Tooting Broadway is a centre of the Muslim Pakistani community of south London. There are many Indian and Pakistani clothes shops, sweet shops and Restaurants. There are also many
SomalisSomalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
,
TamilsTamil people , are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, a state in India, and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. They speak Tamil , with a recorded history going back two millennia. Emigrant communities are found across the world...
, Poles and
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
ns in the area.
Tooting also plays host to a range of chain stores including;
Snappy Snaps, New Look, Budgens, Peacocks,
PrimarkPrimark is a clothing retailer, operating in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Portugal. It operates a total of 188 stores with 34 in Ireland, 125 in the UK, 8 in Spain and 1 in the Netherlands, Germany and in Portugal...
, Sainsbury's, Clarks,
Holland & BarrettHolland & Beruit is a chain of health food shops with just under 550 stores in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and South Africa. The company also has stores in The Netherlands, where they trade as "De Tuinen".-Brands:...
,
GreggsGreggs ltd is the largest specialist retail bakery chain in the United Kingdom. It is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England and is quoted on the London Stock Exchange.-History:Greggs was founded by John Gregg as a Tyneside bakery in 1939...
and
Tesco'sTesco plc is a UK-based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. It is the largest British retailer by both global sales and domestic market share, with profits exceeding £3 billion. It is currently the third largest global retailer based on revenue, behind Wal-Mart and...
.
Notable residents
- Matt Willis
Mathew James Willis is an English singer-songwriter. He first found fame with the band, Busted.- Early years :...
- Musician
- Darren Bent
Darren Ashley Bent is an English footballer who plays for Sunderland as a striker. Darren Bent started his career with Ipswich Town in 2001. He made 122 appearances and scored 49 goals in the league for Ipswich, before joining Charlton Athletic for a fee of £2.5 million in 2005...
- Professional Footballer
- Bas Savage
Basir "Bas" Savage is a professional English footballer who plays as a striker for Tranmere Rovers. He is known for his trademark moonwalk goal celebration, which has gained cult fame on TV's Soccer AM....
- Professional Footballer
- Henning Wehn
Henning Wehn is a German stand-up comedian based in London.Since October 2003 Wehn has been self-styled the "German Comedy Ambassador in London"...
- Comedian
- Lowkey
Lowkey is a British musician, poet, playwright and political activist of English and Iraqi descent. He first came to fame through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music business...
(Born Kareem Dennis) - Musician, poet, playwright, political activist
- Jimmy White
James Warren White, MBE is an English professional snooker player, best known as Jimmy White. Nicknamed the "Whirlwind", White is a multiple World Championship finalist, appearing in six World Championship finals without ever winning the title - although he won the 1980 amateur World Championship,...
- Professional snooker player
- New Musik
New Musik were an English synthpop group active from 1977 to 1982. Several artists have covered tracks by the band, including Delegation "Twelfth House" , Camouflage "On Islands" , Alphaville "On Islands" , Psychotic Youth "Living By Numbers" and Orwell "On Islands" .-History:New Musik formed in...
- Band
- Stephen K Amos - Comedian
External links