All about Battersea. Henry S. Simmonds
to Waterloo Road, was originally the Metropolitan Terminus. Though this part of the line crosses the most grimy portion of Lambeth, a distance of two miles and fifty yards, yet it cost the Railway Company £800,000. The London and Southampton Railway (as it was first called) was opened on the 11th of May, 1840, which, in connexion with the opposite wharf and warehouses on the banks of the river, at that time occupied an extent of between seven and eight acres. The entrance front of the (then) Metropolitan Terminus at Nine Elms, erected from designs by William Tite, Esq., Architect to the Company, was not unhandsome though at present it has rather a dingy appearance for want of renovation, and has a central arcade which originally led to the booking office and waiting rooms now used for the manager's and clerks' offices for the goods traffic department. The railroad was commenced under the authority of an Act of Parliament which received the Royal assent on the 5th of July, 1834 (it was opened as far as Woking Common on the 21st of May, 1838). By this Act the Company were empowered to raise £1,000,000 in £50 shares, and a further sum of £330,000 by loan. Since that time several additional Acts have been passed authorizing the Company to extend their line and increase their capital. The Company's capital for the present year (1879) is £17,000,000. Mr. Wood was the Company's first Locomotive Superintendent. When the London and Southampton line was first opened all the workmen in the Company's service had a half holiday and one shilling each given to them. The Richmond Railway—this though an offshoot of the South Western, and worked by that Company, was executed by a private one. It was however sold to the South Western Company in October, 1846. It had been opened on the 27th of July previous. Number of miles open 648. The gross receipts for the year ending December 31, 1873, were £2,195,170. The railroad intersects Battersea parish to the extent of two miles and a half. The Goods Department comprises the hydraulic shed, down goods shed, carriers' shed, egg shed, the old warehouse and granary by the riverside; down office, Wandsworth Road Gate; cartage office, Nine Elms Lane. Officers of the Company.—General Manager, Archibald Scott, Esq.; Locomotive Superintendent, W. Adams, Esq.; Resident Engineer, William Jacomb, Esq.; Treasurer, Alfred Morgan, Esq.; Goods Manager, J. T. Haddow, Esq., Nine Elms; Assistant Goods Manager, Mr. W. B. Mills, Waterloo; Superintendent, R. H. Ming, Esq., Nine Elms; Chief Inspector, Mr. Robert Lingley, Nine Elms; Law Clerk, M. H. Hall, Esq.; Mr. H. B. Terrill, Cashier; Mr. J. E. Hawkins, Chief Clerk; Superintendents of the Line, E. W. Verrinder, Chief Superintendent, Waterloo Station; John Tyler, Western Division, Exeter Station; William Gardiner, Assistant Superintendent, Waterloo Station; W. H. Stratton, Storekeeper, Nine Elms Works.
Soon after the opening of the London and Southampton Railway a collision between two passenger trains occurred at the Nine Elms Terminus resulting in the death of a young woman, a domestic servant, who, with a fellow servant, had been spending the day at Hampton Court. The Coroner's Jury returned a verdict of accidental death a deodand of £300 was levied on the "Eclipse" locomotive engine, the moving cause of death. The Railway Company paid the £300 to Earl Spencer as Lord of the Manor, who most generously divided it amongst the deceased's relatives.
Omnia qua movent ad mortem sunt deodanda:
What moves to death, or kills him dead,
Is deodand, and forfeited.
On the South Western Railway Stone Wharf are the agents' offices of the several depôts for the sale of Portland stone, Bath freestone, etc. Huge blocks of stone direct from the quarries are here deposited and piled block upon block. A single block in some instances weighing ten tons elevated and removed by means of a steam traveller moving on a gantry.
When the workmen were engaged in "digging out" the ground for the foundation of the goods sheds a human skeleton was discovered, on which Mr. Carter (coroner) held an inquest. Dr. Statham, who made the post mortem examination, stated that the skeleton was that of a male person, that there were three severe cuts upon the head either of which was sufficient to cause death. As no further evidence was procurable a verdict was given in accordance.
About forty years ago, when Mr. Gooch was Locomotive Superintendent, a fire broke out at the London and South Western Railway Works, Nine Elms Lane, which caused great destruction of property, including a very handsome clock tower. Various metals were fused and mingled into shapes fantastic, portions of which were substituted for chimney-piece ornaments in the homes of the workman and kept as mementos of this conflagration! A man of the name of Dover who it is said accidentally set the stores on fire was so frightened that it turned the hair of his head grey in one night!
At Nine Elms Locomotive, Carriage and Stores Departments are fire precautions which the Railway Company insist upon being strictly observed. A fire engine with hose and all necessary appliances is kept in a building set apart for it adjoining Heman's Street Entrance gate. A properly qualified fireman is appointed to look after the whole of the buildings by night, as a precaution against fire. The fireman's name is Thomas Lewin, and his residence is 51, Thorne Street, Wandsworth Road. His hours of duty are from 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 a.m. It is the fireman's duty to perambulate the whole of the works during the night, and to make a daily report of the circumstances in the book provided for that purpose. He is responsible that the fire engine, hose, hydrants, etc., are kept in working order and tried once a week. A statement of the trial is to be made in the fireman's report book with any suggestions or remarks. Positions of Hydrants at Nine Elms Works—There are 120 hydrants (always charged) distributed as follows:—15 in the offices, paint loft and shops beneath; 4 in the general stores; 4 in wheelwrights' and signal shops; 2 in bonnet shop; 5 in waggon shop; 4 in new waggon shop and saw mill; 5 in smiths' and carriage fitting shops; 9 in erecting shops; 2 in turning shop; 3 in tender shop; 4 in new erecting shop; 1 in permanent way shop; 4 in arches under the Viaduct; 52 in running shed; 4 at outlets of water tanks, and 2 on the coal stage. Positions of Tell-tale Clocks:—1 in the office; 1 in general stores; 1 in wheelwrights' shop; 1 in paint shop; 1 in saw mill. It is the fireman's duty to commence to "peg" each of these blocks four times every night at the following hours, viz., 8 p.m., 10.30 p.m., 1 a.m. and 3.30 a.m.
Facing the Goods Station are the Company's Wharves with an extensive river frontage. Here also formerly stood Francis' Cement Works, adjoining is Nine Elms Steamboat Pier. The South Western Railway Locomotive Works and Goods Department occupy a vast area. It is computed that about 2,000 persons are employed in the various departments. Here were formerly orchard-grounds—many a goodly tree bearing fruit and pleasant to the eye has been felled. "Woodman spare that tree!" though spoken by feminine lips would have no force of appeal in this fast age of iron railways and steam locomotives, when Railway Companies scruple not by virtue of Acts of Parliament to pull down by hundreds the dwellings of the poor, it is not to be supposed for an instant that a few fruit trees however delicious their produce or delightful their shadow should prove a peculiar obstacle in the way of this March of Civilization! On payment of sixpence, children at half-price, persons might enter these orchards with full liberty to eat as much fruit as they liked on condition that they brought none away. The old Spring Well near Nine Elms Lane, Wandsworth Road, is within the recollection of many, who by descending some six or eight steps reached with their hands the iron ladle out of which they often drank cooling draughts of nature's sparkling aquatic refreshment. Ah, everything has a history and its lesson if we did but know. We all exert unconscious influence either for good or evil—some secret action performed; some deed of kindness done; some public boon conferred with the benefactor's name concealed shall by-and-by be proclaimed upon the house-top. A cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth shall not lose its reward. Some persons wish to be remembered by posterity, even wicked parents would not like after death to be obliterated from the memories of their children. The best of all human monuments is a good character—Solomon says, "a good name is rather to be chosen than riches."
Our forefathers never dreamed of erecting such drinking fountains[1] as we have in these days with troughs for cattle and smaller ones for mongrel barking curs to slake their thirst; the pond by the way, the wooden horse trough outside the road-side Inn, the long-handled iron pump, in some instances resembling the head and tail of the British Lion having the body of a greyhound, pleased them and suited their purpose. The site now environed by the London Gas Works was formerly a large market ground, here too grew apple, pear, and cherry trees, gooseberry bushes and currants, roses were cultivated and rendered the air fragrant with