Place Name
Agricultural heritage. Until this area was developed ion the late 19thCentury it was farmland and, as the name suggests, this would have been a field to the south of Wandsworth where crops would have grown. It was first mentioned in 1247 as Suthfeld. By 1582 it was referred to as Southefeld gate and South Field in 1816. There were also Northfields, also mentioned in 1247, which remains as a street name. The area boomed with the opening of the railway (now London Underground) in 1889. The development of Victorian and Edwardian homes followed, with the Southfields Grid and Southfields Triangle becoming well-known residential areas. The area’s history is detailed in Neil Robson’s Roomy Villas, which documents the shift from rural fields to a bustling suburb.
